How to: Homemade Christmas Crafts for Ornaments

Posted by Caley on December 16th, 2009 at 11:55am

Looking for homemade Christmas crafts for last minute decorating or gift exchanges? Maybe, like me, you were just invited to a Christmas party (two days from now) with a (surprise) gift exchange. Because they are quick, easy and oh so festive, ornaments make the perfect homemade Christmas crafts! They are also very fun to make with friends while chomping on homemade gingerbread cookies. Use the homemade Christmas crafts below to make a few extra ornaments this holiday. If you encounter a surprise gift from a neighbor, coworker or acquaintance, you will have something to give in return, which you *wink, wink* planned all along. Here are my favorite homemade Christmas crafts for ornaments:

Glass

Glass is a great place to start with making your own ornaments.You can purchase plain glass ornaments at craft stores and many discount stores. Try purchasing a few packages of plain glass Christmas ornaments AFTER Christmas this year to take advantage of awesome discounts and to be all set for next year. Here are some homemade Christmas crafts you can do with plain glass Christmas ornaments:

• Paint the Outside- Colored ornaments can be embellished with glitter paints, such as DecoArt’s Craft Twinkles Writers. Add silver snowflakes to a blue ornament or red holly berries to a green ornament. Lines, swirls and scallops are also great choices for painting colored ornaments. Clear ornaments look quite cute when painted with images such as simple snowmen. Paint clear ornaments with teardrops of colored paints for a beautiful look.
  • How to Use Stencils to Paint Ornaments at gabrieladelworth.com

• Paint the Inside- You will need clear glass ornaments to paint the inside of the ornament. Remove the metal hanger.  For a “marbled” paint look, swirl a small amount of rubbing alcohol inside the ornament and dump out. Squeeze a small amounts of paint into the ornament, creating a stripe down the side. Turn the ornament and create a few more stripes. Add one or two more colors. Once you are done adding the paint, tilt and rotate the ornament to cover the inside. When desired effect is achieved, leave the ornament to dry upside down over a plastic cup.  This variation uses mirrored paint on the inside of the ornament.

Foam

Foam balls are an inexpensive and less fragile way to create your own homemade Christmas crafts. You can paint the ball with adhesive and then roll in beads or sequins. Cover with strips of fabric, paper or even an old map. I love the look of these pineapple ornaments made with foam balls and layered fabric.

• Sequin Ornaments Using Foam Balls from izzynivydesigns.blogspot.com

Felt (from Scratch)

Felt is my favorite material for creating homemade ornaments. The material is inexpensive, but you can also felt some old wool sweaters or thrift store finds in your washing machine. For a simple craft, cut out felt circles using a cup or other circular item and embellish with paint and felt shapes in other colors. For something different, make shapes such as a stocking, bells or stars. Create dimensional felt ornaments by cutting out two pieces the same size, stitching up using embroidery thread and stuffing. Check out this project for heart ornaments.

Check back tomorrow for link love on christmas ornaments.

Tags: Christmas, ornaments

Under Christmas Tags: Christmas, ornaments