Walnut Manger Ornaments $3

I helped RE make these to give all of her friends at Christmastime. We got walnuts from Charlotte Carson's tree, but you can buy loose walnuts in the produce section for cheap once autumn hits. Crack them carefully, trying to get two really solid halves. Clean them out. Paint the shells gold (spray or acrylic). We bought a 12-pack of Mardi Gras King Cake Baby Dolls for $2.99 at Partyland to use for the baby Jesus. Snip the arms and legs off with wire cutters (the plastic babies are too big to fit in a walnut half). Wrap the baby in scraps of fabric (I had a little french ticking left) and glue to inside of walnut shell. Hot glue scraps of trim around the perimeter of the shell. Her little gift tags said GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES.

My siblings and I always hid a little walnut ornament in the Christmas tree when we were kids. It was a sleeping mouse (whose face was made from an acorn) in a walnut bed with a patchwork quilt tucking him in. So cute. I loved hiding the walnut.