Homemade Kid Friendly Christmas Ornaments

Christmas ornaments are essential for a beautiful Christmas tree. Some people prefer to just decorate with red bows, or tinsel, but I love ornaments. I don't love just any ornaments, I love homemade Christmas ornaments. I love it when my son brings home new ones he made in school and then proudly hangs on the tree. From that idea, I came up with my own family oriented ideas that hopefully you will enjoy, too.

My first idea has to do with the sparkle of the lights on the Christmas tree.

For this project you will need:

• Clear glass ornament balls

• Tinsel

• Glitter

• Ribbon or ornament hangers

This is a very easy craft to do and it is fun for all ages. All you need to do it take the top off of the glass ornament ball (be very careful because they are easily broken). Then take your tinsel, and gently place it inside. This is the key. You do not want to clump it inside, or not put enough. What you want is a glass ball with enough tinsel in it to gently reflect the Christmas lights on your tree. I prefer either silver tinsel or iridescent. You can also put some glitter in the glass ball, too, to make it sparkle more. I recommend gluing the top to the glass ball to keep little ones from taking the tinsel out to chew on. When your ornament is full, take it to the tree and place it next to a bright bulb. Turn down the lights and enjoy the colors twinkling through your new ornament. (Make sure the kids are careful with the tinsel and keep it away from pets.)

One other idea is Personalized Glass Bulbs

For this project you will need:

• Colored glass bulbs

• Colored glue pens

• Family Members

• Ribbon or ornament hangers

This idea was a hit with my family back in 2005, and I plan on doing it again this year. What you do it gather the family around the kitchen table. Put out, on a tray or a bowl, all the colored ornaments so everyone can pick from the colors and sizes. Next, take out the colored glue pens. (If you have a large family, then get more glue pens!) Now, all you do it take an ornament and have every one write their names on it and embellish it how they want. Again, it sounds simple, but the results are amazing. Back in 2005, my son was four years old; I had everyone do this exact project. Now, four years later we will be doing it again and will have the prettiest ornaments on the tree; even the messy snowman that my son tried to make. Yes, it was messy, but it is definitely a keepsake now! They can just swirl the colored glue pen around the top to make a nice festive look, or just print their name. The key is to put the year on it! This way everyone will know and remember when it was made. If you are as nostalgic as I am, then this project is for you.

My last homemade ornament is brand new to my family and we will try it this year.

What you will need is:

Small water balloon

Newspaper

Easy Paper Mache Recipe (needs water and flour)

Acrylic paints

Ribbon

Glitter

Spray varnish

For this project, you will need to be careful on how thick and heavy you make your ornaments. Blow up the small balloons and suspend them with the ribbon from a chair, the ceiling, where ever you can so you can work on it and it can dry without being damaged. When the Paper Mache is dry, pop the balloon inside to leave a nice paper ball. This paper ball is now your new ornament. Give it to the kids and have them paint whatever comes to mind. If they are into trains, have them paint a nice train, or if your daughter likes ponies, have her paint a pony. It doesn't matter if the pictures are pristine or a globby mess. As long as it dries and the kids are having fun, that is all that matters. When the paint dries, have the little artists decorate with glitter or ribbons. If they are going to use ribbons, then spray varnish the ornaments first, then apply the ribbons. Make sure you write their names on the bottom along with the year so you can treasure them for years to come.

I hope these Christmas ornament project ideas are as fun for your family as they have been with mine.

Sources:

My kids