Making Christmas Ornaments
Simple Pine Cone Ornaments Materials needed: pine cones, paint, glue, glitter, pipe cleaners or ribbon Instructions: coat pine cone scales with glue and then roll in or sprinkle on glitter. Allow to dry thoroughly. A piece of ribbon run under the top and tied in a bow can serve as the hanger. Or simply glue a pipe cleaner to the top to use as the hanger. For a more finished look, pine cones can be spray painted before applying glue and glitter. Using glitter glue saves a step.
Reindeer Ornament Materials needed: candy canes, brown pipe cleaners, 1/8-1/4 inch red pompoms, small wriggle eyes, glue Instructions: glue pompoms and wriggle eyes to the candy cane above the tip end, but before the curve of the cane. Bend pipe cleaner in half and wrap around the cane at the top of the curve; straighten the two ends so they point upwards (serving as antlers).
Christmas Ball Ornament Materials needed: clear glass ball ornaments, paint, glitter (optional), Christmas ribbon, paper cups. Instructions: begin by taking the top off the ornament and putting it aside (do not discard). Drip in 3 to 10 drops of the first color of paint into the glass ball ornament. Swirl the ornament so the paint begins to coat the sides. If you want to use more than one color of paint, add a few drops of your second color and swirl again. Do this until the entire inside surface is covered. Using white paint with a colored paint will give a marbled appearance. Place the glass ball ornament upside down in a paper cup so excess paint can drip out the bottom and leave for several hours to dry. Then put the top back on the glass ball ornament and add some Christmas ribbon as a hanger. In
order to tie a bow for the hanger, you’ll need to do a square knot ( right over left and left over right) and then tie the bow. This way it will not come out when the ornament is hanging on the tree.
New England Carpet Ornaments Materials needed: felt, scissors, buttons, needle with a large eye, glass or other circular object to use as a pattern, ribbon, glue Instructions: using your circular object as a pattern cut out 2 circles of felt (contrasting colors). Sew the circles of felt together using a hem stitch. Place a button in the middle and sew it to the felt. Form a piece of ribbon into a loop and glue it to the felt for hanging.
Evergreen Center Piece Materials needed: a rectangular piece of florists foam, shallow vase or dish to hold the bottom of the foam, gold spray paint, dried ferns or pods or berries, boughs of smallleaved evergreen like boxwood or Japanese Holly Instructions: Place the bottom (base) of the foam in the shallow dish (pick a vase or dish that will hold the foam firmly in place or use floral tape). Starting at the base of the foam, place branches of greenery into the sides of the foam. Work in a circle, going from the bottom of the foam to the top, making successive layers of branches smaller and smaller so that the resulting arrangement has the shape of a Christmas tree. Spray paint the dried ferns or berries, allow them to dry, and then insert them into the arrangement for ornamentation. To water, remove the branches from the very top, place under a water faucet, and let water drip slowly onto the top of the foam until it is saturated. Your center piece should last several weeks if the greens are fresh, the foam is kept wet and the branches are freshly cut before sticking into the foam. Margaret Hagen Dec 06
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