grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Crafts
  • Farm
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter
  • SHOP!
  • Privacy Policy

Handmade Ornament Ideas

December 6, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner 10 Comments

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.

Handmade Christmas Ornament

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?

canoeing the Mississippi River

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

handmade ornaments

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

 

 

Vintage Book Christmas Tree Craft Project

December 13, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 5 Comments

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.
Vintage Christmas Tree Craft Project
Fold the corner back. This point will be the top of your tree.
Vintage Christmas Tree Craft Project
Flip over the paper.
Vintage Christmas Tree Craft Project
Fold the top right side down (almost to the edge but not quite) to make a triangle.
Vintage Christmas Tree Craft Project
Flip it back over again and voila! A Christmas tree.
Vintage Christmas Tree Craft Project
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.

Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

Click to BUY NOW!

Talya Tate Boerner books
Gene, Everywhere

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Receive my Monthly Newsletter?

Most Popular Posts…

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • SHOP!
  • Yum Yum Cake - old southern recipe!
  • Nana's Strawberry Cake (the real one)
  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23

Most Recent

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.15.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.08.23
  • Sunday Letter: 12.18.22

Prior Posts

Search Categories

Tags

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Eureka Springs Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta moving Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer sunday letter Talya Tate Boerner novel The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday
Follow on Bloglovin

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2023 · Web Hosting By StrataByte