Cookie Mold Crafts with Paper Towels

• Purchase the cheapest, generic white paper towels you can find for this project. Spray the mold of your choice with a light coating of cooking oil. Tear six to eight paper towels into 1-inch pieces and toss them into a blender. If you want color, tear and add a 6-inch square of construction paper in the color you desire. Fill the blender half full of warm water. Let the paper towels soak up the water for a few minutes and then blend until the mixture is watery pulp with no visible pieces.
  
  Reach in and pull out a handful of pulp. This allows the water to drain away. Do not squeeze. Place the pulp in the mold. Repeat until the mold is full. It will be uneven and heaping. Place a household sponge over the pulp and press. This will compact the paper pulp and remove the water. Squeeze the water back into the blender and repeat with the sponge until the water has been removed. Allow the molded paper to dry naturally, or place in a 250 degree oven and watch carefully. The drying time will depend on the thickness of the paper towel pulp and the cookie mold size.
  
  When the paper is completely dry, place a kitchen knife under the edge of the paper and pop it out of the mold. Decorate the molded paper with acrylic paints or colored chalk. Use craft glue to attach ribbons, lace, charms and buttons. Poke a hole through the top with a wood skewer and string a ribbon hanger for a tree ornament or glue the molded paper to the front of a blank greeting card for a special holiday or event.
  
  

Cookie Mold Crafts with Wax

• Use paraffin wax to make beautiful ornaments for your Christmas tree. Paraffin wax can be purchased in large slabs for candle making or one-pound boxes for canning. Place 1/4 pound of paraffin wax in a recycled steel vegetable can and set that in a small sauce pan. Fill the sauce pan half full with water. Place your homemade double boiler on medium heat and allow the wax to melt. Add 10 drops of food coloring in the color of your choice and stir with a craft stick.
  
  Spray the cookie mold lightly with cooking oil. Use a potholder to lift the can out of the sauce pan and wipe the can with a dry towel. This will prevent any water from dripping into the wax. Pour the wax into the mold, up to the edge. Insert a metal paper clip halfway into the wax on the top edge of the cookie mold design. Allow the wax to cool. When the wax has completely cooled, lift it from the mold and tie a ribbon through the paper clip to hang on your tree.