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Letters To Santa Shrinking Paper

Letters To Santa Shrinking Paper – Growing up, we each made at least one Christmas ornament a year. Usually more, but at least one. It was always fun to decorate the tree and see the ornaments from the past. Then, when we were alone, we had a tree’s worth of jewelry!

Now that I’m a mom, I want to keep the tradition alive, but we don’t always have time for crafts. My new favorite tradition is wish list jewelry! You are all adorable and it is SO much fun to look at my kids’ hobbies every year! But even if you’re not doing Santa or wish lists, you can tweak it and let your kids draw a picture that turns into a little ornament. My kids drew our family, relatives, and even reindeer!

Letters To Santa Shrinking Paper

So we have elves hard at my house, I love that little elf! And honestly, where did I get this idea from!

The Elf On The Shelf Letters To Santa Kit

But don’t let that be a turn off, just hear me out. So Elf on the Shelf has these adorable Elf on the Shelf letters to Santa with a book (surprise), blank letters, ribbons, markers and a Mrs. Claus mat. As amazing as this set is, I didn’t have the money to invest that year, so I decided to DIY it!

The kids were thrilled! They filled out their requests and returned the lists to our elves shelf! That night she cut the lists down, flew them to the Jolly Red Man, and then flew them back to hang on our tree! (If you’re doing this Elf, that knocks out TWO days! You’re welcome!)

Obviously you don’t need an Elf to do this now. Just order your Shrinky Dinks and follow steps 1 and 2! Kids can even watch it go down! Follow the directions on any sheets you order, usually around 320° for 5 minutes. I usually sandwich our Shrinky Dinks between two sheets of butcher paper and lay a silicone mat on top (this helps your list curl as it shrinks, but it’s not necessary)! Then thread in some twine, yarn, or ribbon and you have the cutest keepsake (just a reminder to punch the hole BEFORE the shrink)! Even if your kids can’t write yet, let them write or draw pictures! If you choose, you can write their actual wishes on the back with a date.

You can still use this keepsake craft! Take those Shrinky Dinks and cut out round shapes (this is important because when they shrink, the straight edges are almost ‘sew’ material). And let your kids go to town! Mine has drawn family portraits, nativity scenes, wreaths, trees, handprints, the list goes on! Then reduce them! It also makes an adorable gift for grandparents!