making ornaments

Bryce and Zoey's favorite part of decorating for Christmas is helping with the tree.  They are able to get on Daddy's shoulders to put on the top piece of the tree and the star, they help fluff the branches, they watch with excitement as the lights turn on, and they help decorate with the (unbreakable) ornaments.  This year they were thrilled to see the ornaments we have made in past years.  Each one was carefully examined and discussed, it was so neat to see them excited that we still have these treasured pieces.  Every year we have made a special ornament for our tree and the grandparent's tree - handprints and footprints for the first Christmas, their first paintings, and thumb print string of lights.  It has become something we all look forward to, so this year was no different!

We actually made two sets of ornaments this year - Snow Globes and Ruldoph hand prints.  The kids enjoyed both of them but these two love a good project!

I was inspired by my friend's snow globes last year and wanted to make our own.  Abbey keeps an awesome blog at There's a Dino in the Dryer with great ideas for projects with toddlers and home schooling activities.  She did the globes with her boys last December and after seeing them I was excited to try them this year.  We decided to do four, one for each of us, and put something in them that represented each of us from this year.  To make them we needed clear fillable plastic ball ornaments, fake snow, and our items - we used small toys and a pendant.

I glued the items inside the globe using hot glue while Bryce and Zoey helped hold the ornament.

Then the kids filled them with fake snow.  They loved being able to put the snow in the ornaments and it was a great way to get them to calm down after a crazy morning.  They only put in about five pieces at a time but they were so intent on doing it without help from mom.

To finish them I put a dot of hot glue on the seam at both the top and bottom, snapped the pieces together, and put a ribbon on the top.  The kids were so proud of them and love seeing their toys on the tree.  The only thing I would change if I did them again is to be more aware of how the seam will effect the way you see the toy but overall we enjoyed making them!  It is a great project for little ones to help with and document their interests for the year.

The second ornament we made were Rudolph handprints!  I saw many examples on pinterest and the internet so I took elements from several of them and figured out what supplies we already had to make ours.  For this ornament we needed clear glass ball ornaments, paint markers, brown paint (I used acrylic but any that will stay on glass will work), a paint brush (a paint sponge would also work), googly eyes, pom poms, hot glue, and a filler for the ornament.

 

I started by painting each kids hand, minus the thumb, with the brown paint.

Then they held the ornament so the paint transferred the hand print on it.  It took some focus to make sure we didn't smear the prints but I think they did a great job.

After we were all cleaned up and the paint was dry (you can use a hair dryer to assist with this step) the kids picked which eyes and noses they wanted to use and placed them on the dots of hot glue I put on the ornament.

We could have been finished at this step, they looked adorable.

Even though they looked great, I wanted to make the Rudolph pop a little more and make sure the names I would write on the back didn't distract from the Rudolph so I stuffed each ornament with poly-fil stuffing, although if you had extra "snow" from the globe ornaments that would also work really well.

I finished them by writing each kid's name on the back along with the year.  These were such a great way to document the kid's hand size this year.  I love how they turned out and I hope the grandparents will enjoy them just as much!

Enjoy making your own ornaments this year and let me know how yours turn out! 

.katherine.