Christmas Village

With #Craftmas quickly approaching (a most wonderful brainchild of Little Button Diaries) and now on year THREE (!), I chose to pull out thee ole salt dough. Christmas crafting and salt dough get me all manner of excited. Waxing nostalgic, I considered the traditional gingerbread houses of yesteryear. I originally considered making some salt dough "gingerbread" houses when it hit me: making one flat piece would be much less engineering. Less engineering means, more time for details! What could be more delightful than a little salt dough village with teeny, tiny windows from which light could escape? Enter the Warm and Fuzzies. <----- simply, the pinnacle of holiday cheer.

For our climate in the Northeast, having the oven on for extended periods of time as the dough cures, has the delightful side effect of heating the house. Add spices or essential oils to the dough and you have a warm, and sensory pleasing effect. In fact, this isn't the first time a blog post will be dedicated to exposing the crafting, miracle material. This smooth, pliable, sensory rich dough is 1.) inexpensive and 2.) environmentally friendly! This dough is made with 3 ubiquitous kitchen items and can be made in a matter of minutes. The resulting projects last for a very long time too. (I've had the same salt dough star garland for over 7 years!)

This is year one of our village, or the baseline village, lets call it. I envision this village growing, year after year. Just imagine that as the kids grow, so too does the village! Perhaps we'll add a snowman, a few lamp posts, maybe some bunnies? The possibilities are vast. And to be honest, I find the idea of this expanding village, quite thrilling! I think this could be a new family tradition we rather look forward to each year.

What do you think? Will you add this to your family's traditions? Or perhaps gift this to a friend? Maybe you know someone in need of a little Warm and Fuzzy.

Gather:

*1 cup of fine salt