We leave cookies out for Santa, but what about the reindeer? They’ve got to be hungry after flying all the way around the world!
The solution? Reindeer food!
Reindeer food is also a solution for another problem – what to send with your kids to their Christmas party at school, daycare or church… and it’s not more junk food or yet another trinket!
My friend at work gave me this idea and if you google “reindeer food” you can find several variations. The one I liked best is just raw oatmeal and colored sugar (some recipes use glitter but that’s not good for the birds… and besides, glitter is messy!). I put about a 1/2 cup of the mixture into a sandwich bag, tied it with ribbon and attached a tag that contained a poem. It turned out pretty cute!
Here are a couple pics:
Here’s what the gift tag says:
Sprinkle on the lawn at night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
Santa’s reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home!
If you’re really motivated, you can layer the ingredients in a baby food jar – super cute! The instructions and a picture of that can be found here.
I’d also like to point out that this project is extremely budget-friendly as well! The oatmeal I bought was $1, and I got the colored sugar from the Target dollar bin (I used 3 containers of it, though). I had the baggies and the ribbon already.
And here is the file for the poem! reindeer-food.doc
Cute, simple and cheap – that works for me!
For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in my Dryer!
For a gal who doesn’t make birthday cakes, you sure are crafty!
We are actually making reindeer food later this week at our preschool! My oldest made it last year in kindergarten. We put it out on Christmas Eve and in the morning it was GONE! They were so surprised to see that the reindeer ate their treat.
We make magic reindeer food every year. It is great for children and as small token gifts to children you know too. It’s what I posted about last week for WFMW. It’s really easy and inexpensive but brings so much joy to children.
Oh crap. I wanted to make this for my great nephew. He’s 2 1/2 and would love this. Guess he’ll have to wait until he’s 3 1/2!
My kids used to go to craft shows and sell this and donate all of the money to charity. They loved it and people bought it like crazy. How can you say no to two little kids saying “Magic Reindeer Food….All the money goes to (fill in charity name here.)”
We have received this in the past and I have always gotten a kick out of it, but had forgotten all about it.
I think I will put some together today with my daughter for her kindergarten’s party tomorrow. Thanks for reminding me about it.
I guess I will be daddin’ it up with her today after school.
That’s so cute. I’ll have to remember that for when my kid knows/learns about Santa.
soo cute I’m gonna make this