I’ve got a way for you to keep those little hands busy, while also creating some pretty Christmas ornaments! When you are done, they make great, thrifty gifts, or you can use them on your own tree (they are cute enough!).
I was inspired by this BHG article on 20 Ways to Dress Up Plain Christmas Ornaments, and decided to try a few with the boys for a festive Christmas craft activity. We also made up a few of our own in the same theme. The boys really enjoyed this activity, and since it is a pretty fool-proof craft, none of us got frustrated at any point. Here’s what we did, and how we did it.
What you need:
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Clear plastic ornaments (glass would work too, but plastic is a safer route for little kids)
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Glittery craft pom pons (holiday or winter tones)
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Tinsel
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Holiday colored shredded paper or confetti
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Glittery chenille pipe cleaners (holiday or winter tones)
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Sequins (holiday or winter tones)
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Spray paint (holiday or winter tones)
Instructions:
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Carefully remove the tips from the ornaments so that you can put them back on later
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One at a time, have the children fill each ornament with a different filler (see instructions for each type of ornament with the photos below)
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Pom pon ornaments: Fill the plastic ornament with different sizes and colors of glitter pom pons. Complementary color combinations: silver/gold/white, green/red/white, blue/teal/white/silver. Fill the ornament all the way, or partially. Either will have a lovely effect.
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Tinsel ornaments: Snip a 2-inch piece of tinsel (silver, gold, red, or green) and stuff inside the plastic ornament. Once it’s stuffed inside, it spreads itself out.
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Confetti ornament: Fill a plastic ornament with shredded filler paper or confetti.
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Sequin ornaments: Fill a plastic ornament with different sizes and colors of sequins. Complementary color combinations: blue/silver, blue/white, red/green, red/white, green/silver, green/gold, gold/white.
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Pipe cleaner ornaments: Stuff coiled or folded chenille pipe cleaners inside a plastic ornament. You can mix and match colors and textures, but I recommend including some glittery chenille pipe cleaners.
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Spray painted ornaments (adults should help with this one): Spray 1-2 quick sprays of one color of spray paint into the inside of the plastic ornament, then roll around so the paint coats part of the inside. Repeat with 1-2 quick sprays of a second color on the inside. As long as you don’t have a lot of excess paint dripping inside, the kids can twist and roll the ornament around to spread the colors. If there is a lot of paint on the inside, then you may wish to pour some out so that the kids don’t make a mess.
For more easy kid’s crafts like this, follow my Holiday Children’s Crafts board on Pinterest.
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