Home Made Christmas Decorations: 5 Ornaments You Can Make Yourself

Having the same ornaments on your Christmas tree year after year can get boring. Buying new ornaments can be very expensive. Making your own ornaments, though, allows you to add new decorations for a price even Ebenezer Scrooge would approve of. Well, maybe he would.

Baked Paper Stars
With paper, glitter, and a few kitchen utensils, you can “kiln” your own stars for the Christmas tree. Read the full instructions at http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-ornaments/homemade-paper-stars-954207/ Since there is an oven involved, children doing this should have parental supervision.

Popcorn Ball Ornaments
What's better than an attractive ornament? An attractive and tasty ornament! Make popcorn balls in your favorite flavors, then enjoy eating the leftovers. Adding extra goodies to the creations is not only tasty, but adds extra color. There are all kinds of tasty and colorful possibilities – M and Ms, dried fruit, candied fruit, etc. Popcorn balls are also a good project for a school class project.

Need a recipe? Go to http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-ornaments/popcorn-ball-ornaments-689284/ The directions are simple and children can do this by themselves or with family since there are no dangerous materials involved.

Recycled Ornaments
In some cases, the best Christmas ornaments are not ornaments at all – they are other objects that have good memories associated with them. For example, you might take one of your child's wooden blocks and convert it into a Christmas ornament. Each time you see it on the tree, you'll remember your child playing with it. One day, your grandchildren might even get to see it.

Angel Garland
Make a garland with angels to hang on your tree or across a doorway. These are simple to make - children can do it by themselves or with family since there are no dangerous materials involved.

For directions, go to http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-ornaments/angel-garland-661033/ 

Glitter Cones
If you have pine trees in your yard or neighborhood, these ornaments can be made for free! Collect a variety of attractive, undamaged pine cones and allow them to dry (if they are damp). There are two ways to apply the glitter.

Option 1: Brush the tips of the scales with a mixture of glue and water. Immediately sprinkle the pine cone liberally with glitter, then allow to dry.

Option 2: Use glitter glue pens to add glitter to each cone.
The glitter cones can be added to your Christmas tree, piled in a basket, or added to greenery.

By making your own Christmas ornaments, not only will you be saving money this Christmas, you’ll also be able to have fun doing it!

Article by Gabriel Adams. Looking for more Christmas gift ideas? Head over to www.smartgiftshopper.com for funny white elephant gifts and other great gift ideas.