Making Christmas Crafts as Gifts for a Teacher

Darling little mice in a basket are cute enough for any teacher, but put it on the top of John Steinbeck's book, "Of Mice and Men," and you've got a gift just made for the teacher.

To make the basket you are going to need to get a large English Walnut with the shell in pristine condition. Use a coping saw, the one that looks like a cheese cutter, and begin to cut a line that is 1/16 inch to the left of the seam. (Don't worry if you can't tell the nuts left or right, you're going to do the same thing on the other side.) Make the cut about1 inch long on both sides, from top to a little below midpoint. Do the same on the other side. (See I told you not to worry.) You are going to cut a line on the side of the shell that is perpendicular to the cuts you just made and right up to them. Do this on both sides and remove the "almost" quarter of the shell that was just cut . Do the same for the other side and you have just created a basket with a handle from the shell. You will need to clean the insides out of the shell, the nutmeat and membrane.

You may have some uneven spots or ridges along the cuts that you made. Remove these carefully with a craft knife or a razor blade.

Clean it thoroughly and sand the edge very slightly, it is a little delicate. When you are satisfied it is clean, lightly spray a clear acrylic over the basket. Allow this to dry and spray again.

You can fill the basket with dried Spanish moss and make it look like a little nest by packing it down. Find the perfect spot for a small craft mouse (The wooden ones are darling, but you can dress it up by using one of the miniature ceramic mice.) Do not glue it yet. Put dots of glue to the side and add flowers or birdseed. If your mouse is a pack rat, you might want small beads in the basket also. Put glue down and attach the mouse.

Make a Sweet Gum Miniature Wreath.

If you live in the south you are probably familiar with the sweet gum tree and it's fruit. The spiky gumball caught my interest on a trip to Florida, so I pocketed a few. Here's an idea that can easily be made with 6-8 of the sweet gum seedpods.

You are going to need a glue gun for this project too. Glue the sweet gum balls together to form an O. (Wow, you have the wreath already.) You will need to add 9 inches of satin ribbon. Red is the normal color for a Christmas wreath, but I like a pink against the brown of the pod. Put the ends of the ribbon together and hot glue them to the back of the pod creating a loop hanger. Allow this to dry thoroughly before moving on.

Decorate the front of the wreath by gluing bits of fern onto the front. Ming fern or hemlock, look very attractive on the wreath. Don't make the pieces any longer than 1/2 inch long. Get tiny dried flowers to match and contrast the ribbon. If you are using pink ribbon try a white contrast. Glue them around the wreath. Try clumping a few white and add a pink. You already have the pink ribbon so go lightly on that color. (The same is true for the red.)

Finish the wreath by making a bow with a 5-6-inch piece of ribbon to match the hanger. Glue it on the top of the wreath and glue a dried flower in the center.

Attach the sweet gum wreath to a package of what else? Sweets, of course.