Holiday Push-Up Pops

Hello Design Dazzle readers, I'm excited to be back here to participate in the 100 Ideas of Christmas Wonderful!! I'm Holly from Paisley Petal Events, where I share unique inspiration for all of life's special occasions..



This time of year IS wonderful because there are so many opportunities to plan some really fun parties or get-togethers with family and friends. Today I'd like to share with you a fun treat you can make and bring to one of your holiday parties, or make and serve at a party you're hosting...Holiday Push-up Pops!

You may have seen these around the web lately, as they are becoming more and more popular to serve all sorts of desserts and other fun things in, including cake, cookies, mousse, frozen desserts, candy, etc. Today I'm showing you some cake and candy push-up pops I made.

To make the cake push-ups, I used 1 box of white cake mix (made according to the package directions), divided it equally into 3 bowls and added food coloring to create the red, green and aqua cake layers. I baked the cake in 3 separate 8" cake pans at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. This will make your cake layers the correct size.















After your cakes have cooled, use a small round cookie cutter, or just use the base of one of your push-up containers to cut out the small, round pieces of cake. Then just layer the cake and frosting colors of your choice. Top with sprinkles, candy, cookies, peeps...anything you can think of!







To display your push-up pops, simply buy some square or round foam blocks from the dollar store and poke the push-up pops into the foam. Place the foam into a cute container and cover with paper shred or candies.









I'm planning a few parties with the red and aqua colors because I LOVE these colors for Christmas!! So I decided to make some push-up pops using these colors as well.

And here are a few with candy in them and a 2" party circle added to the container to dress it up just a little. There are so many fun Christmas candies you can buy now to fill up your containers...go to the grocery store and pick out some of your favorites!

These Holiday Push-up Pops are guaranteed to be a hit with the kids at your next party, but I'm sure the adults will love them too! Show me the fun creations you come up with for your containers!







You can buy the containers from various shops on Etsy, Shop Sweet Lulu, or CupKate's (to name a few) for about $1.00 to $1.50 each or in bulk quantities of 100 from places like Pastry Chef Central or Laguna Wholesale for about $50.00.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Season!!

 Push Pop Containers with Lid 100 Ct. Clear Plastic Push up Pops

Plastic Push up pop containers 50 ct clear push pops

Push Pop Containers 24ct. Clear Plastic Push up Pops

 

Push up Pop Container Acrylic Stand - Holds 12 Containers

Children Designed Gift Tags

Hello friends! I'm Kierste, the girl behind {brown paper packages}, and I'm delighted to be here and a part of the Christmas Wonderful series!

I love doing projects with my kids, and this not only includes them, but highlights their creations. Yesterday afternoon I asked my kids to draw me some Christmas pictures--anything they wanted. We brought out the markers and the white paper, and they went to town. I took their artwork, and made them into absolutely adorable gift tags. The colors are so fun in the unconventional look of the pink tree--it's a true representation of my 4 year old, and I love it!





I love the idea of designing a gift tag for each child, so they can put it on the presents they're giving. Or, just using them on any gifts you're giving! I know my parents would love getting gifts featuring a tag with my children's drawings. How fun for your child's teacher, too!



I made my tags in photoshop, but if you don't have it, don't worry! You can still make them--I'll tell you how!



Children Designed Gift Tags





ITEMS YOU NEED:

• your children's artwork! (on white paper, with marker, any size will work!)


• scanner


• cardstock


• paper trimmer


• distress ink


• ribbon
  
  

DIRECTIONS:



1. Once the art is ready, scan it with your scanner, and save it as a file. My son had quite a few drawings on one paper, so I cropped each picture and saved it as it's own file.



Photoshop/Gimp: I created a file that was 5 inches wide, and 3 inches high. I inserted the picture I wanted, then added text and saved it as a jpg file. I opened a new Word document, inserted the jpg file, and adjusted the size. I was able to fit 6 tags on one page. You can also insert your file into a mailing label document, then print onto labels.



Without Photoshop: You have a couple of different options!



The first is to open a Word (or even Power Point) document, insert your picture, and the create a text box for your text. This isn't hard, you will just need to play around with the formatting/sizing until it's how you want it to be. Then you can copy and paste to fit more on the page--I was able to get 6 larger tags.



The second option is to create mailing labels--I suggest the 2x4 inch size, or larger. Open a new label document, then insert your picture and add your text.



