Tuesday, December 6, 2011

day 180: pipe cleaner candy canes

they turned out great and the kids loved
hanging them on the tree :)
day 180 and today the peeps and i read how the grinch stole christmas as our christmas advent book today.  i absolutely love this book and my favourite part of it is

"maybe christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."
"maybe christmas ... perhaps ... means a little bit more!"

it reminds me of all the wonderful things chirstmas offers over and above the opportunity to shop!  so going with that theme the peeps and i are making pipe cleaner candy canes to hang on the tree.  i, of course, found the idea on pinterest so its also my pinterest creation for today and is pinned to my 2011 advent crafts board.  the instructions and inspiration come from activity village, a uk website that does a fantastic job of providing free printables, crafts, and all sorts of learning tools for just about any theme or holiday you can think of!

i like the idea of these candy canes for lots of reasons:
  • i think they will last much better than paper decorations we have made in the past
  • they are home made, not store bought
  • the kids will be able to take pride in their creations hanging on the tree
  • they don't involve any hard to find resources (you could make them ANY colour :])
  • the peeps and i spent an hour listening to christmas music, crafting without the need for technical instructions from me to them, creating our individual takes on the candy cane!
you need full length pipe cleaners cut in half

then twist and twist ...

... and twist some more.

hooked the end over and you are done!

here is our pile of completed canes!

and now they adorn our tree :)


outcome: it was bliss, we laughed, we sang, we sat in silence, we ate christmas tarts, and i drank coffee ... no better way to spend my birthday :)  and the candy canes look awesome adorning our tree too!

my thanks to activity village for a wonderful craft, it was ideal for me just as much as it was ideal for the kids ... next year i think i will make some more that colour co-ordinate with different rooms in the house!


4 comments:

Morag said...

go the pipecleaners - so versatile...!

Kirsty, New Zealand said...

you would say that given its one of the only items in your craft stash ;)

Jen W. said...

Happy belated birthday, Kirsty! Sounds like a great way to spend it - crafting with your fabulous little peeps! :)

Jenny said...

Hey Birthday girl, sounds like you had a great day...belated wishes from me :) Pipe cleaner candy-canes..what a lightbulb moment that must have been! Wish I'd thought of it too, they look great :)
Jenny x