Magic Reindeer Food Tutorial

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share a fun Christmas craft that I'm sure you've seen before. My friend Kris in Newport told me about this project last year, and since then, I've been dying to try it out!

For the poem and ingredients I turned to the internet. I found the poem from the DLTK site and the recipe Organized Christmas. I swapped out the regular sugar in the recipe for glitter and I also altered the recipe to make it even more kid-friendly. Instead of using cups, I used tablespoons and teaspoons, since they're easier on little hands plus it helps wee ones to practice counting. Then, I turned to one of my trusty Tim Holtz dies, a basic office supply, and festive baker's twine to decorate!

~What you'll need~

Reindeer Food ingredients (makes at least 8):

• 6 cups of rolled oats
• 1 container of red sugar crystals
• 1 bottle of glitter - the cuter the container, the funner it is! (I used Donna Salazar's Fairy Dust glitter because of its amazing holographic shine and adorable shaker style top!) 
• Silver mixing bowl, ramekins, tablespoon, and teaspoon
• White piece of paper with the recipe written down, for kids to refer to

Packaging:

• (8) plastic sandwich bags with zipper closures (snack size)
• Tim Holtz mini reindeer die
• (1) piece of kraft paper
• (4) 5" wide x 3" tall index cards (they're usually referred to as "3 x 5")
• (1) spool of red and white baker's twine
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Hole punch

~Directions~

Preparing the food:

1. Pour oats into the bowl and the red sugar crystals into ramekins.

2. For each bag of reindeer food, use 5 tablespoons of oats, 1 teaspoon of red crystals, and 1 - 2 shakes of glitter. Helpful hint:Write this recipe down on a piece of white paper so the kids have something to refer to!

3. Close bags then turn them vertically. Make sure mixture is at the bottom and set aside.

Creating the packaging:

1. Cut kraft paper so that you have (8) 2 1/4" wide x 3" tall pieces. 

2. For each piece of kraft paper, place it over your mini reindeer die and cut. Set aside the mini reindeer for another project; we'll use the stenciled part of the paper for this project. 

3. Take your hole punch and punch a hole in the upper left corner of each reindeer stencil. Don't have the reindeer die? You can also use a stamp or sticker. 

4. Locate your 5" wide x 3" tall index cards and cut them in half so that each card produces (2) 2 1/2" wide x 3" tall pieces. 

5. Take your hole punch and punch a hole in the upper left corner of each reindeer stencil.

6. With a pen, handwrite the Magic Reindeer Poem. 

7. Use a ruler and measure out 8" of baker's twine. Cut. Do this 7 more times.

8. Grab one of the baggies, ensure that it's sealed tight, then run a piece of baker's twine around the top.
Insert the poem through the twine, and then a reindeer stencil. Tie a bow and you're done!