More Christmas tree decorations

Here are some of my other Christmas tree decorations I made a few years ago.

I will give some instructions, but you can use your imagination to make them the way you would like them to look.

The cow and donkey were made by shaping balls of dough and attaching it with cocktail sticks. The “trimmings” were made from rolled out pieces of dough cut to shape and attached to the bodies with egg white.

Make a hole with a drinking straw or cocktail stick to attach a piece of string or ribbon while the dough is still wet.

I used a cookie cutter for the candles and made holes to fit over the tips of the branches of the Christmas tree.

Cookie cutters are great for making ornaments for the Christmas tree. If you do not have cookie cutters you can draw pictures of stars, birds, butterflies or snowmen, Father Christmas or any other shapes you want to use, on stiff cardboard. Cut it out, place on rolled out dough and use a craft knife to cut the ornaments from the dough.

Tip: Children’s coloring books are great for finding templates.

The Father Christmas was made from balls of dough flattened and shaped to form the head, body and arms. The legs were formed by making an indent with a knife. The cuffs were made from thin strips of dough and glued with egg white to the arms.

I grated dough on the fine side of a grater to form the “spaghetti” for the beard, hair and moustache as well as the pom-pom on the hat. Use a cocktail stick to pick up and position the hair, beard and moustache but remember to use egg white to attach it to the head. You can also push some dough through a sieve to make the hair.

Tip: A garlic press or clay gun is ideal for thicker hair. Clay guns can be bought from pottery supply shops or have a look in the cake decorating accessory aisle of your supermarket.

Use balls of dough to make the snowman, but position his arms on top and a little to the side of his body.

Attach a smaller piece of dough on top of the head and shape it to form the hat. Roll out two pieces of dough, cut the required length for the scarf. Make a fringe from “spaghetti” dough. Complete as shown in picture.

Bend a thin piece of wire into a U shape and press it into the top of the figure to form a small loop for hanging on the tree. A paper clip cut in half can also be inserted to form a loop.

Tip: Remember to insert the wire or paper clips before baking.

Let the dough figures dry completely before you paint them, (use the drying method described in the instructions for the nativity scene).

Paint them in colors of your choice and seal with varnish.

Have fun!!!