Santa's Key for LESSology's Challenge

I am not sure if this tradition is anywhere but here in the States. In fact, it was nothing I had ever heard of until my kids were young and I received one as a gift.

As I was unpacking ornaments the other day, I came across our Santa Key. It was so much fun when they were little to ceremoniously hang it off the frog door knocker we had at our old house and throw reindeer food off the porch on Christmas Eve while the chocolate chip cookies for Santa were baking.

WAIT! You mean you guys haven't heard of reindeer food either?

OH no. I'd better find you a recipe. Big day is coming and Santa's reindeer might be very hungry.

Magic Reindeer Food

Reindeer food (also sometimes called Magic Reindeer Food or Magic Reindeer Dust) is for Santa's reindeer. After all, they get hungry on Christmas Eve, too!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2-6 Tbsp red colored sugar
• 2-6 Tbsp. green colored sugar

Preparation:

Mix the ingredients together and place in a plastic bag, adding as much colored sugar as you like for a festive effect.

Tie with a ribbon and attach the following poem:

Sprinkle this reindeer food outside tonight.
The moonlight will make it sparkle bright.
As the reindeer fly and roam.
This will guide them to your home.

I hadn't the heart to pass it along to another family like last year's coat. It was special, very special at the time. I decided I needed to add it to my decorations and make a little frame/box for it plus, LESSology is having a challenge for an altered frame! 


I started with this curved basket handle they sell at our local craft store and a piece of card board they were going to throw out that they used under the scrapbook paper they were selling. Bob did try to ring it up, but then laughed at me when I told him that I REALLY needed it.

Cut one bigger than the handle and one smaller. Glued the one that was smaller on the back of the handle with hot glue and then went to town with the gesso, some glimmermist, and sparkles and bling later! 

The larger sized one got a stained glass window on both sides after modge podging on some scrapbook paper. I love the green wood grain one I found for the front. 

Of course this makes it all sound so easy. There was a lot of drying time and thinking time between all these steps, giggle!

I found putting a hinge on it hard. The last one of these I made the front door was smaller so acted like a real door. This one I wanted to be bigger than the wood frame so I had to use medical tape and lots of hot glue to get it to work.

And, here it is up on my china cabinet.

Next year I may add it to a frame or something but it was time to call this project done!

OH! I forgot to explain what a Santa's Key is! It's so kids without chimneys can rest easy that Santa can still bring them presents! He uses this magic key you leave out for him to enter your house! We had a wood stove at the old house so it would have been quite the squeeze down stove pipes.