Christmas tree ornaments are like the syrup on a sundae — not quite the cherry, but a primary determinant of the sundae’s taste. With all of the glass orbs and golden figurines dangling from Christmas tree branches, people forget that Christmas trees are not about consumerism, but rather love, gratitude, and abundance. Your tree doesn’t need to look like it should be standing in a Macy’s display in order for it to be eye-catching and festive. Unlike store-bought ornaments, homemade ornaments add an intimate touch to your holidays. A little creativity goes a long way! Making Christmas tree ornaments can be a fun art project that stimulates your imagination.
Here’s one way to create a great DIY ornament. Visit your local craft store to find hooks and empty clear/glass ornamental balls. Once you’ve found them, fill the ball with sparkles, sequins, glow-in-the-dark paint, and everything else — the sky’s the limit! Paint/write the name of someone you love wherever you’d like the ornament’s “front” to be. Next, decorate the outside with pretty designs and drawings. For instance, if you’re making an ornament for a guitar player, decorate the ball with music notes and perhaps a guitar.
You can also make diorama-like ornaments out of clear ornamental balls. To turn an ornamental ball into a white Christmas scene, all you need is is some white glitter and paint to add houses, elves, Santa, etc. to complete your vision. If you live in a climate that doesn’t get snow, then Christmas-ify your environment anyway! For my friend who visited from Hawaii, I made her an ornamental ball-diorama with blue glitter, mermaids, and shells to hang on our tree during her visit.
And for those of you who have the little ones running around, a matchbox mouse just might be the ornament that you’ve been looking for. All these little cuties do is sleep in their matchbox beds tucked into your Christmas tree’s branches. Matchbox mouses are very simple to make — all you need are: empty match boxes, cotton balls (that are proportionate to the matchbox sizes, of course), glue, felt or construction paper, and any other materials that would give your mouse the features that you wants. Slide out the matchbox’s inside just a bit and glue the cotton ball to its bottom; that gives the appearance of a mouse’s head peeking out of the box. Paste 2 cotton balls onto the head before adding eyes, lips, hats, props (like a stocking), or any other individual features. The final product is an adorable mouse taking a nap. Other animals can also park their matchboxes on your tree. Matchbox kittens and puppies usually require more detail, but the effort is so worth it.
Photo Credit: istockphoto.com
