Christmas Ornament DIY Mayhem

This Christmas I was determined to have my first "adult" Christmas tree. Ever since College I have been using this small 3 foot tree. We figured why mess with all the fuss until there was a kiddo to do it with or for, but I finally determined that I wanted to have a real "adult" Christmas tree regardless of having a child or not, so I started to hunt one down for a good price. I ended up buying a tree from my co-worker who was upgrading their tree this year. (They upgraded to a 12 foot tree! I couldn't even handle all that tall tree goodness. 7.5 is perfect for me.)

I also have been using these cheap dollar store ornaments, dollar store ornaments are fine, I just don't think they are meant to be used for like 5 years as standard ornaments. Plus they weren't going to cover my new 7.5 foot tree. I decided I'd like to try make my own, so our tree was more personalized.

I started with $9 worth of ornaments I purchased at Big Lots and some items from the Dollar Tree. Because my taste for ornaments 1s all over the place but I still insist on having a theme I went with a 'glamorous woodland'

Ornament #1: Christmas Lyrics
Materials: Silver Sharpie $5, Clear Ornaments $3 (purchased mine from Big Lots last year after Christmas for extra savings)

DIY: I started off nice and easy, just wrote two of my favorite Christmas song lyrics around the ball. easy peasy and done! It photographs weird, but in real life it's cool. They are Jeff's favorite ones out of all the ones I crafted.


Ornaments #2
Materials: Clear ornament (same ones I just used) and Decorative Container Filler from the Dollar Tree $1.

DIY: Put the red foam balls in the ornament. Done and done. I tried to use a funnel to put them in, but just grabbing a handful and putting it in is the easiest way. They kind of resemble cranberries in my mind.


Ornament #3
Materials: Free printable of vintage music $0, glue gun, circle cutter (I already had the later two)

DIY: Cut out a bunch of circles from a music sheet printable. Start at the bottom of the ornament and layer the circles around the bottom. Keep working your way up to the top of the ornament layering row by row.

I actually used this to cover up an ornament that I had messed up. I ended up liking this one better then the others that I had planned to do. Funny how things work out.


Ornament #4

Materials: Clear ornament, painters tape, stencil, scissors, paint & brush, pen or marker. Oh, and glitter.

DIY: Tape rows of painters tape over one another to create a little sheet made up of tape. Stencil your desired letter/design on the tape. Cut out the stencil so that the part you want painted on the ornament is gone. (I used an actual stencil of one, but then used print outs of fonts I liked from my computer for the others) Place tape on the ornament and make sure it is secure, no bubbles. (You can even modge podge the edges to get a tighter seal so the paint doesn't bleed through.) Paint your letter on the ornament.

I did this with just normal craft paint, which I found to be a mistake. I probably should have spray painted it or used a glass paint because it didn't end up lookin' too hot. I thought it was a FAIL, but then I decided that glitter can fix anything, so I gave it a try.


It seemed to work. At least they looked better in my opinion.


Ornament #5
Materials: Silver ornaments, stamps, embossing powder, embossing glue pad, white paint.

DIY: I painted by silver ornaments with a light coat of white paint first to make them look more subtle. Follow the instructions of your embossing kit, but basically press your stamp in the glue pad and then stamp the ornament. Sprinkle your embossing powder on the ornament and repeat with the rest of your letters or stamps.

This process was kind of time intensive, and by this point I was losing my patience, so after making 6 joy ornaments like this I just used the silver sharpie I used earlier and wrote NOEL and PEACE on the remaining ornaments. They were not as cute, but completed much more quickly.


Ornament (?) #6

Materials: Styrofoam balls in different sizes $2 (at the Dollar Tree), the rest of your foam decorative container fillers, red paint, glue gun. Toothpick to hold ball while gluing is optional.

DIY: Paint your styrofoam balls red and let them dry. Once dry put a thin layer of hot glue on the ball and quickly put the filler balls on the hot glue. Keep gluing the filler balls on row by row.

I didn't use these as ornaments but they could easily be used for that purpose by securing a loop of thread on the top. Instead of ornaments I used them to fill a vase in my half bath that is normally full of sea shells.

When it was all said and done I FINALLY had my grown up Christmas Tree. I love it. Instead of watching the TV I find myself just lovingly gazing at the tree. Besides the ornaments I made, or decorated, we have a variety of deer, birds, squires, mercury glass acorns, and the like that I purchased last year after Christmas when everything was on sale. (I just knew that I wasn't going to put up with a little short tree any longer!)


I lurve my new "adult" tree. It makes me so happy. I went a little overboard with making decorations this year. Not sure what I will make next year but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Inspiration for this years ornaments came from here, here, and here.