How to Make Vintage Homemade Christmas Ornaments

My grandmother's Christmas tree was always so different from our own. Instead of branches filled with commercialized Hallmark novelties, she had dozens of homemade, vintage Christmas ornaments - gifts from friends and family throughout the years. The crafty sequined balls, hand-stitched fabric stars, and beaded candy canes were prized for their unique, old-fashioned appeal.

You can re-create the simpler holiday spirit by making your own vintage inspired Christmas ornament crafts. Give them as gifts for a homemade present that will be treasured and displayed for years. Or use them as gift tag additions to decorate present tops. You can also attach name tags and put them on Christmas trees of friends and family members as you visit. Don't tell them you've left an extra homemade gift on their tree; let them find the vintage inspired ornament crafts after you've gone.

Sequin Balls - Begin with small Styrofoam balls. Gather a selection of sequins with holes in the center. Medium-sized sequins work best for the base layer of this craft, but you can use slightly larger sequins, or heart-shaped sequins, for the added stripes. You will also need a handful of flat-headed straight pins. The head needs to be just larger than the hole in the sequin's center. Begin by placing one sequin against the craft Styrofoam ball. Push a straight pin through the hole until the head is flat against the sequin, holding it in place. Next, make a circle of sequins around this first one, slightly overlapping the first one. Make another row around this one, slightly overlapped the first row. Continue making concentric circles around the original sequin on the craft ball. Cover the ornament with sequins. It is best to use one color of sequins for the base of this craft ornament.

Then add a center strip or dots from different colored sequins. You can also use star-shaped beads in random places around the ornament for decoration.

When you have completed the ornament, make a hook by unfolding a paperclip. Push one half of the paperclip into the top of the craft ball. Leave the top folded like a hook to hang the craft ornament on the tree.

Beaded Candy Canes - You will need a specific type of bead for this to work best - the craft tri-bead. These craft beads have three distinct points. You may substitute Christmas colored pony craft beads, but the tri-bead stacks best for this ornament.

Choose a red, white or green craft chenille straw, or pipe cleaner. Bend the tip of the craft chenille up to keep the tri-beads from coming off. Begin threading tri-beads onto the chenille straw. You can alternate between red and white for a traditional candy cane, or green and white for a spearmint candy cane. You can also include all three colors for a Christmas candy cane ornament. Continue threading the craft beads onto the pipe cleaner until it is about nine inches long or filled up. Fold the top end over the last bead to secure it. Form the entire bead-covered pipe cleaner into a crook shape to look like a candy cane. Hang the vintage beaded candy cane ornament from the crook on a tree branch.

This is an easy Christmas craft for kids of all ages. You can easily work this craft into a Sunday School lesson, after school activity, or day care center. The materials are extremely cheap at craft stores and no cutting or gluing is required.