Easy DIY Christmas Ornament Idea’s That Make the Holiday Season Jolly for All

Christmas is soon upon us. Frantically shopping for the perfect tree, and then soon realizing you forgot to buy ornaments. Or perhaps your family cat decided that scaling the tree would be fun and destroyed most of the ornaments from last year. So, what do you do? You can’t afford new ornaments, and those ones that your children made that were destroyed by the cat were memorabilia that you’ll never get back. Fear not, here are 3 cheap and easy ways you can make DIY ornaments on your own. 

 1.) Paper Ornament

Materials: 

• Paper
• Paint
• Glue
• Cotton Balls 

Elementary school during the Holiday season brought many times for arts & crafts, and most of those would-be making paper ornaments. The children would then put their initials on the corner of the paper and give them to their parents to put on the tree. Well, why not make some at home? You can make a DIY reindeer ornament, Santa ornament, or any other themed ornament. 

Specifically for a reindeer: Start off with colored Construction paper and cut out a triangle for the reindeer head. Then using glue (or markers/crayons for younger ones) draw two eyes or glue on googly-eyes. For the reindeer, leave him without a mouth. Then using cotton balls (using a red one is preferred for the reindeer) glue on the cotton ball for the nose. Use pipe cleaners for the antlers and a hook for the ornament. 

Specifically for a Santa: Start off with colored Construction paper and cut out an oval for Santa’s head. Then using glue (or markers/crayons for younger ones) draw two eyes or glue on googly-eyes. Draw pink circles for cheeks and a smile. Pull apart a white cotton ball to create his white beard. Shape pipe cleaners into a hook for the ornament. 

2.) Plastic or Glass Ornaments

Materials: 

• Glass ornament
• plastic ornament 
• DIY kit
• Glitter/fake snow
• Paint 

Craft stores like Michaels and even stores like Wal-Mart sell plastic and glass ornaments without any decoration on them. You can buy them blank or with a kit to DIY them. This is a wonderful project as the whole family can participate in painting their ornament, and unlike the paper ornaments, they last longer and look more traditional. You can even fill the ornaments with glitter or fake snow to make them look like snow-globes. If you don’t know what to draw on the ornament or are having trouble getting ideas, websites like Etsy, Pinterest, and even YouTube have photos and videos on how to draw and paint on ornaments among other ideas. Messed up and want to re-do your painting? No problem! Before the paint dries, you can wipe it off with a paper towel and start fresh. The nice thing about painting on plastic or glass is, it’s easy to come off when still wet. 

3.) Personalized Clay Ornament

Materials:

• Modeling clay
• Paint

Afraid that glass ornaments might break easily? Don’t fret; companies like Crayola have modeling clay that can be shaped into ornaments. Modeling clay is fun to use because it feels lightweight, yet when shaped and left to dry, it hardens into a light-weight ornament. The best thing about it is it’s not messy like paint or glue, so it’s safe to use with children. Places like Target and even Amazon sell kits for molding your dog or cat’s paw print into the clay for a keepsake and cute ornament. Modeling clay holds color as well and can also be drawn on. 

Substitute for modeling clay: Using water, baking soda, and corn starch can make modeling clay if mixed correctly and works just as well as the real thing.