Homemade Christmas ornament - grace grits and gardening

I signed up for the Arkansas Women Bloggers handmade ornament exchange and immediately thought what on earth was I thinking? I had to come up with a homemade ornament idea just when my mind felt tired and blank. Ornament.Exchange.Remorse. With only a couple of weeks to made final edits and get my manuscript to my editor, I was doing everything except what I should have been doing. (Not gonna lie, it feels good to say my editor even though there’s always a chance she may return the thing back marked “lost cause”.)

Anyhoo.

I was matched up with Jessica who blogs at Life With the Bauer Bunch. Jessica, a small town Arkansas girl, is super busy working and raising three kids. She blogs about motherhood and figuring out life as she goes (her words). Jessica is real and normal and reading her blog is like visiting with my best friend.

I finished my edits, my manuscript has been sent and I managed to make an ornament for Jessica too. The season of eternal holiday magic.

Here it is.

Jessica and her kids seemed to like it. Whew:))

I sort of cheated because I’ve made this ornament before. You can get the basic pattern HERE. I changed up the process somewhat by using scrapbook paper instead of vintage book pages, and I Mod Podged it to make it a bit more substantial. The buttons and rick rack are vintage. I used glitter glue instead of real glitter which is not so messy.

Now for my surprise.

Alicia who blogs at Simple Words by A drew my name. Alicia and I met last year in Helena and even canoed the Mississippi River together without incident, a bond not many people share, right?

A self-proclaimed crafter and apparent overachiever, Alicia sent me two handmade ornaments. (Sorry, Jessica. You got shortchanged…)

Her gift included a sweet, handwritten letter. When was the last time I received a letter?

The ornament on the left is filled with Hemingway quotes because she knows now much I love Ernest Hemingway. Very thoughtful! The fun ornament on the right is covered with a soft red and white yarn. Both really boosted my holiday spirit.

Now if I could just get my Christmas tree up!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis url=”http://wp.me/p58902-1aU”]#Homemade #ornaments = holiday spirit! @SimpleWordsbyA @thebauerbunch @ARWomenBloggers [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Celtic Women – It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

I made Christmas trees using pages from a vintage children’s book.

(Consider this a great way to recycle damaged books that would otherwise end up in a crowded landfill. The old Dick and Jane book I used had torn and missing pages and was of no value to a reader.)

For my example, I made tree ornaments and paper bunting, but these trees can be used in a variety of creative ways such as holiday cards, bookmarks or as scrapbook embellishments.

To begin, start with a half circle. (Any size will work, but the size will determine your tree.)

To make my half circle, I placed the center of a bowl on the middle edge of a page and outlined around the top of the bowl. If you aren’t a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of crafter (like I am), you can use a template. But, it doesn’t have to be perfect…

Vintage Book Christmas Tree Craft Project

After you cut out your half circle, fold the right side over almost to the center of the page, placing the edge a tiny bit above the paper.

Fold the corner back. This point will be the top of your tree.

Flip over the paper.

Fold the top right side down (almost to the edge but not quite) to make a triangle.

Flip it back over again and voila! A Christmas tree.

cute already!

Seriously, you can make dozens in no time…

Now for the best part!

Decorate your trees with supplies on hand—buttons, rick rack, glitter, ribbon, stamps, jingle bells, etc.

Hot glue tree trunks to the bottom using card stock or scrapbook paper.

For Christmas ornaments, hole punch the top and string a loop of ribbon to make a tree hanger.

vintage red buttons

vintage green rick rack and a jingle bell

I made bunting by stringing four trees together, stamping the word “Snow” and adding red glitter to the boughs.

red glitter, contrasting tree trunks, “Snow” bunting…

This project works well with scrapbook paper or sheet music as well. Just remember, both sides of the page show, so use paper with complementary front and back colors.

Whatdya think?

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Handmade Ornament Ideas

Vintage Book Christmas Tree Craft Project

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.