Great Gift Idea: Peppermint Ponies

Perhaps you cannot share these with your ebuddy on Facebook, MySpace, Yuwie, Club Penguin, YouTube, MiniClips or another online site. But for in-person holiday giving, this is just the ticket.

These make super package tie-ons! Stick one on a Christmas greeting containing a gift card for a special teacher. Hand them out at the stables, in the school classroom, in the neighborhood, at a Christmas party or with your holiday tips to local professionals.

This year, we'll be giving these little peppermint stick ponies to all the stable hands with their Christmas bonuses.

Your own friends will gallop with joy when they see these adorable equine treats, which they can hang on the Christmas tree, consume right away or share with their favorite horses.

Peppermint Ponies

You can find all you need at a craft or discount store:

One box of candy canes
One skein of sturdy yarn
One package of googly eyes
One felt square
A hot-melt glue gun
One pair of scissors
One ruler

Here are the simple instructions:

Plug in your glue gun.

Measure and cut 20 pieces of yarn, each 3" (about 8 cm.) long. Line these up in a row on newsprint.

Place a line of hot glue along the top of the curve on the candy cane and down the straight edge, making it long enough to match the row of yarn pieces.

Roll the glue onto center of the yarn pieces, picking them up and creating the pony's mane.

Allow glue to dry and cool enough to touch (within a minute or two). Hold the candy cane along the straight end, with the curve pointing away from you.

Place a line of hot glue along the middle of the yarn pieces, right over the top of the candy cane. Bend the left ends of the yarn pieces over this, so that they lay flat atop the other ends. This will create a lovely thick mane for the pony.

Again, allow the glue to dry and cool enough to touch. Trim the mane, so all of the ends are even. (At this point, you can determine whether your pony will have a shorter mane, like a traditional hunter-jumper, or a long and luxurious one, like a Baroque horse.)

Cut tiny triangles from the felt, and hot-melt glue these atop the arch of the candy cane to create the pony's ears. (Remember, a pony with his ears facing forward is a happy pony. If his ears are pinned back, he is probably ready to bite!)

Finally, hot-melt glue the googly eyes on either side of the pony's face. Giddy-up! Your pony is ready for gifting!