Homemade Christmas Ornaments

After Christmas sales are the best! Two years ago I found glass clear ornaments on sale for $1.00 a pack there were 9 ornaments in each pack). I picked up three packs for future ornament making. Each year I add 1-2 "new" handmade ornaments to our Christmas tree as well as for gift giving.

Featured are three ornaments. From left to right:

Left: Ornament I made this year for my daughters first Christmas. I used white and light purple paint to make a mitten on the front with the year written using a black paint pen. On the back side I wrote her name using the same paint pen and also used a white paint pen to make snowflakes. I filled the ornament (inside) with pink shimmery filler found at the Dollar Store found in the gift packaging aisle.

Middle: Ornament I made several of as gifts for relatives. This one features Santa (I also made one with a reindeer and another with a snowman). I used red and white paint and outlined with the black paint pen. Using the same technique as the one to the left, I wrote Merry Christmas and the year. I also attached a blue and silver ribbon to the top. I filled this one with silver and white filler crinkled strips.

Right: Vacation ornament. I filled this one with sand from our honeymoon to the beach of Catalina Island in 2007. I wrote on one side "Catalina Island" and the date we were there. On the back side I wrote "Our honeymoon" and our names. I attached a red ribbon to the top. Quick and easy! This is an ornament that after the Christmas season will be kept in our china hutch! Much more pretty than the bottle it was originally in!

Front 

 Back

Another type of ornaments I made as gifts for family a previous year included photographs from over the course of the year. I started with styrofoam cubes (I bought a big 2 inch thick sheet and cut them to the desired size using a knife). I then printed off 5 photographs on white stock paper from the year and glued them onto each side and one on the bottom (depending on where you hang them on the Christmas tree depends on if you desire to have one on the bottom or not). On the one to the left I printed on thick white card stock paper "Merry Christmas. From Tyler and Diana. 2007." I then poked a small hole in the middle and stuck a looped string through hot gluing it to the underside before gluing it to the cube. I added glitter around the edges as well.

Below are ornaments I made with some of my daycare kids. Materials needed: 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, and 1 1/2 cups warm water. Directions: Preheat oven to 325F. Mix flour and salt well, add water, stirring with a large spoon. Finish mixing with hands. Knead until soft. Roll out on a flat surface about 1/8 inch thick. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheets. Using a paperclip or bendable silver wire create a loop and stick in the top of the cookie (see picture below). OR you can with a toothpick poke a hole in the top of the ornament for threading string. Bake at 325F until hard, about 1 hour. Decorate with paint and varnish to preserve.