GUEST CRAFTS: Aimee & Kienna's Santa Hand Print

When Aimee told me about this Santa hand print decoration she had seen online and was planning on making, I jumped at the chance of seeing how she did it. Immortalising your toddler's hand print as a Christmas ornament, what a fab idea!

It is also a lovely reminder of your baby's tiny hands in years to come, Aimee explained, and if you make one every December, you will eventually have a complete set of very special Christmas tree decorations - not to mention gifts for family.

(I tried to find the original posting online to credit the work, but could not find it - so a big thank you to the ingenious person who first created this.)

The Santa is fairly straightforward to make. The base is salt and flour dough, with your baby's hand print pressed into it, then cut out, baked and painted. Do prepare a day or two for the whole process: the salt dough has to to cook thoroughly, set and cool, and the paint and fixer need to dry.

As is customary, I asked my guest crafter a few interview questions - so you can read up all about Aimee's family, photography and life in Spain at the end of the blog.

And now without further ado, here's how to create your own hand print Santa.


Ingredients for salt dough:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup of salt
• water

Materials for decoration:

• Acrylic paint, in red and white
• Black permanent marker
• Paint fixer spray or varnish, or clear liquid glue
• Paint brushes
• Ribbon

Instructions:

1. Combine the ingredients for the dough, adding tiny amounts of water at a time, until dough is just kneadable.

2. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin or wine bottle, until it is about 1.5 cm thick.

3. Press your child's hand firmly into the dough, as many times as you like.

4. Cut around the hand prints, and make a small hole for the hanger ribbon.

5. Bake at 200 ºC for 3 hours until the dough has gone hard. (The dough may not harden completely in the oven, but will do so when the ornaments have cooled.)

6. Take the ornaments out of the oven and let them cool.

7. Paint and decorate the Santas as follows, and once the paint is dry, spray with fixer, or cover with varnish or clear glue:

STEP 1 - First, paint them completely white. Then mix a touch of red paint with white to create a pink tone, and cover Santa's "face" with it.

STEP 2 - Follow this with a bright red hat and nose. 

STEP 3 - Add a white moustache.

STEP 4 - Wait for the paint to dry and add the black lines with a marker pen.

Aimee and I followed the instructions for the decoration as they were posted on Facebook, but you can unleash your creativity and use other colours or ways of making Santa's face up. You can even turn the finger prints up top, and make your figures into the Three Wise Men with crowns - or if it's the wrong time of year, into Easter chicks, Halloween witches or anything you like.

Enjoy making your Santa and have a very happy Christmas!

* * *

Guest Profile: Aimee

Aimee was born and raised in Manchester, UK. After her parents moved to Spain she came over for a six month visit and met a handsome musician. The rest is history. Aimee now lives with Gary, their daughter Kienna, Aimee's mum and Gary's dad in a typical Andalusian pueblo in the Malaga province.

A few weeks ago Aimee thought that she had hit the big time by winning the Euro Lottery jackpot, only to find out that her mother had read out the numbers on the ticket rather than the ones drawn. For a whole ten minutes the whole family had thought they were multi-millionaires. Obviously a bit of a disappointment followed, but Aimee reckons that at least she now knows how it feels to have won 26 million.

Aimee's photography business started out as a hobby three years ago and has grown from there. She is now working on setting up a studio to work from home and you can view Aimee's work on:

 www.facebook.com/aimeegoodinsonphotography

For this month's guest profile, Aimee answered a few questions for our readers:

Q: What is your least favourite Christmas food?
Aimee: I'm not keen on fancy food, I do like it simple and traditional.

Q: What has been your daughter Kienna's cutest moment so far?
Aimee: Everything she does is cute. She and Felix snogging is top of the list though.

Q: If you could chose to be unicorn or a fairy, which would you be and why?
Aimee: Fairy - more chance of flying about causing mischief without being caught.

Q: Favourite toy as a little girl?
Aimee: Dolls, Barbies and my cousin's spud gun.

Q: What would you take on a desert island?
Aimee: A good book. I'd make the most of the peace and quiet!

GUEST RECIPE: Jose's Tortilla de Patatas

The tortilla de patatas or tortilla española - Spanish potato omelet - is probably about the most nourishing and filling food I know. 

Made with yummy cooked potato, this weighty, juicy omelette is good to eat hot, cold, on its own, in a sandwich, on a cocktail stick dipped in mayonnaise or ketchup, or cut into cubes and thrown into a salad.

It is surprisingly tricky to get right though. Here, my first blog guest Jose, the tortilla ninja, shares how to make a tortilla perfecta. 



Ingredients 

3 Large potatoes
1 Large onion
4 Eggs (medium size)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt 

Utensils

Non-stick frying pan (approx. 25 cm diameter)
Sieve
Knife and chopping board
A large plate that will cover the frying pan


Instructions

1. Peel and chop the potatoes and the onion, mix in a bowl with two pinches of salt. 

2. Fry the potato and onion in 2-3cm olive oil, medium heat, stirring constantly until they are soft and have sunken into the oil. Never let them fry crispy.




3. Once cooked, drain the oil from the potato and onion mix using a sieve. (Make sure you collect the oil in a bowl and dispose of it safely - never pour cooking oil down the sink.)

4. Whisk the eggs. Put the cooked potato and onion into the eggs, mix well. 

5. Wash and dry your pan, place it on medium heat, pour in a about a table spoon of olive oil.

6. Pour in the tortilla mix and cook for 2-4 minutes, or until the bottom half is cooked. The idea is for the tortilla to be moist (not over cooked and dry), yet the bottom needs to be sufficiently solid to hold the tortilla together when it's flipped. 

7. Once tortilla has cooked on one side, flip it over. For this, take a large plate. Put it over the top of the pan. Holding the plate firmly in place with one hand, tip the pan upside down so the tortilla ends up on the plate. Slide the tortilla back into the pan, soggy side down. (This can be difficult. If it goes wrong, be prepared to eat your tortilla scrambled, it'll be just as tasty.) Cook for a further 2-4 minutes, or until firm. Again, don't be tempted to over cook.

And there we are. Tip onto a plate and tuck in. ¡Buen provecho!

* * *

Guest Profile: José

Rock musician by night, hard working family man by day and the world's best dad 24/7 - that's my husband José.

Although his roots are in Malaga, José spent his childhood in Cadiz. He loves to reminisce about the long drives from Cadiz to Malaga to see family during the holidays, with mum, dad, his two brothers, baby sister and grandma all stuffed into in a Renault 5. And one occasion, a live turkey in the footwell. (The feathered passenger ended up on the Christmas table.) 

When not working or spending time with Felix and me, Jose can be found in his "cave" playing guitar, preparing for a gig. 



For this month's guest post, Jose answered a few questions for our readers:

Q: If you had to cook for Gwyneth Paltrow, what would you make her?
José: Tortilla, of course! And rabo de toro.

Q: When would you say it's OK to lie?
José: It's a very deep question. I'd need to think about it.

Q: If you were a character from ‘Lost,’ which one would you be?
José: Said.

Q: What are you wearing right now?
José: Pyjamas.

Q: If you could have any super power, what would it be?
José: Time travel. 

You can find out more about Jose and his music on shamrockspain.yolasite.com.