Reindeer Food - Classmate gifts!

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 As I mentioned below, I'm learning how to balance my new life.  My weekends consist of crafts with the kids.  Last weekend my boys and I made reindeer food for 40 of their closest friends...aka their classmates ;)!  It's moments like this, that I miss their tiny European classes (last year they had an average of 8 kids in their class...but I digress).

What is reindeer food, you ask?  Well, its a cute idea that Jo came up with when we lived closer together.  We would make these and sell them at local craft fairs, and it was SUPER popular! 


This is a cute, cheap, way to spread Christmas joy to all your children's friends

What you need:
Equal parts of the following...

• Krispy cereal
• Oats/oatmeal
• Birdseed (I omitted this.  I'd like to think it's because I'm in Africa, but who am I kidding?  There is birdseed here...I'm lazy!)
  
  Also needed:
  
• A few shakes of colored sugar (red and green add to the seasonal cheer)...I ran out of green sugar, and couldn't just run to the supermarket, so I actually made my own...see the savvy tip below!
• Sandwich bags (preferable those without the zip tops, but you can always cut off the zip, like I had to do this year)
• Ribbon or yarn (you will see in the above photo, I used ribbon...much cuter.  But this year I used yarn...limited craft supplies and all :)!)
• Card stock and a cute poem!

 For 40 bags, I used about 3 cups each, and the boys scooped in about 1/4 cup of the mix in each sandwich bag.

Directions:  Place all the ingredients (except the sugar) in a large mixing bowl and stir CAREFULLY to combine.  Scoop about 1/4 cup into a sandwich bag.  Add a few shakes of the sugar to each bag.  Once the food is in the bag, tie off the bag with the poem (printed on card stock and punched hole!).

As the poem says, on Christmas Eve, the kids take the food to the lawn, and sprinkle it for the reindeer to feed on while Santa is placing the gifts.  (Can you tell Jo and I grew up in AZ...no fireplaces, hence no chimneys, hence Santa landed in our back yard!)  This is why birdseed is helpful...the birds will hopefully eat the evidence before the kids realize they have to go check out if the food is gone. 

Savvy Tip:  If you don't have a large yard, careful about just sprinkling it in the road.  Or you may find yourself, in a robe...at 5am...sweeping up the evidence...while explaining to the neighbors what you are doing...YES THIS HAPPENED TO ME, CHRISTMAS 2007!

Our Poem (if you use our poem, you must reference us...thanks for understanding!)

 

Savvy Tip:  Don't have colored sugar, but you have food coloring?  Make your own colored sugar.  Use 1 cup of sugar and at least 2 drops of food coloring (the more drops, the darker the color).  Add to a ZipLock bag and shake vigorously for about a minute...VIOLA!  Colored sugar!