Reindeer food...

When I was a kid we always put a carrot out for Santa's reindeer. We might have put carrots out for Santa, too. Poor Santa didn't get any goodies from us. ;) Since GQ has been setting goodies out for Santa I don't believe we've left anything for the reindeer. The other day I told GQ that we'd have to leave some cookies for the reindeer and he told me that "Santa's reindeer don't like cookies." Ok, we'll just leave cookies for Santa. That's easy!

Then I read something my friend Kim posted on MBI about her son making reindeer food at school and the little poem that went along with it. I thought it was a great idea (and I happened to have all the ingredients for it in my pantry!) And I try not to pass up an opportunity to make something with paper, glue and ribbon!

I used an old spaghetti sauce jar (I save them for projects and organization) to hold the food. It's just a mixture of rolled oats, raisins, Honey Nut Cheerios, Kix and some glitter. You can use anything edible that you have in your pantry really. The recipe Kim listed was the oats, raisins and glitter but I had some cereal that was on the last leg of freshness so we tossed it in.

To decorate my jar I used scraps of paper and ribbon so it'd look pretty sitting on the counter until Christmas Eve, when we'll toss some out in the backyard for the reindeer to snack on while Santa makes a stop at our house. And whatever the reindeer don't eat I'm sure the birds, squirrels and occasional roaming cat will eat.

The little poem on the jar reads:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night.
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home.