Making your own holiday ornaments is more fun than buying store-bought decorations!  Here are a few tips for beautiful, heirloom-quality handmade ornaments.

With the holiday’s right around the corner, it is time to start thinking about decorating, if you haven’t already.  Most people unearth boxes of ornaments that have been used for years, if not generations.  As you unpack the ornaments so lovingly packed away the year before, you may therefore hear the occasional comment, such as, ‘Oh, here is this ornament!’ and ‘Remember the time when…’

These well-used ornaments are usually much beloved, because of all the good memories they carry with them.  Therefore it seems like a sacrilege, somehow, to go out and buy holiday ornaments that don’t mean anything and look just like something that someone else has. Using items in your own home and repurposing them can give your tree that extra special touch this holiday season.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to be creative in order to make holiday ornaments.  Making ornaments is actually pretty easy, and doesn’t require any real artistic skill.  If you aren’t sure what to make, get a few kits or a craft book to help you decide.  Here are a few tips to help you out, as well.

• Think in 3-D. Don’t make the mistake of thinking only in terms of two-dimensional ornaments, such as decorated paper cutouts.  While those are fun, they get boring after a while and don’t stand the test of time as well.  Make paper chains, pour plaster of Paris into molds, or make and paint papier-mâché ornaments.
• Use a variety of materials. A nice variety of materials is necessary to properly deck out your tree — you don’t want all of your ornaments to look the same.  Paper, wood, plaster of Paris, and papier-mâché offer variety and generate interest.  When the time comes to add some color to your ornaments, consider not just the usual suspects such as markers, crayons, and paint, but also things like gemstone beads, yarn, and glitter.
• Make use of color and light. The key to beautiful Christmas decorations is lots of colors.  Using brightly colored paints is a must.  In addition, using materials that will catch the light will add life to your tree.  For instance, glitter will make your ornaments sparkle, while stained glass ornaments (usually painted glass or plastic) and beaded ornaments made of gemstone beads will add lots of shine.
• Holiday ornaments don’t have to cost a lot to make. Some of the most lasting and endearing homemade holiday ornaments are the simple, inexpensive projects.  For instance, a popular one in preschools and kindergartens is to roll a pinecone in glue, and then sprinkle glitter over it.  Paper plates can be used to make angels (cut so that the wings are the ruffled edges of the plate) and wreathes (with the middle cut out and scraps of green construction paper or fabric glued on).  Popcorn is cheap and can easily be strung together to make decorations for the tree.  Papier-mâché is really just strips of newspaper dipped in a goopy glue made of flour and water, all inexpensive materials found around the house.

Making holiday ornaments does more than just help to decorate your tree.  In addition, it gives you something to do with your family as you get ready for the holidays, and makes decorating the house even more fun.  Plus, you can make ornaments together that will be keepsakes for your family for years to come, because the memories of making them will be so pleasant.

Hopefully this list will get you started with a few ideas for how to make ornaments.  If you are still struggling, browse online or check some craft books for ideas on what to make.  Craft stores usually have kits that you can buy as well.  When you make your own holiday ornaments, there is no end to what you can make!

About the Author

Shelly Towns is a writer on a variety of topics including crafts and creativity. You’ll often find her writing about adding glitz and glamour to your next crafty idea such as gemstone beads, yarn and glitter.

By Nancy

Each year, right around Thanksgiving, I begin thinking about unpacking all the Christmas decorations. Boxes and bags filled with wreaths, Santas, nativity sets, candles, beads, ornaments and strings of lights. I also wonder what I can do differently with my Christmas décor. I’m very sentimental and feel the need to put everything I own (that screams Christmas) out.

Whether it was a Santa statue you painted when you were 10 or a red felt stocking with your name written in glitter, it’s hard to let sentimental items go. Here are a handful of nifty and cost-effective ways to change things up a bit at your home this Christmas while holding on to some of your old-school decorations of yesteryear.

Themed Rooms

I decided to theme the entire dining room with Santa this year for my son. Santa ornaments and glass baubles are tied to the chandelier with ribbons. The buffet holds pictures of our son with Santa, as well as pictures of me and my husband as children sitting with Santa. Any random Santa ornament we had now hangs on the china cabinet door knobs. Santa candles and knick-knacks have become the centerpiece on the table. Needless to say, this room was a big hit with our toddler.

The guest bathroom is nothing but snowmen – which can stay out long after the 25th of December passes.

I have a small collection of nativity sets and am considering displaying all of them throughout the living room on end tables and beneath the tree.

Ribbon

I love ribbon. I buy large spools of decorative wire ribbon every year after Christmas. I also save all the ribbons from gifts throughout the year. My husband had an old gold metallic-painted pine cone wreath. It wasn’t the prettiest wreath in the house, but it’s special to him and I put it out every year. This year, however, I decided to give that old gold wreath a facelift. A simple new ribbon bow at the top replaced the old velvet one. It’s now hanging on our kitchen door. My husband even noticed.

Ribbon can tie a lot of un-related Christmas items together, too. So if you have trees or wreaths that you like, but they just don’t look good together, consider re-threading them with some new ribbon.

Christmas Cards

It seems nowadays many people are sending photograph Christmas cards. I hate stashing them all in a basket or pocket hanger because you can’t see the photos. I took an old wreath and tied ribbon in knots all over it. I then added some mini wooden clothes pins to each ribbon to attach cards. This particular wreath is hanging on my china cabinet in the “Santa” dining room, so the ribbon on the wreath coordinates with the ribbon on the chandelier. When I run out of room on the wreath, I swag ribbon on either side to hang additional cards.

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Ornaments

My husband and I collect ornaments. Whenever we go on vacation, we always bring home an ornament for the tree to remember our trip. We have quite a collection of police-related ornaments since my husband is a police officer. Our son loves trains and fire trucks. Well, you get the picture. We were running out of room on our tree for all the ornaments, so I decided to make a police tree. My husband’s old bachelor tree is now the police tree which we keep up year round in our lower level family room. I make it a point to get him a police ornament each year to add to his tree. I’m sure pretty soon we may have a lighthouse tree, a train tree and a dog tree.

Do you have any Christmas decorating tips to share? We want to hear about them!