2. Print your tags! You can either print them on cardstock as I did, or create mailing labels so they are sticky!







3. If you print on cardstock, cut them to size, distress the edges, and then mat onto coordinating cardstock. You can either punch a hole in the corner to add ribbon, or tape the label flat onto a package. If you print onto label, you can just stick your label on as is, or mat the label as indicated above.







They are just so fun! I can't wait for Christmas Eve, which is the night that my husband and I sit down together and wrap all our kids' gifts together. We've done it since we've been married, and it's one of our favorite traditions. Once the kids are in bed, we pop in a Christmas movie, grab some yummy Christmas treats, and get to work.



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Thank you so much for having me!  I hope you'll stop by {brown paper packages} and say hello...I'd love to have you!



   









Specialty Cardstock White

 Small Brown Paper Gift Bag

Christmas: Footprint Penguins

Happy Holidays, Design Dazzle readers!  I'm Laura, from Come Together Kids and I'm thrilled to be here sharing a way my kids and I came together to make an adorable (and meaningful) gift for the grandparents.

How cute is this group of penguins in their little hats and scarves?  Doesn't the shape of their bodies look familiar?  That's right, they're footprints!  I made this adorable canvas wall hanging for the grandparents last year using the footprints of all the grandchildren.

The project was pretty inexpensive and not too difficult to make at all, but even more importantly, the grandparents loved it! 

Here's what you'll need:

• plain artist's canvas ( I had a lot of footprints, so I used a 12" x 24" one)


• two pieces of blue cotton fabric for the background (mine had small prints that somewhat resembled the snow and sky)


• black cotton fabric for the footprints (mine had a subtle dot pattern)


• scraps of fleece or felt for the penguin accessories


• Heat'n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive 


• acrylic paint for the eyes
  
  


• snowflake buttons (optional)


• iron and hot glue gun

Here's what to do:

1.  Iron the Heat'n Bond to the wrong side of the blue fabrics.  Overlap the two fabrics slightly to form the "ground" and the "sky".  (I cut a slightly wavy line where the two colors met.)  Cut your fabric a few inches larger than the size of your canvas.  Peel off the paper backing and iron your pieces directly to the front of the canvas.  Wrap the excess fabric around the sides to the back and hot glue in place.

2.  Next, iron the Heat'n Bond to the wrong side of the black fabric. Then trace the child's footprint onto the paper-y side.  Cut out the footprints.  (For an example of how this is done, see a similar post I did with Footprint Butterflies).  Peel off the paper backing again, position your footprints where you want them on the canvas and iron them in place.

3.  Now you'll want to add your penguins' clothing!  I simply cut out pieces of leftover fleece to make little hats and scarves and hot glued them in place.  Then I cut ovals out of white fleece and hot glued them on to form the penguins bellies.

.

4.  Finally, use a bit of acrylic paint to paint on your penguins' eyes  (I initially planned on using googly eyes, but I liked the look of the painted eyes much better!) and add little triangle noses ( I just glue on a small triangle of orange paper)  I also added a few snowflake buttons in the "sky".

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5.  That's it!  Whether you're making just one penguin or a whole waddle (yes, I looked up the term for a group of penguins!), this is a really cute way to use footprints to create some winter art.

I hope you enjoyed our little project.  I really believe it's simple and heartfelt gifts like this Footprint Penguin canvas that truly make Christmas Wonderful!

Make Your Own Childrens' Nativity Set!

Hi everyone!  It's such an honor to be guest posting here at Design Dazzle!  My name is Janet and I blog over at Today's Fabulous Finds.  I just finished my very first Christmas craft of the season:  A Childrens' Nativity Set made with craft sticks and clay pots.  I'm so excited to show you how to make one for your own family or to give away as a gift!

This nativity set is especially for kids.  They can play with it, keep it in their room, and best of all...they can help you make it, which makes it even more special and memorable! 

(The clay pot figures were inspired by a set that a good friend made for me years ago, there are many versions floating around so choose the one that you like best.   The stable and manger are my own designs.) 

 Craft Stick Nativity Stable

(Finished size:  Height 7" without the star, width 8")

Supplies Needed

Pkg. of craft sticks

Wire cutters and scissors

Hot glue gun and glue

Sm. pkg. of sheet moss

Dark brown stain or paint

Black craft wire

Wood star

Gold/yellow and cream/gray paint

Rag or foam brush

Sand paper

 1.  Using a pair of wire cutters, cut two paint sticks in half.  Pinch the stick tightly with the wire cutters and then carefully break it off in two or one side may just flip across the room.  Yes, we know from experience. :)  Cut one-fourth of the length off of 4 more paint sticks.  The rest of the sticks used will be full-size. 



