Tag Archives: ornament

Ornament Advent: Day 11 Foil and Scrapbook Paper Ball

Advent Ornament Countdown, Christmas Ornaments, craft, Crafts from the Past, Creativity, DIY, Homemade, How to, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I really wanted to make a simple ornament with aluminum foil. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of something and it hit me while I was driving home from work. I could make an awesome ball with strips of foil and paper.

Ball Christmas ornament made of strips of paper and aluminum foil

The ornament is a ball inside a ball. The style is reminiscent of a ribbon temari ball  that I made years ago. I cut strips of aluminum foil 1″ wide and strips of scrapbook paper 1/4″ wide (all the strips were roughly 12″ long). I folded the foil lengthwise to not quite in half. I then folded the other edge to give myself two nice, smooth edges. This made the foil strips about 3/8″ wide. I ran a bone folder over the foil strips to make them smooth and shiny. I glued the scrapbook strips to the foil strips and let them dry.

Paper and aluminum foil Christmas ornament.

After they were dry, I cut the strips to 10″ long, just to make them easier to handle. Then I wrapped the strips around a solid object (I used a small glass for the outer ball and the glue bottle for the inner ball), glued the ends down, and cut off the excess. I made four smaller rounds and 4 larger rounds. I made the inner ball first then added the larger strips to make the outer ball. I glued the top and bottom where the strips met.

Ball ornament made of strips of paper and aluminum foil.

I made a small circle of foil about 1/4″ wide and glued that to the top of the ball and attached a homemade hook and I was finished. I think the whole ornament took me about an hour to make.

I am really happy with it, although it is rather delicate. At least if it gets bent out of shape it is really easy to fix.

Happy crafting!

Kristin

Ornament Advent: Day 8 Tissue Paper

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Lynne: I make flowers from tissue paper and I wanted to try to use the same technique for an ornament. I needed just a few materials:

about 8 inches of silver-colored wire

3 jingle bells

tissue paper, cut into 3 and 4 inch diameter circles

I used a small plate and a glass to trace around and cut approximately 20 four inch circles and 20 three inch circles. I used this tutorial for paper carnations from FoldingTrees.com with just a few modifications for my ornament.

Silver-colored wire replaces the floral wire and I used 2 different sizes of tissue paper circles to make the ornament spherical. The larger ones are in the middle with the smaller ones towards the ends. I painted the edges red with a permanent marker.

To hold the circles on the wire, I attached one bell under the circles and another bell on top of them. I also added a bell in the middle to give more support to shape the paper circles around. I had Cheri give me some tips on how to shape the wire for the hanger. She forms the spirals around a pencil and the hook around a permanent marker.

Start crimping the papers around the 3 bells until you’re happy with the shape and you’re done.

I’m really pleased with the way this came out and the small number of materials needed.

Happy Holidays.

Felt Christmas Tree ornament

Ornament Advent: Day 7 Felt Tree and Wreath

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Today’s ornament was a massive lesson in frustration. Or rather, the ornament that you don’t see was. My original idea for an ornament failed spectacularly. My craft table is covered with parts, bits, and pieces. Around 10:00pm I realized that it was never going to work. Then began the frantic search. I dug through all of my supplies in the hope for a lightning strike. I didn’t get one until I was texting my sister that I was ready to give up. Right after I hit send, it hit me.

Felt Christmas Tree ornament

I love felt and I had a lot of fun last year with the pins and sequins ornament I made, so why not combine the two. The base of this ornament is a ball I made for temari. Temari is a Japanese art form that I played with a few years ago and kept all my supplies (go figure). You make the ball by taking a very large handful of stuffing and wrapping it with thread (one way to make the ball anyway). A lot of thread. You keep winding the thread around and around and around the stuffing until you get a round ball. This particular ball was my attempt to create a flattened ball to showcase a design on the front and back. I never did get around to completing the temari, but it gave me an excellent form to create my Christmas ornament.

Felt wreath side of the ornament

Next, I cut strips of felt around 1/2″ to 3/4″ wide and started cutting these strips into triangle pieces. Then I took my piles of pins and sequins and pinned the triangles to the ball to make the images of the wreath and tree. I used some fuzzy white thread to make a sort of frame to separate the two images by sewing it around and around the ball. I made a quick hook and voila! I was finished.

Side view of Christmas ornament
Here you can see the fuzzy white thread.

I really like the effect of the multiple colors of green for the Christmas tree and the stars in the wreath really make it pop. You could use anything for the form of the ornament, Styrofoam would be very easy. I imagine a Santa Claus/reindeer ornament would be very cute. Anyone want to try it? Send us your picture and we will post it! I would love to see someone else’s version.

Christmas tree side of ornament

Just goes to show that necessity really is the mother of invention.

Happy Crafting!

