Holiday How To Books - Make Your Own Christmas Ornaments

I love Christmas decorations and Christmas trees. The thing I love the most about my Christmas tree is the different ornaments that we put on it. The handmade ones mean so much to me! The small fuzzy sheep that my niece made for me, the felt wrench that my husbands grandson made for him, the beautiful beaded ones that I made with my aunt, who has since passed away. Each year when I get them out and hang them up, I think of when they were made, or who made them. Sometimes I feel like my tree is like the hall of fame for the best talent in my family!

That is why every year, I get together with a friend or relative and make a few ornaments. It's a fun afternoon and they always make thoughtful gifts or more decorations for your own tree. Sometimes I use a kit, I am always impressed with the felt ones by Buscilla, and sometimes I like to make them from scratch and that is why I have a bunch of great books with ideas and patterns. I love this tradition so much, I decided to gather some of my favorite books and share them with others. Maybe it will start a tradition for your family too. Enjoy!

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This fun book gives you a beautiful ornament to make every day in the month of December, right up till Christmas day! Original, cute patterns include stars, mittens, pine cone bouquets, snow trim, pinwheels and more. Easy project has easy instructions and patterns, if needed. Color pictures. Great projects for the whole family, for your tree or to give as gifts to teachers, friends or relatives. 63 pages.

These snowflakes are absolutely beautiful! This book makes the process of making them fun and simple with color diagrams and easy to follow instructions. Anyone can make these lovely snowflakes and they can be used for things other than Christmas tree ornaments. A lovely craft to learn and the results will amaze you! 14 patterns.

If you are looking for a book with a wide range of types of ornaments, this is it! Their are a big variety of styles from simple and cute to elegant to extremely ornate. Even if you are new to beading, this book has beautiful ornaments that you can easily make. Very original projects, using a wide variety of beads in different ways. Gorgeous full color pictures and easy to use patterns.

This series of books has absolutely beautiful covers that you can crochet for any Christmas bulb. Plain crochet thread, metallic, additional beads, there are so many ideas in these books for fun projects. Take any old ornament, and in less than two hours, you can have a beautiful piece to cherish or give to someone special. Includes large color photos, and large print instructions.

This book is full of lovely projects for your family Christmas tree. From the simple, edible gingerbread man to the gorgeous, elegant orbs, this collection is all you need to make a beautiful, memorable Christmas tree.

Easy to Make

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

3/4 cup of warm water

Instructions

1. Set oven to bake at 350 degrees

2. Sift or mix salt and flour thoroughly

3. Using a mixer or stirring by hand, add the water slowly.

4. When the mixture gets too thick to mix, finish by squeezing with your hands.

5. Keep kneeding until the mixture is pliable, using more water if necessary

6. Flour the counter and roll dough out on the flour about 1/4 inch thick.

7. Make your ornaments with cookie cutters or free hand. Make sure to make a loop at the top so they will hang on a ribbon.

8. Bake about one hour, or until ornaments are hard.

9. Let cool completely, do not refrigerate.

10. Paint and decorate, preserving with several coats of spray varnish on both sides.

Image from Freerange Stock Archives

These small projects are fun and quick to make, requiring only small bits of yarn. Included in the many patterns in this book are gingerbread men cookies, a tiny Christmas sweater, a snowman, a reindeer, holly leaves, and small Christmas stockings. Each project has a close up, detailed photograph, and simple, clear instructions.

Don't Let it Happen to You!

When my parents moved, when I was a teenager, they ended up with a lot less storage space in the new house. This being the case, they decided to store the Christmas stuff in the attic.

This turned out to be a HUGE MISTAKE!

You see, my parents new house was in the deep south where it got pretty much unbearably hot in the summer time. I can't even imagine how hot it got in the attic of their house, but when we pulled down the decorations that Christmas, many of the precious, decades old, thin glass tree ornaments were broken, or cracked. Some of the colors had faded or changed. We lost almost all of the family heirloom glass ornaments, and quite a few of the plastic and bread dough ones as well. It was devastating.

The moral of the story is:

Don't store your precious decorations from Christmas or any other holiday in a place that has extremes of temperature, hot or cold. You never know the effect it will have on them and it just may cost you the decorations you hold most dear.

These books got great reviews a being easy for kids to use and have both simple and more complex projects so the book grows with the child. Comes with detailed instructions and lots of pictures so the projects are easy to understand.

This book has all kinds of ornament projects. Included are ornaments made of clothespins, fabric, paper, straw, yarn, felt.......even yucca pods! These projects require all different skill levels, some more intricate, and others very simple. All of them will make an awesome addition to any tree, or a great gift. 32 pages.

This book is great for tweens, Includes simple instructions and patterns for all projects. Ornaments to make include Origami paper beads, Tiny shopping bags, angel, snowflake, pointsetta, elf, santa, teddy bear, reindeer, rocking horse, snowman and many more. 25 total projects. 64 pages.

This book has many kinds of homemade ornaments, including potpourri, tiny quilts, papier-mache birds, pomanders and even edibles. My favorite type of ornaments in this book are the deliciously fragrant balls made with things like rose petals, bay leaves, sassafras and lavender. These ornaments were the kind my grandmother used to have on her tree. 101 projects. 128 pages.