Fun and Easy DIY Ornaments
Our tree is filled with ornaments that tell the story of vacations, a yearly ornament picked by the kids, and lots of homemade ornaments. The homemade ornaments have been especially fun to reflect on, reminding me of memories while we crafted and really shows how they’ve grown through the years.
Here’s our favorite DIY ornaments ::
Handprint ornament bulb
Supplies: clear ornament bulb, string, faux snow and white paint
Measure your child from head to toe and cut the string at the child’s height as a fun reminder of how tall they are that year. Add faux snow and have your child make a wish when adding to the ornament. After sealing the ornament again, add your child’s white handprint. Decorate each little finger as a snowman! You can also do this as a reindeer, which is what my child decided after we already added her white handprint. Add a cute little gift tag to the string with the name and year.
Dough ornaments
Supplies: 1/2 cup corn starch, 1 cup baking soda and 3/4 cup water
This is similar to salt dough ornaments with slight changes to the ingredients to get a smoother pure white “snow” look when dried. We made cute Santa hand prints with these or you can use cookie cutters to cut out Christmas trees and press fingerprints as ornaments. Let them air dry to avoid cracking.
Shrinky dink ornament
Supplies: shrinky dink paper, markers and oven
This one can be done a few different ways. You can have your kid write a wish list to Santa to shrink down or trace your kid’s handprint. Don’t forget to punch a hole in the paper to attach the ornament string!
Most toddler friendly & aesthetically pleasing ornament
Supplies: wooden ornament discs, temporary tattoos, sponge with cup of water
Seriously, it’s that simple. Just as simple as a temporary tattoo. Place the tattoo on the wooden ornament disc and have your kid press the wet sponge on the wooden disc in no less than a few seconds. The image sticks to the wooden disc and you’re done!
Bejeweled Clay Ornament
Supplies: Clay or playdough and jewels
Use cookie cutters to cut out the shape of Christmas trees or snowflakes. Don’t roll out the dough super thin. Then have your child press jeweled ornaments into the clay. Air dry on a cookie rack (usually about 24 hours) until the clay has hardened. Again, don’t forget to poke a hole to hang the ornament. You may have to go back with super glue to adhere any jewels if your child didn’t press them in quite enough, but it’s the process that counts!
Ornament crafting party
Another favorite of ours is getting several DIY ornaments from the stores. Depending on the age of your kids, you might opt for more of the foam sticker kits. Some are more elaborate with a bit of stitching felt cut outs. It can also be as simple as grabbing wooden snowflakes or Christmas trees to paint or as fancy as diamond art gnome/nutcracker ornament kits. It’s fun to gather everyone around and have an ornament decorating party.