DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments

Christmas can get costly and being the cheapskate that I am, I'm always trying to cut costs by doing a little bit of DIY here and there. Besides, DIY can be quite rewarding and adds a personal touch to things. Something worth giving a go is making your own ornaments. To some a DIY ornament may be those crafts you would have done in the early years of primary school using items such as macaroni, cotton balls, pop sticks and an array of crayons- these will not be the ones I'm sharing with you today. I have nothing against macaroni ornaments, you know, you do you. Anyway, these ornaments are a little more of a rustic style as that is what my Christmas tree is donning this year. So I hope you like my attempts in the world of crafts and find them somewhat helpful.

One of the easiest ornaments to make are ones where most of the work is already done. Bunnings (basically a giant warehouse shop filled with wood, screws, paint, sausages and trees) sell these little wooden cutouts of pretty much anything your little heart could desire. I picked up a few rocking horses, owls, stars ect. These particular ones don't already have small holes drilled into them so I just used a small drill bit to create a hole large enough to feed a bit of string or twine through. Simply cut a bit of decorative string of twine and feed it through the hole and tie it into a loop. And would you believe that's it! But if you want to be extra crafty, whip out that dremel tool that's been sitting in your garage for 9 months and have a little try at engraving little patterns or features into the wood. You could rough it up with a bit of sandpaper or even put a thin layer of varnish to give it a glossy finish.
 

 

The next one is rather fiddly at first but not to worry! All you need is a bauble, some twine, ribbon and a hot glue gun. I bought a pack of really cheap baubles because we are going to cover it anyway, I used silver but feel free to use any colour of your choice. Start by placing a small amount of hot glue on the bottom of your baubles and before the glue sets place the start of your piece of twine. Allow the glue to set. Once set, wind your twine around the bauble to create what I would call a beautiful mess. If your find that the twine is moving around a lot, every so often place another small amount of hot glue to set the twine in place. Leave to dry completely before moving on. As an optional step tie a bit of ribbon around the top of the bauble into a bow.
 

 

This minimalistic decoration proved to be difficult but if done well, looks incredible. I believe this style of ornaments originated in Sweden, to which I am not surprised as they are a talented bunch of people. The concept is simple, string shaped into words. Genius. I found this DIY difficult but not unachievable. All you need is PVA glue, twine or string, some baking paper and a toothpick. Lay out your baking paper on a flat surface. Completely cover the entirety of your string pieces in the glue and place on the baking paper. Using your toothpick guide the string to form a word of your choice. Once you have created your words, allow to set completely until hard. At this point you can hang them straight on the tree or you can paint them, however they are really delicate so I suggest you use a really small brush or spray paint them.

The easiest way to vamp up an old bauble is to cover it up. Yes, it's that easy. There are ridiculous amounts of fabric patterns in stores like Spotlight or other craft shops available for purchase so buy a meter of your choice and it should only set you back a few dollars. Depending on your size bauble, the sizes of fabric squares will vary. I recommend testing before cutting by wrapping a corner of the fabric over the bauble till it's completely covered including excess fabric. Then you will have your basic size guide to the squares needed. Cut your fabric into the desired sized squares. Place a small amount of hot glue to the bottom of the bauble and place it directly in the centre of the fabric square. Bunch the fabric toward the top and secure with some twine or decorative ribbon. You could even attach a bow to the top of the fabric bunched bauble.