A Shortcut to Homemade Christmas Ornaments
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Tired of using the same old ornaments year after year? Why not make your own this Christmas? Okay, let’s say you’re not particularly “artsy-craftsy”…no problem! Don’t start from scratch. Just purchase some ready-made tree ornaments and customize them to suit your tastes, your hobbies, your style, or your color scheme. OR - use natural items that you can find for free right outside.
Here are just a few ways I’ve added some interest or “bling” to run-of-the-mill Christmas ornaments:
Zebra stripes and animal prints: Purchase white ornaments. Apply the stripes using an acrylic paint pen. This will work better on glass than on plastic. Actually, the best way to do this is to first paint the ornaments white with a coat of acrylic paint. This will give the paint from the pen a better surface to cling to. For cheetah or leopard prints, paint the balls tan and use the paint pen to add spots. For a giraffe pattern, paint the balls brown and use a yellow paint pen to separate the brown patches. For a really funky look, paint the balls hot pink and add black zebra stripes.
Jeweled ornaments: Apply small rhinestones to ball ornaments. You can use inexpensive acrylic stones, but you’ll have far better sparkle with real Swarovski stones. Use E6000 glue, applied with a toothpick to the ornament. Create a pattern, or cover the entire surface.
Victorian balls: Purchase clear glass or clear plastic ornaments. Remove the top, and fill the balls with potpourri, lace, or flower petals. Glue a tiny bow onto the top of the ornament. These look great on a Victorian-themed tree.
Beachy ornaments: Is your living room done in a beach theme? If so, head to the craft store and purchase some seashells, sand dollars, E6000 glue, and gold leaf paint. Gild the edges of some of the shells and sand dollars with the gold leaf, and cover the entire surface of some of the shells in gold. Glue on a ribbon hanger, and you’re done.
Sports: Let’s say you’re a fan of the GA Bulldogs, like me. You can buy red ball ornaments and write on the ornaments with a black paint pen or with black slick paint – Go Dawgs, #1 Fan, Sick ‘Em, etc. You can also buy clear glass or plastic balls and fill them with shredded colored paper or ribbon in your team’s colors.
Back to nature: There are all kinds of natural items in the great outdoors that can make eco-friendly, green Christmas ornaments. Some of these are seedpods, small pinecones, nuts, flowers, and fruits and berries. Dried pods from popcorn trees can be spray painted gold or silver to make unique ornaments. Pinecones can be painted or left in their natural state. I like to use the small cones with just a bit of snow (white paint) on the edges. Make “fire logs” by tying or gluing cinnamon sticks together. Apples can be suspended from the limbs of your Christmas tree by ribbons, and they give a wonderful smell to the room. Springs of berries can be tucked into the boughs, too, along with fresh or dried flowers. You can make mini-wreaths from several stalks of wheat and hang them on your tree. Plan an evening around the fire stringing popcorn and cranberries with the family. After Christmas, the edible ornaments can be placed outside for the birds and squirrels.
These simple crafts are so easy that they’d be wonderful for kids. Allow the kids to help in creating their own special ornaments this year. They’re sure to take a special interest in the tree if they have a part in creating ornaments for it. And besides, it’s a great way to spend quality time!
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Comments
Let me know how it works out!
Got any ideas about using Natural Light beer cans for ornaments?
Why, yes, RD. Make chains from the pull tabs and use them for garlands on your tree. Oh, wait...I forgot: you won't have a tree, Scrooge!
I will so have a tree! And after Christmas you can help me smoke it.
Don't you mean after Easter??
Easter is after Christmas.
Duh! Isn't that usually when you take your tree down - when you have one??
Thank you once more for such lovely and great ideas. Especially kids joining in. I started baking biscuit with our son and bought him a baking set. Let your imagination run wild but it was such fun.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips!:)
I'm passing this one along. I need this too so I am bookmarking it. You have great tips.
I like the seashell idea and the good thing is I already have a few hundred shells. Now I know why I have been collecting them. Thank you!
Thanks so much, friends, for your kind words and support. It's one of the reasons I keep writing!
Hy Habee, these are great tips as I am looking for tips for christmas. Just spotted your other hub for a stress-free xmas, gonna check it out!
Thanks, Cheeky! I hope you get some good ideas.
That snowy tree looks so lovely
Yeah, I wish we had snow here more often. We ususally have to drive to the mountains to see it. Thanks, Ethel!
Great ideas, habee!
Thanks, Cheeky!
Loved this hub, and nice to see yer pic back !
Thanks, Doc! Where's yours? Good to "see" you!
wow, great hub. CHeck out my christmas hubs.
What do you think of this.. http://authspot.com/thoughts/Have-a-great-day/
Thanx,
Thanks, Nikki! I'll check it out now.
One of my favorite Christmas decorations are pine cones in a bowl. Plain and lovely. For added flair, I might spray the pine cones silver. That was before I broke the faux silver bowl.
I use them , too. We have tons of them around here! Thanks for reading!
These are nice. I especially like (and may "steal") the idea for Victorian balls.
Thanks for the great tips!
Lisa, go for it! Thanks for reading!
You're welcome, Lender, and thanks for visiting!
U Deserve to be a number one position in HUB ..
I really like ur work.. its outstanding ..
Keep it up
Great ornaments ideas. I remember when I was a kid we would make the paper snow flake christmas tree ornaments.
It's really fun to get the kids envolved. I know I enjoyed when I was a kid.
Great hub.
Shaz, thank you so much for the kind words!
Hi, Gigi! I love making ornaments with the kids. Thanks for reading!
habee, great ideas, my teen daughter would especially like the animal prints!
Yep, my girls love those, too. Thanks for visiting, Elisabeth!
great ideas. every christmas i use to make our own christmas ornaments and I prefer using natural materials that i can find around the house, its green and a lot cheaper.
KCC Big Country says:
2 weeks ago
All great ideas. I've been dying to try the trick where they put two colors of metallic paint inside a clear Christmas ball and swirl it around. Seems simple enough. :)