Crafting the Holidays: Round-Up!
This holiday season we feel like it was ever-more-important to get off of our devices and do things with our hands, with friends, and with family. Our deepest satisfaction as humans come from being in community and creating things. We're connective, creative beings at heart, after all!
Enter our Crafting the Holidays series! The entire Sparkle Team (along with some other like-minded creative makers) got together and set out on a mission to get crafty this holiday season — to bake, sew, knit, and more! All while listening to our favorite Sparkle Stories, of course.
Whether it is a thoughtful gift for a loved-one, some homemade holiday decor, or just a tasty treat to share with those we hold dear, we rounded up all the amazing goodies we created with our hands this holiday for (and with!) you, Dear Sparklers!
Paper Lanterns with Waldorfish
We kicked off our Crafting the Holidays series with our friends over at Waldorfish who graciously shared a free video tutorial for making decorative paper lanterns for Martinmas — lovely little decorative lanterns that can carry you through all holiday festivities.
You can read the full blog post here.
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Martin & Sylvia story "Festival of Lights."
Waxed Leaf Garland
Here at Sparkle HQ, our CEO Lisabeth handcrafted some beautiful Waxed Leaf Garlands in November to take advantage of all the rich, beautiful colors of the autumn leaves which provided for some natural beauty at home for Thanksgiving and beyond!
Learn how to craft your own Waxed Leaf Garland here.
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Martin & Sylvia's Nature School story "I Feel Orange."
Scrap Basket Softies
Using scraps of fabric left over from other projects, our COO Susan was able to bring this adorable little softie to life: a one-of-a-kind gift option for the littles in your life. As you all know, a handmade gift is just that much more meaningful!
Check-out the original blog post here which inspired this Crafting the Holidays project!
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Old Time Christmas Stories Collection.
Salted Caramel Brownies
This Crafting the Holidays project was whipped-up by our Creative Director Kristen and her lovely daughter Liv as a delicious Thanksgiving treat!
These brownies are the perfect sweet confection to bring to friends and family this holiday season — and beyond! Our Salted Caramel Brownie recipe is an elevated version of a more traditional brownie with the addition of decadent caramel.
Check out the original recipe which inspired this Crafting the Holidays treat here.
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: At Home with Martin & Sylvia story "Home-Grown Thanksgiving."
Sparkling Fruit Ornaments
With just a little bit of prep-time allocated to drying your fruit, this Crafting the Holidays craft activity is a great one for little hands to get involved with too! Our Creative Content Manager Trish and her four-year-old son had fun decorating with glitter and Mod Podge and tying the pieces of yarn to finish off each piece of citrus! These little Sparkling Fruit Ornaments are great in a myriad of ways — you can hang them on your tree, gift them to friends and family, string them up as a garland, or use them as a decorative touch to your holiday wrapping!
Check-out the original blog post here which inspired this Crafting the Holidays project!
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Martin & Sylvia's Audio Advent Calendar story "December 7: The Tree"
Needle-Felted Matchboxes
We were honored to have Jessica from Toymaking Magic join us in our Crafting the Holidays series, with her lovely Needle Felted Matchboxes! She was inspired by the Martin & Sylvia's Audio Advent Calendar story "December 12: Spunderful Day" where Martin takes stock of the gifts he is making his family for Christmas. He realizes he'd like to make one more thing for Sylvia and visits the Spunderful Shop with Momma for wooly supplies.
The Spunderful Shop is just the place you'd find the materials you need for this project! Jessica at Toymaking Magic kindly shared a video tutorial for making these lovely little needle felted matchbox covers. She and her sons make these beautiful handmade gifts for loved ones and you can too!
Check-out the full blog post here for more!
Santa Lucia Window Art
Santa Lucia's Day is celebrated with a festival of lights that marks the beginning of the Christmas season. It is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year and is celebrated on December 13 with sweets, feasts, and the lighting of many candles.
Franziska Shelton of My Seasonal Treasury generously shared her Saint Lucia Window Art with Sparkle Stories. She also kindly gifted a charming printable of three Santa Lucia silhouettes that you can print on regular paper or card stock, cut out using scissors or a crafting knife, and display in a well-lit window.
Download the printable here. And check-out our full blog post here for more!
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Windward Ho! Hands to Hearties (Book Seven) story "Episode Six: Santa Lucia Cuccia."
Cinnamon Honey Snowflakes
Our lovely Editor Ann got into the kitchen with her daughter this holiday season to recreate our Cinnamon Honey Snowflakes for this Crafting the Holidays recipe. Very simple to make, this recipe requires only tortillas, cinnamon, butter and a drizzle of honey to top if off. These will leave your kitchen smelling toasty and delicious! Ann felt these were SUPER fun to make and suggests briefly warming the tortillas in the oven before folding! Good to note!
You can check-out the original recipe here.
Recommended audio story listening while you craft: Martin & Sylvia story "Fairy Snow Fort."
Looking for more crafting or cooking ideas!? Visit our Sparkle Blog! Search "holidays" in Sparkle Crafts and Sparkle Kitchen for lots of crafting and baking projects.
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