12 Days Blog Hop: Day 7

It’s my turn again!  For those of you who don’t know, I used to teach elementary school.  And preschool.  And I have a couple of  rugrats of my own.  Which, I suppose, is why I love kid friendly projects.  I have a few educational and fun projects (under The Hybrid Kid name)  in my store, like this one (which is one of my all time favs).  I think these projects foster together time, fine motor skills, and a development of creativity.  Today’s project is a favorite.

Every year, we (the kids and I) make ornaments.  We keep them, display them, and gift them.  Our tree is full of handmade ornaments.  We even have a few that I and my hubby made from years ago!  And although it makes our tree a little bit hodge-podge, every single ornament on the tree belongs to a family member and has special meaning.  The decorating of the tree brings back lots of memories…’I made this one in 2nd grade when we lived in Texas’ and so on.

For this project, you’ll need…

scissors (or a paper cutter, if you have one)

paper (either printed from our huge Grab Bag or scrapbook paper you’ve bought…preferably double-sided)

clear ball ornament

ribbon

First, let me say that I’m so happy to find PLASTIC ornaments this year.  In year’s past, we have used the glass ball ornaments.  Although they look the same and are still very pretty, they are glass.  So that meant being extra careful with sharp edges and little fingers and being extra careful with holding and hanging.  I am thrilled to find these…and at Michael’s…and on SALE this week!

Before, I called the girls in to begin, I picked a few digital papers from the Grab Bag and printed them as full 8.5″ X 11″ sheets on cardstock paper.  Then I turned them over and ran them through the printer again with a coordinating paper.  Basically, I made double-sided paper.  I trimmed the white edges off with the paper cutter. **VENT:  my blasted Mac and printer won’t print a full edge to edge page!  I think it’s a Mac thing, but it’s frustrating!**  Then I (or in this case, a good friend who came to help) cut the paper in strips.  The skinnier the strip the curlier it will seem.  These strips were probably between 1/4 and 1/2 an inch.

Now take a pencil (or dowel or pen or whatever you can find) and roll the strips of paper around.

When you pull the rolled strip off the pencil, you can either leave it curled on itself or pull it out in a spiral-y fashion.  Then tuck the curled paper into the clear plastic ball ornament.

We actually set out the paper strips and some ribbon for the girls and just let them go.  They took all kinds of approaches.  Curling paper around the pencil, curling it without a pencil, using little bits of ribbon, you name it.  **Thanks C and A for helping us!**

When they were finished, we put the little top back on the ornament and they tied a bit of ribbon to the top.  Then we added a little bit of skinny ribbon to use as a hanger.  I love that these were made by her, by herself.  And she likes that, too

Because I used my ribbon and already had paper to print on, I spent less than 75 cents on each of these ornaments.  Not bad.  Did I mention that these fit perfectly in those take out boxes you can buy at the craft store?  Just wrap in tissue and pop them in the take out box…and of course use a tag from the Grab Bag…and it’s ready to go!

Some other ideas for these ornaments…

besides the paper twirls, add some ribbon, fake snow, glitter, or tiny jingle bells

monogram each one with a vinyl letter (using your Cricut) or letter stickers

these are perfect, gifts for aunts, grandmas, teachers, and friends