Make Christmas Ornaments Out of Household Materials
In the current economy everyone is looking for ways to save money. Society is also becoming more conscious of the earth. Recycling has become standard all over the world. Upcycling household items to make Christmas ornaments is yet another way to recycle. Homemade ornaments can be quite eye-catching and most important, original. Before you toss that cereal box in the bin, let us learn how to make recycled materials into cute Christmas ornaments.
Materials:
Cereal boxes ( for delicate ornaments)
Corrugated box (like old moving boxes)
Twine/string/ribbon/old shoelaces
Sharpies, markers or paint
Cookie cutters and coasters(or any small item with a shape you can trace)
Embellishments (glitter sticks, stamping pad, silly junk that ends up in a child toy box like gems)
Scissors or box cutter
Tape or glue
Old magazines
Hole puncher
Instructions:
- Cut open the cereal or moving box until it lies flat. You want to try and conserve as much of the box to use as possible. I cut along corners to maintain optimum surface to use.
- With a firm hold place the cookie cutter or other tracing object on the box and trace the shape unto the box side that is plain brown. Try to use as much of the box as you keep tracing designs.
- With scissors or a box cutter, carefully cut out the shapes you have created on the box.
- Paint the front and back of each cardboard cutout a solid festive color.
- Let dry. It may take two coats to cover the box designs.
- If there is ugly course edging on the sides, paint it and let dry.
- Once all cutouts are completely dry, get creative. Some ideas to get you started.
–> Outline the edging with marker/sharpie/or glitter pen.
–> Stamp thumb prints on ornament in patterns.(great for the kids!)
–> Glue small objects unto ornament.
–> Cut out and glue interesting pictures or words onto the ornament in patterns. - Use a hole puncher to make a hole to tie a piece of twine.
- Cut a piece of twine or ribbon no larger then your wrist size.
- Thread ribbon through hole and tie off.
You now have a cute Christmas ornament made from recycled materials to hang on your Christmas tree. These can be much better then expensive store bought ones. Christmas is the time for sharing family memories. What better way then to have ornaments crafted by different members of your family!
A little tip: You can create a whole group of themed ornaments. I like to use Halloween cookie cutters to get a wide variety of bats, moons(full and crescent), cats, spiders, and witches. That way you can create a themed tree!
If you are really creative and want an excellent Christmas morning family activity, try making ornaments right after all the presents are opened. You will have a huge variety of wrapping paper, used tape, bows, ribbons, and cards to use. What better way to celebrate Christmas with your family by creating Christmas ornaments out of household recycled materials.
Read original article at associatedcontent
Give A Gift From An Artist…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
…
It’s amazing what you can do with stuff that you would otherwise throw out. Love your ornaments. I’ve linked to your post here: http://clothnappiesarefun.blogspot.com/2010/11/green-letter-to-santa.html