Thursday, December 15, 2011

Painted cookies brings families together @WBCL

In the rush of the shopping season some of the "old-fashioned" kinds of things like decorating cookies have gotten left behind. But not for the kids and their families that came to the library to paint cookies last night. They did not get to make the cookies but the look of delight on faces of young and grown up at the selection made that a small detail.


 I found a recipe for the hard frosting to paint with and used it. The key to getting good color was to use plenty of food coloring so the colors would be vibrant. I stirred with a little plastic spoon but a straw would work. Everyone had their own themes for detailing the cookies and all of them were just perfect. The cookies can be hung at home just like my memories as a kid.
To make the frosting to paint with use the recipe from allrecipes.com/

1 dozen cookies' worth
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring
In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

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Friday, December 9, 2011

Jewelry making turns into gifts for families

Beads of all kinds and sizes just beg to be strung into a necklace, bracelet or be made into a pin for ourselves or someone we know. This class let families with kids of all ages work together to create a great gift or two from the beads people have donated to me. 
We used thin wire, cording, and metallic chenille stems as bases for the projects. I was lucky to find necklace closures to add to the ends of the wires to make a more "professional" way to finish the necklaces and bracelets. Most of our participants also decorated boxes to hold their gifts complete with ribbon bows. As you can see, the kids also made sure they went home with something to wear themselves. Lots of lucky grandmas and aunts out there this year!
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Monday, December 5, 2011

Holiday ornament making draws out the families

Everyone seemed to have a great time making ornaments Sunday afternoon. Even though it was cold and rainy outside we were snug and busy painting, gluing and adding glitz to the ornaments. It was hard to tell what was most popular as children and their parents moved from table to table to create reindeer from cork or clothes pins, snowmen from plastic snowflakes and white foam balls, decorate gingerbread houses and trees or paint wooden ornaments and plastic suncatchers. 

Take a look at the slide show:

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