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The Art of Homemade Decorations
Posted by Jeff in Christmas Ideas
Making homemade Christmas ornaments is not only fun and enjoyable, but it can be a great way to preserve your holiday season for a lifetime. Children love to participate in arts and crafts and creating your own homemade Christmas ornaments is cost effective, fun, and much simpler than you may think.
Children of all ages can participate in making homemade Christmas ornaments. Whether it is a toddler sitting in a high chair, or the teenager who is trying hand blown eggshell art, all can create homemade Christmas ornaments.
You will find that you can use many materials that are already in your home to create your ornaments. Here are some materials that you may readily have available that are perfect for creating Christmas ornaments.
Yarn
Glue
Aluminum foil
Paper plates
Flour
Food coloring
Paint
Clay
Beads
Cookie cutters
Ribbon
Toothpicks
Pipe Cleaners
Cardboard
Scissors
Crayons
Magic Markers
You can create your own dough from flour, salt, and water that is edible and will form a wonderful base for your ornaments. Because the dough is safe to eat, toddlers and young children can shape the dough into forms and participate in the fun. With supervision and assistance, these can then be painted. One of the wonderful properties of working with salt dough includes the fact that your forms can air dry and once hardened they will retain their shape. Therefore, simply poke a hole in the top of your ornaments with a toothpick before drying, and your ornaments will last for many years.
To make your salt dough, simply combine 2 Cups of Flour, 2 Cups of Salt, and 1 cup of water. Mix together all ingredients thoroughly, kneading the dough until it reaches the desired consistency. If you feel the dough is too sticky, simply add more flour. If it is too stiff, add more water. You can also color the dough with red or green food coloring or leave it uncolored, then paint it after your ornaments are dried. If you don’t want to wait a few days and let your ornaments air dry, you can place them in a low oven (preferably one that is set to 250 degrees). Keep checking your ornaments, as they should be thoroughly dried within a few hours. Be sure to let all ornaments cool completely before painting.
Another great project for making homemade Christmas ornaments with kids is to simply cut out shapes of cardboard and decorate them with glue, beads, or even photos. Children can also color or paint the shapes as well. You may want to poke a hole in the ornaments before they begin decorating. This way, you won’t have to worry about damaging any delicate trims they may have used for embellishment.
Pipe cleaners can be twisted into shapes that make suitable ornaments. Try taking red and white pipe cleaners and twisting them into a candy cane. Or use green pipe cleaners to create a Christmas tree. Yellow pipe cleaners can be transformed into a Christmas star. Let children lead the way and you may be surprised at what they can create. So enjoy making your homemade Christmas ornaments together, you may be surprised to discover that along with your decorations, you have also created some lifelong memories as well.
