Make Your Own Ornaments

[MomsZoo]

ok, I'm counting on all of you crafty ladies for ideas! My daughter's birthday is in December and I thought it would fun to let her have an ornament making party. The kids range in age from 5 - 12 so I need some age appropriate ideas.... any suggestions?? TIA

[tankerswife817]

One very pretty homemade ornament can be done by using a clear glass ball ornament (maybe plastic for younger ones) and then paint is dropped through opening in top and ball is then swirled or rolled around to spread the paint...then coordinating ribbons or fabric scraps are tied to top.

Another easy idea.....
ornaments made using beads and pipecleaners....the easiest of these is a canycane and one really nice one is a star.

The site below has lots of ideas...maybe you can have a couple different ones they can make or chose from.

Gingerbread always makes yummie smelling ornaments.

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/treeornaments/

Have fun!!!!!

[tankerswife817]

Also go here....

http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_xorn-other.html

that site has the star...they call it a bead snowflake

[kasparcat]

Having done years of Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, teaching pre-school, and raising two kids,we've done TONS of this stuff.

You can get these mini-grapevine-wreaths quite cheaply nowadays. Provide an assortment of ribbons, beans, dried flowers, glitter, and let the kids loose. You can also take Polaroids of the kids, cut out the picture, and hot glue it to the back of the wreath for a personalized ornament.

Stringing red and white beans onto a pipe cleaner makes a great candy[cane. Those funny-looking beads that remind me of bones nestle beautifully for this.

Glue wiggly eyes, a red pompon nose, and antlers to a candy cane or a clothespin or one of those large colored bulbs makes a cute Rudolph. I have a pair of earrings of those.

This is good for younger hildren's crafts: provide posterboard cut-outs in holiday shapes (star, tree, et.) and various kinds of pata, like rotelli, wagonwheels, etc. When dry, spray the whole thing with gold spray paint. Sounds simple but it comes out very pretty!

Collect a bunch of pinecones and provide glitter, spangles, pompons, and the kids will make them into Trees.

If you have the time and patience, you can make salt-dough and use your christmas cookie-cutters. They will need to have a hook embedded and then be baked and perhaps painted afterwards.

My kids are now 16 and 21. When we decorate our christmas tree now, I'd estimate that 80% of the ornaments are their childhood creations, and the other 20% are mostly gifts given to me as scout leader or teacher or projets the kis and I did together. Trimming the tree is a real trip down memory lane. every ornament has a story. One of our favorites is a set of 4 green balls, with felt eye-masks and wiggly eyes... unquestionably the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Rani

[deejay]

At Wal-Mart and craft stores you can buy packages of fun foam in sheets and precut shapes. With a hole punch to make a hanging hole, a box of buttons, a few ribbon bows, and some other small trims; jewels, beads, braid, charms, etc., and some glue,you'll be in business.

[catlady101]

icecream "spoons", you know the old wooden ones, painted white look like snowmen, just add eyes and nose and painted on hat

get some black plastic top hats....they sell them in craft stores they are small...take your glue gun and melt a "puddle" of glue on a non stick surface like a glue gun mat or even reynolds release, put top hat on top of hot glue.....after cool add a pin to the back....you have a florida snowman....

The small glass "fishbowls" craft stores sell make a great place to paint on w/ ceramic or glass paint....make a winter or xmas scene , put some artificial snow in the fishbowl and add a votive holder to the top with a candle...so pretty.

Ruth

[Sew4heaven]

One year my kids went to a friends house and the mom had dough ornaments made out of the shapes of Christmas cookies.
She had them bake and dried. When the kids got there they painted and put glitter on them for decoration. Oh, she used a straw before the dough was baked to make a hole for string.

[Michelle Clayton]

Hi!
I have worked in an afterschool program for low income children.

We have taken cinnamon sticks cut 3" each. We bundled 3 sticks together with a rubber band. Next, you take green garland (the one with bendable wire) to wrap around the rubber bands. (I cut the garland with wire cutters the length needed to wrap around the bundles) Then you take little decorations, (buttons, beads, etc) and hot glue to the garland. Last, you take a piece of twine to make a loop for hanging, glue to the garland. These smell nice!

We have made ornaments with styrofoam balls and pinned sequins all around the balls. We made a loop with colored ribbon and pinned on the ball for hanging.

We have also made paper chains and hung them on the trees, making sure each chain is only one foot long.
Hope this helps
Michelle

[DeniseD]

For children's ornament making you could have them make wood star snowmen. Needed for this project is:

Medium unpainted wood stars
Tiny plastic top hats
Black, White, Orange acrylic paints
Pin back or round magnet
Glue gun
Foam brushes
Satin finish

Paint stars white with foam brush, Dot snowman eyes, smiley mouth and three buttons in black with end of medium sized paintbrush. Dot nose in orange. Hot glue pin backs or round magnet to star once paint is dried. Hot glue top hat to head of snowman.
Paint clear satin finish once snowman is completely dry.

Be sure to have each child personalize their snowman by writing their name and date on back of snowman.

[MomsZoo]

Thanks so much.... I knew I could count on you all!
This will be a lot of fun, my daughter is so excited!! Thanks again!