It was with trembling hands and bated breath that I opened the travel-worn vellum envelope postmarked the North Pole….Yes!! I had been sent the top-secret recipe for Magic Reindeer Food; the scent and sparkle of which can be seen from the skies as Rudolf and his friends wend their weary way around the world on Christmas Eve. If you want to be sure of a visit from the great man himself during Christmas night, then catching the eye of his reindeer can only help increase the chances, especially if – like me – you have not managed to be good quite all of the time this year…. The lovely Mrs Claus is a fortunately a forgiving and generous soul, and has shared the recipe with me on condition that I share it only with you, and that none of us tell Mr Claus.
I’ve included two options for making these; a use-it-and-keep-it drawstring bag that will be a small labour of love for your own children, grandchildren or those very special young believers in your life, and a simple paper bag version for mass production for school Christmas fairs or parties (below)
In her letter, Mrs Claus explains that – somewhat surprisingly – Rudolph, Dancer and chums have a particular soft spot for sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, preferably all mixed up together. In short; birdseed mix. Who knew?? Add a dash of sparkling glitter and they are in heaven. Or more importantly; in your back garden, quick as a shot. I used a conventional birdseed mix and Martha’s tinsel glitter, which has bigger flecks. I’m assured that should any birds or wildlife get to your sparkly reindeer food ahead of Rudolph, the glitter will pass harmlessly through them or be ignored altogether.
For the special sack itself, which I will give to Harry at dusk on Christmas Eve, I used a simple bouquet garni sack (sold in packs quite cheaply at foodie shops), and rethreaded it with red thread, to which I tied a pair of festive jingle bells. I added a label – PDF attached below - and glued it to a scrap of leather before stitching in place.
I stealthily borrowed a little wooden scoop from Harry’s play shop and hey-presto! his reindeer food looks like it might just have been sent special delivery from the North Pole itself.
To mass produce these as I’ve done for Harry’s nursery party, I simply stuck labels on mini paper bag, added (sealed!) baggies of reindeer food and clipped shut with a little silver peg. The printable below has a sheet of the labels I created for these, so do download and have a go if you’re making these in quantity.
Now onto other festive preparations and a couple of websites for you to check out; these may be familiar, but if – like me – you’re still relatively new to the world of doing-Christmas-for-children, then they might be a source of new delight… At PortableNorthPole you can get Santa to record a (free!) video message for your child, which is beautifully done and awesomely real. Harry received his last night (via email), and was astonished to discover that Santa knew not only exactly where he lived and what he wanted for Christmas, but also that he had been asked to try really hard to remember to brush his teeth before bedtime and that he was doing – mostly – very well. You can upload photos and lots of details and if you haven’t done this, I urge you to click and explore – we love it. I should add that it’s not just for kids; I sent one last year to a girlfriend, who witnessed Santa opening his special book to find a compromising photo of her, post-Tequila slammers, and received a sorrowful warning from him that she had better stop being naughty if she wanted a visit this year. So, fun for all…
Finally, one to bookmark for Christmas Eve is NORAD – the multi-langauge site of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which tracks Santa’s progress through the skies on 24th December. There is nothing more exciting than going to bed knowing that Father Christmas is due to enter the skies above your bedroom in approximately 3hrs and 42 minutes…
We’re creating kitchen chaos this week with some homemade gifts and festive projects – more news later this week!
Kate. Thank you for the Santa video tip. The little man was thrilled! I was too, frankly.
My son found the Santa video all a bit too much last year and started to show signs of being completely scared of someone who knew too much about him! This year I’ve found this written letter from the NSPCC http://christmas.nspcc.org.uk/santa that will hopefully give the same message but traumatise him a little less!
Adorable!
Another great gift for a little kid is a shiny skeleton on a red ribbon. If you want you may glue Santa’s picture on it. The key is put on the front door, if there is no fireplace. Obviously only Santa can make the key work!
Oh this is ALL TOO WONDERFUL!! Love your take on reindeer food. I’m thinking of this: Cheerios, sunflower seeds, raw oats and red and green glitter. Your labels are DIVINE, thanks so much for providing them as a printout! oh how I love your site
We love this and will be making this next week for Jakes few friends he has made in Cayman so thank you again .
Looking forward to seeing the homemade gifts too
The birds that destroyed my sunflowers this past year would love some of that. You know I love a good kraft paper bag gift wrap and these are awesome! That portable north pole thing we did last year and it was a huge hit! I should get on that b/c I am terrible and we haven’t done any letters to Santa this year yet.
Lovely! For those not sure about glitter in the environment, rock salt or confectioners AA sugar (not to be confused with the 10x fine sugar) would work as the sparkle.
Love the post, I have some long overdue bird seed in the cupboard that will work a treat for this! Where did you source the brown paper bags from though? I’m trying to find some (preferably UK) but am at a loss…thanks.
Hi Ellie, I got mine from Hobbycraft, which sold them in packs of 10 for about £2.50 from memory… they sold different sizes and they’re perfect for all sorts of craft. I bought them instore recently and I can’t immediately see them online on the website, though they have something similar in colour (below).
http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Hobbycraft-Small-Craft-Bags-Red-White-And-Blue_360137.htm
I also love Fred Aldous, who have these beautiful ones in white – costly but gorgeous. Or failing that, I’d resort to Ebay! Hope that helps a little
http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/handmade-recycled-paper-mini-bags-10-pack-white.html
Thank you, that makes sense, I was sure I’d seen them in Hobbycraft too but I couldn’t then see them online (I think I have a selection of the red, white and blue ones somewhere). Maybe a trip to the real-life shop tomorrow is in order!
I’ve just found some on Amazon as well actually, search “brown paper gift bags with twisted handles”, I was clearly paying more attention to Masterchef than search criteria!
Wonderful! Having possums in the attic also helps make the whole reindeer on the roof thing very real, by the way.
You installed ambient possums in the attic for the holiday season? Barbara I’m in awe of your dedication to the whole Christmas experience
Lovely to hear from you and have a great weekend
Kate, it’s just lovely. Simple and effective, as ever. Your boy is going to have a truly magical Christmas. I don’t know if you’ve seen this link – it’s very inspiring. If I had the time and energy I would love to try something similar:.
http://www.kellehampton.com/2011/12/party-at-north-pole.html
Some enterprising Year 5′s were selling a bag of oats and glitter for £1 at Bella’s school fair on Sunday. We bought a couple (all for a good cause!) but I was secretly a bit miffed as I was looking forward to making some myself with the kids. I may have to make more following your recipe…
Gillian x
OMG what a gorgeous party idea in your link! I’m so impressed and in awe… like you, I wish I had the time and energy to do something similar (but bits of it I will definitely steal for future Christmasses!) thanks for sharing x
Reblogged this on calmyourbeans and commented:
This is just lovely!