Kristin

Ornament Advent Day 6: Sunday Comics Christmas Ball

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Cheri: I love comics, funnies, and cartoons. And I really love using comics for craft projects. This one is a favorite of mine. I hope you like it.

Supplies:

Sunday Funnies

Circle template (cup, glass, anything circular and in whatever size you would like, my circles were about 2 ½ inches in diameter).

Glue (any kind is fine).

Cardstock, (just a small circle is needed).

6 inches of ribbon

Instructions:

Fold the Sunday paper up so you can cut as many circles at once as possible. Then cut all of the circles in half. When you roll the paper, you want the circular edge to be the outer rim of the cone. Make about 45 cones and lay them aside.

Cut a smaller circle from the cardstock, this is just for a base to glue to.

Lay your cones around the cardstock circle, with the points touching, when you like how it looks, put a small amount of glue on each one and glue down. Place the next row of cones, try to put these in the little valleys created by the first row. You will be using a few less. Finally, glue one straight into the center, there should be a small spot for it. Do the same on the other side of the circle of cardstock.

Look at your ornament, and if you notice any thin spots just glue another cone into the spot. If you would like, you can glue more cones inside of the first cones. This gives the ornament a rose bud look.

What a fun project to make with the funnies, just make sure you read them first.

Merry Christmas

funnypapercones

 

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Ornament Advent: Day 4 Pop Up Sticky Notes

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Lynne: I was surfing the web hoping to find an idea for our Advent Countdown when I came upon this great video from EepyBird. I fell in love with the sticky note pinwheels and started to think how I could modify one into an ornament. I needed a pad of pop up sticky notes, a glue stick, a darning needle, monofilament fishing line, micro glitter, spray adhesive and two buttons.

EepyBird.com counts out twelve pairs of pop up sticky notes and then glues the endnotes of the stack to each other. The structure is rotated three times to make the pinwheel. I must admit that I had to watch the video several times before I understood how the turns were done. If I watched where the doubled edges were each time the figure was turned, I could manage the proper sequence. Their excellent tutorial video is here.

The resulting structure holds its shape enough to roll down an incline, but not well enough to hang on a tree. I decided to gather the fins (the doubled edges) to prevent the pinwheel from coming apart. I used a large-eyed darning needle (sharp enough to go through the paper) with about 20 inches of fishing line. I used fishing line since it is invisible and I had a spool in my craft drawer. Using the needle to punch a hole about 1/8 inch from the edge (see photo below), draw the thread of fishing line through each fin until all the fins are gathered in a circle. Pull the line tight and knot the ends. Don’t cut the thread.

I used the two buttons to cover the hole in the middle of the pinwheel. Thread one of the buttons onto your fishing line and then push the needle through to the other side of the pinwheel. Gather these fins the same way, add the other button and tie a knot to keep everything together.

I used spray adhesive and micro glitter to add some holiday sparkle. For the hanger, I made a loop with the fishing line and attached it to two fins (see photo below) for the best balance.

I really like how the pinwheel looks and was especially pleased to make something with such an unusual material.

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Gold ring Christmas ornament

Christmas Ornament Advent: Day 3 Gold Rings

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So, I make jewelry. In my collection of jewelry supplies are all sorts of materials and findings for really old projects that I just cannot get rid of. I guess you could call me a supply hoarder (I don’t feel too bad about this as I think Cheri has a bigger collection). Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you that I am a museum for clothes and supplies (I still have some beads from my very first Fire Mountain order around 20 years ago, and crap did I just make myself feel old). Anyway, the gold rings I used in this Christmas ornament have been in a drawer for years. I made a pair of earrings for my M-I-L out of them and of course, I did my usual M.O. and bought way too many supplies and was stuck with a bag full of various sizes of gold jump-rings.

For this project, I laid down some wax paper and pulled out my bottle of bead glue (super glue). I used some tweezers to place the rings where I wanted them and glued the whole piece together. I like the project so much that I think I am going to make a set of earrings with a similar shape for the holiday season. The ornament is around 3 inches top to bottom and side to side, not including the hook.

Gold ring Christmas ornament

This is a very simple project and looks great on a Christmas tree. The jump-rings are available at most craft stores in the jewelry supply section.

Happy crafting!

Kristin

Christmas Ornament Countdown: It’s the Final Countdown

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So we have arrived at Christmas! I hope everyone is having at wonderful holiday. For those of you who have been following along with our ornament countdown adventure, you know that Cheri and I have been showcasing our ornament creations this year. We have been alternating days which is about all we had time for with our preparations for Christmas as well. We have gathered them all together here in one post for easy viewing.

