Kid Made Mele Kalikimaka Palm Tree Christmas Ornament

Christmas on a sunny beach, under a palm tree sounds absolutely unbeleivable to my Canadian mind. So, when we read Judy Moody and Stink: The Holly Joliday we were inspired to make a mele kalikimaka palm tree ornament for the tree.

All that Stink wants for Christmas is snow. His big sister Judy thinks he's crazy and pushes for a Hawaiian Christmas. Even the school holiday concert embraces the sunny beach over a quiet snowfall. I suppose that's why it's so amazing when Stink's Christmas wish comes true and they wake up to a beautifully snowy Christmas morning.

We took inspiration from the book and made a festive palm tree Christmas ornament - complete with Christmas lights and even a few snowflakes - for Stink.

Kid Made Palm Tree Christmas Ornament

air dry clay
acryllic craft paints - brown, green, yellow, red and white
construction paper
leaf cookie cutter
pencil
scissors
permanent marker
ribbon
glue gun

We began by sketching out the shape of a palm tree and an island on a piece of construction paper. My daughter then cut out the shape.

We rolled out a piece of air dry clay - to about ¼ inch thickness. We placed the island and tree template onto the dough, traced it and cut it out using a cheese knife. Once it was cut out we smoothed the rough edges by rubbing the clay. Set it aside.

Next we made the palm leaves. We used a leaf shaped cookie cutter. We cut out 4 leaves, then we used the rolling pin to stretch them a little longer and thinner...like palm leaves. We cut them in half - so they would look more like palm leaves.

The next step is how we put all the pieces of clay together. We had to make a little bowl of slip - to make slip stir together a few scraps of clay and a tiny bit of water. You want to make a watery clay...that's slip. To adhere the pieces of clay together, use a toothpick to score the pieces of clay and then brush the slip onto the scored areas. Press the pieces together. Repeat until all the leaves are in place...we stuck together 4 leaves on our tree. Now, set the entire piece aside to dry. You could skip the slip and use glue instead. Let all the pieces dry before gluing them together. I can't guarantee that the pieces will stay together as well as using slip, it depends on the glue you choose.

Once our tree was dry, it was time to paint. We painted the beach a sandy orange/yellow. Choose whichever colours you like. Set aside to dry.

Next we used permanent markers to write "Mele Kalikimaka" on the island. This is Hawaiian for Merry Christmas.

We also wanted to add some Christmas lights! We made these clay Christmas lights for our Eiffel Tower Christmas ornament a few years ago. Simply fold little pieces of clay over a length of string. Let them dry and then paint them red and green. They are super cute Christmas lights.

We had to add a few snowflakes, in honour of Stinks snowy wishes and the fact that it did end up snowing. We simply used white paint and a very thin paintbrush to add the snowflakes.

We added the final Christmas touch. We used the glue gun to attach the Christmas lights around the tree.

Finally, we glued a loop of ribbon to the top of the tree. This is how the tree will hang.

How fun is our little piece of Hawaii on our tree! I adore how it turned out. Not only will it remind us of Joody and Stink it will also remind us of one of our favourite Christmas songs.

Do you have a palm tree on your Christmas tree?

Today's post is part of the ever fabulous 10 Days of Kid-Made Christmas: Ornaments Inspired by Children's Books. This event is hosted each year by Melissa over on Mama Miss. Be sure to take a look at all the other fabulous books and ornaments that are being shared this year.

Related Posts

Visit Madeline in Paris this Christmas 

Celebrate Christmas with the Grinch and the folks from Whoville

BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO KITCHEN COUNTER CHRONICLES TO HAVE OUR DELICIOUS RECIPES, FUN CRAFTS & ACTIVITIES DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX.

LOOKING FOR MORE FAMILY FRIENDLY RECIPES? FOLLOW OUR KITCHEN COUNTER CHRONICLES ON PINTEREST