2.  Lay out two sets of four sticks.  Hot glue the half-size sticks to the top and bottom.  Lay out 9 sticks, glue a full-size stick to the top and bottom.



3.  Glue the X on.  (You may want to wait to do this step until after your stain/paint the back piece.)



4.  Glue the three wall pieces together as pictured above.



5.  Lay out two sets of seven sticks.  (Leave a small space between two of them to string the wire through for the star.)  Glue a stick across, one inch up from the bottom.  Glue another stick across at the top so it hangs over the top of the sticks by 1/8" (this will be the peak of the roof).



6.  Glue the two parts of the roof together in the center.  Use plenty of hot glue.  Hold the two pieces in place on the sides of the stable and at the angle you want the roof as the glue dries.

7.  Use a rag to stain the craft sticks and the star or paint them dark brown with craft paint and a brush.  Let dry.  With the rag, gently rub some cream or gray paint over the stain to give it a weathered look.  Blend it in with a clean part of the rag as you go.



8.  Glue the roof in place on the side walls.  Lay out sheet moss on the roof, glue in place, and then roughly trim the edges with scissors. 



9.  For the star: Paint over the stain with gold paint. Sand to distress. Ink around the edges with a distress ink pad if necessary.  Cut a piece of wire, thread it through the roof.  Curl the end and hot glue it to the underside of the roof.  Curl the top of the wire around a pencil and hot glue the star to the wire. 

Clay Pot Nativity People

Supplies Needed

2- 1 3/4" to 2" clay pots (This is a seasonal item, I found mine at Jo Ann's)

2- round wood balls (1 1/2")

1- round wood ball (5/8")

Fabric scraps

Craft sticks

Permanent marker

Small dowel (you can also use an old foam brush handle)

Spanish moss

Blue, black, and flesh color paint and foam brush

Jute

Hot glue gun and glue

Small pin

Wire cutters

Baby Jesus and Manger

1.  Cut 4 sticks just under 2" long using the rounded end, and 6 sticks 1 3/4" long.  Criss-cross and glue the rounded sticks at the center.  The legs must be glued exactly as shown in the picture for the manger to work correctly. 

2.  Glue 4 sticks on for the bottom of the manger, glue the remaining two sticks to the ends and then glue spanish moss onto the manger. 

3.  Cut a dowel 1" long.  Glue the 5/8 ball to one end.  Paint with flesh color paint.  Draw the face on with a fine tip permanent marker.  Dip the head of a small pin into white paint and dot the eyes and cheeks.

4.  Cut a scrap of fabric.  Fold the top of the fabric down an inch, wrap over the head, swaddle the fabric around the baby, tuck the ends under and glue to the back.

Joseph and Mary

1.  Paint the pot and the head then hot glue the head to the pot. 

2.  For the robes, cut a square of scrap fabric.  Fold the top inch under and place it over the head.  Glue the sides of the robe to the pot.  Bring the fabric around and glue at the bottom center.  Trim off the excess fabric around the bottom with a pair of scissors.

3.  Draw the faces on with a fine tip permanent marker and dot eyes and cheeks with a pin head dipped in white paint. 

4.  Separate one strand out from a piece of jute and tie it for Mary's bow.  Tie some jute (all strands) in knots for the head bands.

I thought that Joseph and Mary could be a little taller, so I cut a piece of wood, painted it black (brown may have looked better), and set it inside the stable.  It made them just the right height, you won't notice it there when Joseph and Mary are in place.

 As you can see, this nativity set is not too hard to make.  My daughter made the stable pictured below almost all on her own.  She painted it a dark brown instead of staining it.  Paint made the clean-up a lot easier, as you can imagine. :)

If you're looking for an activity that will entertain your kids/grand kids, I suggest buying a large box of craft sticks.  Pictured below are a few of the things my kids have made 100% on their own, without any help.  It's amazing the creativity that can come from a pile of craft sticks, a hot glue gun, and a little paint.  It's so much fun!

We adore our little nativity set and hope that this is something that you can make and enjoy with your family as well! 

If you like small handmade crafts and gifts like this one, I have 'a few' more over at Today's Fabulous Finds that I'd love to share with you. :)

Have a wonderful Holiday season!  Thanks for having me over Toni!

Our 100 Ideas of Christmas Wonderful series will be featured through Christmas!