First Day: Lucky Stars

Glass ball full of origami lucky stars.
Made by Kristin

Second Day: Scrapbook Paper Balls

Spiral ornaments made from scrapbook paper.
Made by Cheri

Third Day: Beaded Glass Ball

Glass ball covered in beaded mesh.
Made by Kristin

Fourth Day: Cardboard Tube Snowflakes

Snowflakes made from paper tubes.
Made by Cheri

Fifth Day: Sequins and Pins

Stryofoam egg decorated with pins, beads and sequins.
Made by Kristin

Sixth Day: Wire-wrapped Spider

Wire wrapped spider
Made by Kristin

Seventh Day: Teeny Tiny Places

Winter scenes inside tiny toy bubbles.
Made by Cheri

Eighth Day: Buttons, Buttons Everywhere!

Styrofoam ball covered in small white buttons.
Made by Cheri

Ninth Day: Crochet Wreath

Small wreath crocheted of cotton yarn.
Made by Kristin

Tenth Day: Scrapbook Paper Origami Stars

Scrapbook paper 3D origami stars.
Made by Kristin

Eleventh Day: Chinese Fortune

Glass ball full of Chinese fortunes and glitter.
Made by Cheri

Twelfth Day: Wire-wrapped Ice Fairy

Wire-wrapped snow fairy holding a snowflake.
Made by Kristin

Thirteenth Day: Steam Punk Felt Bird

Felt bird with wire-wrapped crown, wings and tail in steam punk fashion.
Made by Cheri

Fourteenth Day: Wire Wrapped Joy

Word "Joy" wire-wrapped inside wire circle.
Made by Cheri

It has been a wonderful craft experience to work in so many mediums. Cheri and I had a great time creating all of these amazing ornaments and look forward to another showcase for next year (which will include all the Crafty Sisters, not just us two).

Happy Holidays from Kristin!

Christmas Ornament Countdown: Steam Punk Felt Bird

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Christmas Ornament Countdown
Steam punk felt bird Christmas ornament.

Cheri: This little bird is all decked out in his Christmas Regalia. He is just not satisfied with being just a bird, he felt the need to dress for the occasion. And when I say dress for the occasion, he really did. He has a lovely crown, quite nice decoration on his tail feathers and he is wearing some very nice wing bracelets.

The body of this little bird is felt that has been sewn together and stuffed. I then took several pieces of different colored wire and used it in place of feathers. He is a little bit of a steam punk bird with all his attire. I hope you like him as much as I do.

Christmas Ornament Countdown
Felt bird.

Merry Christmas from Crafty Sister Cheri.

Christmas Ornament Countdown
All dressed up in steam punk.

Christmas Ornament Countdown: Wire-wrapped Ice Fairy

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I love Cheri’s Chinese Fortune ornament. It will just glitter and shine next to the lights on the Christmas tree.

For an ornament last week, I did an homage to my stepfather’s sequin and pin ornament and for today I am doing one for my sister. Loryn has this ornament that she received from our grandmother (Memom – the other two sisters’ that make up The Crafty Sisters, mom) in 1981. As we were growing up Memom would give us each a Hallmark ornament for Christmas. One of the joys of decorating our tree was being able to hang the ornaments that were yours. This one in particular was a lovely Ice Fairy holding a snow flake.

Hallmark ornament from 1981 of an Ice Fairy holding a snowflake.
This is the original ornament. Unfortunately not ours, as this one still has her wings and snowflake.

I have many memories of this ornament and I know that my sister has even more. Unfortunately, time has not really been kind to the poor fairy. She has lost her wings and snowflake, but she is still a lovely ornament so she is hung on the tree every year. Here is my version of the ornament:

Wire version of the ice fairy.

I made her with silver wire. I started with the arms, wired on the neck and head and then continued with the rest of the body. Then I made the snowflake and wired it onto one of the hands and adjusted the other hand to hold it. The wings were made next and each is wired separately to her shoulders. I added her hair last.

Wire version of the ice fairy.

Happy Holidays from Kristin!

Christmas Ornament Countdown: Lucky Stars

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Okay, so Cheri and I have started a sort of Christmas ornament creation countdown. We are each going to post a new ornament every other day for the next 16 days, which will put us at 8 each before Christmas. We both wanted to do something a little extra as our Crafty Challenges are on hold until after the holidays.

My first one posted here was actually going to be the last one I posted, but it didn’t take me nearly as long as I had first thought to finish. It is based on the paper lucky stars that seem to be everywhere now. Here is the excellent tutorial on Youtube that taught me how to make the stars if you want to make your own: Paper Lucky Stars. They are really easy to make and I found myself watching TV and folding paper stars and suddenly I was done (okay, two and a half days later I was done).

Christmas ornament full of lucky stars.
Can you guess how many stars are in the glass bulb?

I bought a clear glass ball ornament and six different colors of scrapbook paper. I used my brand new Fiskars paper cutter and cut tons of 1/4″ by 6″ strips and began my journey into stardom and this is the wonderful result! I love the effect and the sound they make when you shake the ball.

Glass ornament full of lucky stars.

Close-up view of the lucky stars.
So many lucky stars!

Glass ornament full of lucky stars.

Happy Holidays from Kristin!