Paw Print Ornaments

Paw print ornaments make great gifts and are perfect for hanging on the tree. Learn how to make them with this tutorial!

Final product:

What you will need:

1. An oven or a toaster oven
2. A medium size bowl
3. 1/4 cup flour
4. 1/8 cup salt (2 tbs.)
5. 1/8 cup water (2 tbs.)
6. A fork (or something else to stir with)
7. Wax paper (optional)
8. A rolling pin
9. A cookie cutter
10. A straw
11. Sandpaper
12. Paint (optional)
13. Your pet

 Part I

1.

Pre-heat your oven or toaster oven to 250° Fahrenheit.

Mix the flour and salt with a fork,

add the water,

and mix it all together.

Once it's all mixed together, knead it with your hands until it starts to get tough. 

(If it feels too sticky, add more flour.)

2.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about an 1/8 of an inch thick.
(This is enough dough to make about three small ornaments.)

Then take your cookie cutters of choice and cut them out.

3.

Take your furry friend (or not furry) and place their paw right in the center, pushing down a little bit.
(Make sure to give them a few treats afterwards.)

Now take the straw and make a small hole at the top of the ornament for the ribbon.

4.

Put the ornaments in the oven or toaster oven, face up, and set the timer for 30 minutes. Once the timer has gone off, flip them over and bake for another 30 minutes.
(Don't worry about baking them too long. If they are still a bit soft, bake them longer.)

Part II (optional)

These next steps are basic instructions for painting, so feel free to paint them in any color or style you want. 

1.

Sand down the edges and the bottom of the ornaments, and blow all the dust off.

2.

Lay them on something where they won't pick up debris, and spray paint them in any color you want.
(You can also use acrylic paint.)

3.

Once they dried, I painted the back of one black with acrylic paint,

and filled in the paw print too.

Done!

Thanks for reading! If you made an ornament, please leave a picture in the comments, so I can see;)

Wooden Wizard Wand

A tutorial on how to make a wizard wand out of actual wood.

Before:

After:

What you will need:

1. A tree branch 1/2" wide and 15" long
2. Tree trimmers
3. Belt sander (normal sandpaper will work)
4. A knife
5. Fine grit sandpaper
6. Wood colored permanent markers
7. A nail and hammer (optional)
8. Wand core (optional)
9. Clear spray-on varnish

(Make sure you know what type of wood color, length and core you want before starting.)

1.

Cut down a tree branch and trim off all excess branches.

Sand down the knobs and knots.

2.

(Please be careful using the knife on this step!)

Using a knife, whittle down the top layer of bark. If you're having trouble with this step, it might be because the wood is too wet. Let it sit for an hour or so and then continue.

3.

If the wand is too long, leave about 3/4" more than you want and cut off the rest. (3/4" will allow for sanding).

Sand down the branch so that there aren't any bumps, and start shaping the wand tip. 

4.

(Please be careful using the knife on this step!)

Now you can carve the details into the wand. Hold the wand comfortably in your hand and make a mark 1/2" from the bottom and two marks 1/2" apart right where your thumb hits.

Start carving notches on the marks,

 and gradually carve them deeper.

Now you can sand the notches and taper the wand into the point.

5.

Sand the wand with a fine grit sandpaper so it's nice and smooth. Then take a permanent marker in the color of your choice and color the whole wand with it. 

(Note: you can use paint, but I prefer markers because it shows the grain of wood through the color.)

6. (optional)

You can skip this step if you want, but I like to do this to add a little extra magic.

Using a small nail, pound a little hole in the base of the wand

Now you can add your wand core. I'm using some Pheonix feather I got from a book.

Stuff the core as deep into the hole as you can.

7.

To finish, give it two to three light coats of clear spray-on varnish (you can get the varnish here, or at any hardware store).

(Note: it might turn green when you first spray the varnish on, but will turn back to normal when dry.)

Yay! You're done!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below ;)

Credit goes to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers for inspiration.