Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Have you tried melting plastic in a frying pan? When my son was younger he made an ornament at one of those Fantasy of Tree type events. They had the kids decorate a clear plastic (disposable) cup with different colored markers. Then they would heat the plastic melting it into a flat round piece of multi colored plastic. They put a hole in it while it was still hot and when it cooled they strung a piece of ribbon throuth it. It was quite cute.

we do the same thing. Have you tried the clear glass bulbs...you put craft paint inside and glitter and roll it around. put them upside down on a old egg carton to dry. you can glue ribbon around the top after the inside dries etc. Very fast easy. the thinner the paint on the inside, less drying time. you can get very creative with the colors swirling around.

You could try altering projects. For example, take the cheap round coaster you get at a restaurant, use adhesive to cover it completely in patterned Christmas paper, tissue papers, ribbon, scraps, anything that he likes - kinda like decoupage. Decorate as you wish. For an added touch take a recent picture and cut out a circle centering his face and glue that onto the new ornament. He can write on the back likes/dislikes and date it...can double as momento to show his grandkids when he's old.

When I was younger, I remember making each family member a personalized pine cone angel. We took pine cones, and then used pipe cleaners to make arms and a halo. The head was made from small styrofoam balls, with wiggly eyes glued on, and then smiles and noses drawn on with marker. We made wings with feathers. We personalized each with other props. I like to read, so we made a book for mine out of some paper, and then glued it in the hands, to make it look like the angel was reading. I don't remember what else we did for each member, but I do remember using them for several Christmases.

Scrap Ornaments

Supplies
2-inch Styrofoam ball
Cloth
Sequin pins
Ribbon, cord, lace
Glue

Instructions
1. Cut the ball in half.
2. Cut two 4-inch circles from different pattern cloths.
3. Center the dome of one half ball on the cloth and pin edges of cloth to the flat side.
4. Cut a length of hanging ribbon, fold in half and pin ends to flat side of ball.
5. Do second half of ball. Glue both halves together.
6. Glue a length of cord or ribbon around the outside seam where the halves meet.

I know you can make candy canes into a hundred different things with felt and a few add ons. That's pretty common though so you may have already done that.

You can make snowmen pretty easily out of those foam balls you find at the craft store for cheap. Toothpicks and a little glue help them to take shape. Wha-la! Snowmen!

WOw! I am so not helping! SOrry! LOL! Jess

A friend of ours made Christmas cards last year. She cut out card sized chunks from a 2x4 and painted them a color. Then her and the kids decopaged (sorry for the bad spelling. I mean that fancy word for glued down with a transparent glue) an image cut from an old x-mas card on one side and a greeting on the other. (magazine images would work as well!) They then further decorated each one with glitter and ribbon. They were very cute but mailing got expensive! Wouldnt it be cute to make a bunch to keep for youself though? Or to hand deliver? We kept ours and put it out again this year!

One idea that I use is to purchase a box of clear glass ornaments, and then decorate to your hearts content. I've used special buttons/pieces of lace from baby clothes, you could use glitter, paint, etc. My mom has even filled the inside with potpourri and used a little lace or metallic ribbon to decorate the outside. . .the possibilities are endless!!

www.familyfun.com has a lot of ideas.

J.

One thing that my husband and I do every year is to cut a slice off the end of our Christmas tree when we go cut it down and then paint that as a Christmas ornament. It makes a very unique and special annual family ornament.
Also, have you tried making permanent sugar cookies? You can find the recipe online for a batter that you roll out like cookie dough and bake to make sturdy ornaments. Decorate with paint and fabric puffy paint afterwards.

what about clothespins? also putting acorns together to make wreaths....photo collage balls pinned to styrofoam or felt framed pics.....

happy holidays!

one year we did these cookie ones and painted them and then sealed them

Oh I just have to share this one with you...For fifteen years we had a Childrens Christmas party and we always made ornaments...it was so much fun...The one that was the favorite for everyone and every age was this.
Supplies: Blow up balloons; Cotton String; Starch.

Blow up a balloon..the size is your choice.
Pour starch into a bowl(s) pending how many are doing this
Tie one end of string to tip of balloon making a loop.
Dipping the string into the bowl of starch and then begin wrapping the string around the balloon, making kriss crossing when and where ever...until you have the look that you want..
Cut the string and tuck it to secure at the bottom by slipping it underneath a few strands already placed.
Roll the entire wrapped balloon in the starch and then hang to dry. You can add glitter to it if you want...
Let them dry til they are very hard. Then pop the balloon and pull it out through the top portions, you can remove the tip from the loop. Be creative as to your designs and know that there will never be two of the same...These are such a joy to make and the will last for a very long long time.....You can make them any size...any color....you can even add your own touches of creations...

A handprint reindeer. You trace your child's hand onto a piece of wood and cut it out. Then glue pipecleaners onto the thumb for antlers, paint hooves on the fingers, and put glitter and sequins around the base of the thumb to be a collar. You can also add a red nose.

Hi. You could decorate eggs. You blow out the inside then clue different ribbon size fabrics. You can do all sorts of patterns. I did one with a friends family when I was a kid and my parents still have it.

I'm not really sure on the recipe but I use to make ornaments out of Applesauce and a Cinnamon mixture with cookie cutters. They smell great!

L.,

Each year my kids make a photo ornament. They do this with a CLEAR large glass bulb, some tinsel, a pencil, and a picture cut into a circle. If I can find all of the directions, I will send them to you! It is lots of fun and the tree is full of pictures over the years!

T. Ashe

How about a lightbulb Santa? http://crafterscommunity.com/view/104/Light_Bulb_Santa

If you get really creative, you can make a lightbulb Santa, put him in a sleigh and get smaller bulbs to make reindeer (complete with antlers made from sticks glued to the top of the bulb) and hook the sleigh and reindeer together with yarn or pipecleaners or maybe even strips of leather. You can put small packages in the back of the sleigh (if it's big enough) or get a small velveteen bag and have a few peeking out of the top. :)

Hope this helps and if you make it, I'd love to see a picture!

If they have old toys or games, these can make great ornaments and create a great memory of what they llike to do or play with as as a child. So rather than donating those old toys and games use them to make special ornaments.

What an awesome treasure trove of ideas! I am so inspired by all of your wonderful responses!!

Last year we made ornaments w/ out pictures in them. You buy a clear ornament, take a recent picture from this year, transfer it to transparent paper. Then, you cut the outline of the picture out. Carefully roll the picture up to fit in the opening of the ornament. Slip the picture in, shake gentlely so the picture folds up..Tie a colorful ribbon to the top and you have a "Holograph Ornament" that shines through when the Christmas lights are on....Really pretty....
C. H.