Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Las Vegas, NV

Welcome to a new installment on Savvy Source Las Vegas -- CRAFTY FRIDAY! Each Friday I hope to showcase a craft that you can do with your kids. I grew up with a mom that could make Martha Stewart look like a slacker, so in homage to all that she taught me and the memories we made together, I'd like to share some ideas, tips and reviews to help you make as much of a mess as I do instill creativity in your little one.

Since we're now full swing into holiday mode, I'll start off with the Wiltion Gingerbread Christmas Tree Kit that Boo and I picked up at our local JoAnn's Craft Store for a whopping $8.99 It was on sale, the regular price is $9.99).

The kit comes with pre-baked, star-shaped cookies, frosting mix (white and green), multicolored BB-shaped candies, sugar "gifts" a star, frosting bags and tips. They tell you that you need to provide water, an electric mixer, and a spatula.
I discovered there were many things that my five-year old daughter, Boo, was able to help with. First of all, she put all of the cookies in order by size, largest to smallest, on the counter (you need to stack them that way in the assembly process).

We found that mixing the white frosting with the mixer made a powdery mess all over the kitchen, so we opted to mix the green by hand and it worked just fine, and proved to be another way she could help in the process.

We filled the bags with the frosting (make sure you cut the ends and put the tips in first (we kinda messed up here) and I piped the white frosting in the center of each cookie while she stacked them. Being a child who loves order and symmetry, it was hard for her to alternate the directions of the stars to look like a real tree. Fortunately the royal icing is a forgiving glue.
Once the tree was assembled, I began filling in with the green frosting and then added more white to create the snow effect. Boo loved putting the candies on the tree and refused to leave one candy off (well, at least minus the two her little candy-holic brother managed to eat).

A few more swipes of icing and we added the candy "gifts" around the bottom and a star to the top. Viola! We had a tree that, although a little more crooked than straight, was a pretty good representation of what was on the box.
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Time required: About 15-20 minutes.

Target Ages: 5+

Pros: The kit was pretty all-inclusive, easy to assemble and fun to decorate. It wasn't too complex, but still came out looking good.

Cons: Making the frosting was a bit messy and was definitely too stiff for most kids to squeeze on the tree themselves. The directions were REALLY long, but trust me, read them all the way through before you start to save yourself some headaches (like putting frosting in the bag without the piping tip in first).

Ratings (0-5 Dice: No Dice = don't waste your time and/or money, 5=your kid can't grow up without it)

Value: 3.5

Ease: 4

Mess Factor: 4

Keep-ability: 2 (It'll keep through the holidays, but this one's not going in her hope chest.)

Overall, I'd give it about a 4. We had a good time making it and she's very proud of her Ace of Cakes moment in the kitchen.