It is easy to get caught up the glitz of the holiday season. I am certainly not immune to the beautiful displays of decorations - just yesterday I was admiring another glittery tree ornament in a store (which I left there, because my tree is already full!). I do own a few sets of purchased decorations but my tree is full of other things... mementos from vacations, things my children have made, ornaments we have been gifted over the years. Decorating our tree is not only the start to our holiday season but is a trip down memory lane as well. I thought I would share some of the ideas we have used in our own decorations as well as a few more that I recently found online.
First up: miniature embroidery hoops. This is a wonderful way to create meaningful decorations. They can be used to display almost anything:
- A portion of an article of clothing from a loved one, such as a shirt or sweater
- A portion of a baby blanket
- Vintage handwork, lace, or doilies
- Jewelry, which can be attached to a fabric background or hung loose in the center
- A portion of a map, such as from an old atlas, showing a favorite vacation spot
- Pages from that book you loved that is falling apart
- Your kids' artwork
I particularly liked this one, which would be a beautiful way to display different kinds of lace as well as ribbon:
Turning the hoop around gives you the option of making a sort of shadow box. This might be more effective using a mason jar ring, since they generally have more depth to them than the embroidery hoops. Another option is to use old cookie cutters, such as those vintage metal ones that may be too damaged to use for baking. Leave plain to highlight the shape, or add any sort of embellishments you like.
Sentimental items of clothing or blankets can also be cut up into smaller shapes, such as mittens, hats, trees, or even sweaters. Embellish with small craft supplies or stitching:
I thought these "ugly sweater" ornaments were pretty creative:
Lace, particularly ruffled lace, works very well in this next idea. In the center you can sew or glue on a button, bead, or piece of jewelry. I am picturing some of my grandmother's handmade lace with one of her brooches in the middle!
A toilet paper tube and some leftover yarn is all you need to make this adorable winter hat. You can add the pom-pom, as she did, or leave the yarn ends out for a different look.
You'll need more yarn for this next one, such as a partial ball left over from another project. For the paper you can use anything but I think leftover Christmas wrap would be lovely.
For more rustic-looking ornaments, take a walk through a park or your own back yard and pick up a handful or two of sticks. Allow to dry, then arrange in different shapes. Use glue or string to hold in place, then decorate with bits of paper, yarn, ribbon, paint, etc.
A single stick (a popsicle stick would work too) and some ribbon is all it takes to make a cute tree ornament:
Don't overlook the most basic of all craft supplies - paper. Paper is easy to come by, easy to color, and easy to decorate, and lends itself well to everything from simple cut-outs to more complicated origami. Try magazine pages, gift wrap, sheet music, scrapbook paper, or free printable images for your ornaments. Here are some of my favorite ideas:
And finally, if you have some ornaments at home that are looking a little tired, there are many ways to dress them up. Try decoupage with tissue paper or holiday-themed napkins, gluing on embellishments, decorating with paint pens or permanent markers, adding spray paints or glitter, or covering with fabric. I even found one blogger who embellished her plain white ornaments with temporary tattoos (first photo below), and they look beautiful!
I will leave you with one more photo:
My son created this when he was about four (it's a Christmas tree, in case that's not clear from the picture LOL). Some scrap paper, a Crayola marker, and a bit of yarn, and he created something he was proud of. He's now 18 and this remains his favorite tree ornament. I just thought this was a nice way to illustrate that you don't need anything fancy to create beautiful decorations. Even if the beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder ;)
Happy creating, and I hope you have an enjoyable holiday season!
