Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Your Tree

I think one of the most enjoyable parts of the holiday season is to make your own Christmas ornaments, and if you have kids, it's a nice, fun way to spend more time with them while you make beautiful Christmas ornaments for your tree together. Here are five easy Christmas ornaments that you can make to add that homemade touch to your Christmas tree this season.

Instant icicles

Materials: Slim wired ribbon or pipe cleaners.

To make beautiful icicles to hang throughout your Christmas tree, wrap a length of slim wired ribbon around a pencil or the tapered end of a paintbrush to curl it. Use a pin to make a hole at one end of the ribbon, slip a hook through the hole, and hang. Use varied lengths for different sized icicles. You can also try the same technique with pipe cleaners, but wrap the top end around your finger to form a hook.

Glitter pine cones

Materials: Pine cones, glue, glitter, floral wire (optional)

One of the easiest Christmas ornaments to make, you can either make ornaments for your table or the tree. Dab glue onto the edges of a pine cone and sprinkle glitter over the glue. Shake the excess glitter off for reuse. Let the glue dry. You can either pile a bunch of pine cones in a decorative bowl as a Christmas centerpiece or attach them to your Christmas tree using green floral wire that you wrap around the base of the pine cone on one end and wrap around a tree branch on the other.

Dried fruit ornaments

Materials: Lemons, oranges, apples, ribbon or raffia

Slice very thin slices of oranges, lemons and apples. Slice in the middle of the fruit - along the equator (where the thickest part of the fruit is). With the apples, the space where the seeds are actually makes a star-shape in the center of the slice. Make a small cut at the top of the apple slices to thread ribbon through it when the ornament is dried. Place the slices on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and dry them in an oven at 250° for an hour, or until the fruit is dry. Thread ribbon or raffia through the pre-made holes or holes in the citrus slices to hang on the Christmas tree.

Popsicle stick ornaments

Materials: Popsicle sticks (if you don't actually save the sticks from your frozen treats, you can buy a box of sticks from any crafts store), glue, yarn - you can use either different colored yarns or multi-colored yarn

One of the first Christmas ornaments I learned to make - I think I made so many of these, my parents got sick and tired of them and stopped putting them on the tree. Take two popsicle sticks, place a dab of glue in the center and glue them together so that they form a cross, or an "X," whichever way you look at it. Let the glue dry. Then, take the yarn (don't precut it) and wind it around the center of the sticks in the shape of an "X" to reinforce the glue. Wind it several times to strengthen the bond and to cover up the popsicle sticks.

Without cutting the string, you can start by wrapping the string around any spoke (arm). If you start by wrapping the string under the stick and bring it around, when you move to the next spoke (clockwise), bring the string over the stick and wrap it around. Continue wrapping the string around all the sticks in the same pattern (over, under, over, under) until you have filled the whole space with string. If you are using yarns of different colors instead of the multi-colored yarn, you can either cut the string when you have finished one color and connect it to the next color by tying the two yarns together or hold the end of the first string and wrap the second string around it once or twice to hold it in place and then continue wrapping the string around the ornament. Once you've finished wrapping the string around, tuck the end under to hide it. To hang the ornament on the Christmas tree, you can either tape or glue a string loop to the top of one of the sticks or make a hole through the top with a nail and stick a hook or string loop in it.

Beaded cross ornaments

Materials: Gold or silver pipe cleaners, plastic/acrylic beads - 2 sizes.

Curl the end of one of the pipe cleaners so that the beads will not slip off. Thread 7 of the larger beads onto the pipe cleaner. Wrap and twist the other pipe cleaner in the middle of the pipe cleaner with the beads so that there are four beads on the bottom and three on top. Slip three of the smaller beads on each arm of the cross. Cut the pipe cleaners at the ends and leave enough to twist up so that the beads don't slip off. On the vertical arm of the cross, push the beads down to form a tight cross, and make a small loop with the pipe cleaner to either hang the cross on the tree or slip a hook through to hang the cross on the Christmas tree. Cut off the excess pipe cleaner.

There you have it. Five quick and easy ideas to make your own Christmas ornaments to add that special touch to your tree. Have fun with your friends and family and turn it into a tree-decorating party or just spend a fun-filled afternoon with your kids. Whatever you do, I hope you have a blessed holiday season!