Tidings of Comfort & Joy - Ashton-Drake Holiday 2021

Summer always reminds me of the annual camping trip my family would take when I was young. Every night, after a full day of outdoor adventuring, we’d build a big fire and sit around it sharing stories and making s’mores. Those campfires are among my very favorite childhood memories. This month, I’m going to show you how to make your very own, doll-sized campfire, safe for indoor use!

  1. Download this template and trace it onto a red, orange and yellow piece of construction paper.
  2. Carefully cut out each shape.
  3. Place the orange flame on top of the yellow flame, perpendicular to each other. Secure them together with tape.
  4. Overlap the edges of each flame by alternating colors. You can see how I did this in the picture below. I put a yellow edge over orange edge, then an orange edge over a yellow edge, etc.
  5. Fold the flames up toward the center to form a “cup.” This is the outside ring of the fire. No need to perfectly align the flames, you’ll want them a bit uneven, just like a real fire. Secure with tape.
  6. Now we’ll add the heart of the fire! Fold the ends of your red flame up, and using tape, secure it inside your “cup.”
  7. The fire is done! Now we just need to add our logs. I used three popsicle sticks for this, but you could also use real branches. Using tape, secure the fire to one of your sticks.
  8. Flip the fire over and use tape to add more sticks.
  9. When you’re done, it’ll look something like this!

    Who’s ready to go camping? Emma, my So Truly Mine® doll, already had her marshmallow and graham cracker in hand. She was super excited for our first s’more of season.

    What fun activities do you have planned for this summer? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you!