Christmas Ornaments

Here is a cute one--make a melting snowman ornament. Take elmers glue and squirt it on a sheet of wax paper. Using construction paper, make a hat, carrot nose, etc. and lay it on the elmers glue. Also, make sure to take a looped piece of yarn and glue it to the top of your melted snowman. Let it dry for a day or so. My children made these at their afterschool program at the learning center where I work. I have lots of other neat ideas at work. If you want to give me your personal email address or if you have a fax machine, let me know and I can forward them all to you!

Hi M.
Use life saver candy. We used green, white and red ones. Arrange them in a circle for a wreath shape or in the shape of a candy cane or anything else you can think of. Put them on some grease proof paper on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for a few minutes. Take them out and put a whole in them with a straw before they harden so twine can be put on for hanging.

A.

An ornament that I used to make with Kindergarten students: use popsicle sticks to form a star, and then decorate. You would need to hot glue the sticks together, but the kids could use paint and glitter to decorate them. Also, to make a "wreath" picture frame, take old jigsaw puzzle pieces, spray paint them green, and then glue them onto a circle (with the center cut out). Tie a red ribbon at the top or bottom, and place a picture in the middle.

Hi!
I have a few 'tried and true' ideas......

1. paper loop garland - cut colored construction paper into 3"x1" strips, decorate the strips (kids names,drawings, merry Christmas etc) and then make a chain of the strips by stapling them together in loops.

2. buy inexpensive glass ornaments or styrofoam balls and have the kids 'personalize' them with things like the year, their name, trees etc. all done with glue, glitter and gold or silver pens (get them at Michaels)

3. Cut thin (1/4"-1/2") pieces of styrofoam into holiday shapes (holiday cookie cutters work great for this) and decorate

4. make paper 'frames' for a small picture (school pics work very well) decorate the frame (include the year) and hang!

Hope these help! M.

I have done these ornaments before: http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/reindeer.html

The are really cute. I used the old clothes pins (not the pinch ones). I also painted mine brown and put a red sequin for the nose. Also remember to put a piece of ribbon between the head and body to be able to hang them on the tree.

I also second the idea of the clear ornaments you can buy and decorate however you want.

Just wanted to tell you that a year ago I was in Walmart and they had these clear ornaments you could paint yourself. It's really set up for kids but I thought I'd get them and see how it turned out. They are perfect for your kids I think. It wasn't too difficult and they were the right size. Just be careful with the paint if you find it. I spilled a little and it stained the carpet...Se la Vi. Hope you can find them again.

I love Michaels and the 40% off coupons. You can buy the boxes of plain bulbs and have the kids decorate with glitter glue. You can even take thier pictures and print them out small and glitter glue them on to bulbs (makes a cute gift too). You can buy the foam and cut into stars or such and have the kids decorate those with other sticky foam or colorful glitter glue. Hope this helps, I am not to crafty I just like easy.

I saw some really cute clay(i think)ornaments at walmart. It comes with paints so you can paint them any way you like. I'm getting some to do with my kids this year too.

Hi M.,
You can get affordable easy to do ornament makings at www.Orientaltrading.com you can reach me at www.busymomsworkathome.com if you have anymore questions. Have fun A.

Hi M.

This is a great idea. Here is a site that I highly recommend. www.kaboose.com They have lots of family craft ideas. Also try going by Hobby Lobby or any craft store in the christmas section and there you will see all the DIY ornaments. I hope this helps. Have fun!!!!

The Dollar Tree has quite a few things. One of my favorites is the light catchers. The pack comes with several ornaments, paint, and glitter. You can also google it and get several other ideas. You might even be able to find the needed supplies at the Dollar Tree. Have fun!!!

-Rach