Little Dipper Constellation Ornament

There is only one state which has named an official state constellation. Do you know which state it is? Here's a hint. The constellation they selected is the Little Dipper, to honor their nickname as the North Star State. Read here to discover which state it is, then learn how to make an ornament inspired by this constellation. Affiliate links below. 

Little Dipper Constellation Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• acrylic paint (Navy Blue)
• sponge
• 0.7 white Posca marker
• rhinestones
• craft glue
• silver cord

Steps: 

Mix a drop or two of paint with water to make a wash. Use a sponge to stain the wooden ornament. You should still be able to see the rings of the wood. 

While the paint dries, draw the constellation on a piece of scratch paper, cut to fit onto the ornament. Select rhinestones for each star of the constellation. It's a nice touch to use larger rhinestones for the larger stars.  

Set the rhinestones aside and turn your constellation upside down. Use the pencil scribble transfer technique to make a pattern on the wood ornament. 

Trace the pencil lines with the white Posca. Add tiny white dots randomly on the ornament, then glue the rhinestones where they belong on the constellation. Tie a loop with the silver cord and your ornament is done. 

While I made the Little Dipper because it's the state constellation of Minnesota, this project can easily be adapted to make any constellation. Try zodiac signs for especially nice ornaments; they make a wonderful gift.

-------

While researching constellations, I came across an absolutely fascinating blog post called Visualizing cities as constellations in the night sky. Check it out!

Stuffed Cross Ornament

Our quilt group has been receiving a lot of fabric donations recently, which we appreciate so much. As we go through the donated fabrics, we sort by color, and occasionally by theme. We also pull out any fabrics that cannot be used on LWR quilts. This includes any prints with religious, patriotic, or military symbols, language, or messages. 

We can't use this fabric for our quilts, so our leader suggested I come up with a craft using it that congregational members could potentially do after church one Sunday. The four different crosses read love, faith, peace, and joy. Each is about 5" tall. 

My first idea was to make ornaments. I cut out two of the yellow joy crosses, put them with the right sides together, then sewed around the edges, leaving the top open. I turned the fabric inside out, stuffed it with Polyfil, added a loop of gold cord, and then used craft glue to close the opening (affiliate links). 

It came out fine, but it's not going to be a great option for the congregation members who usually come to our craft sessions. I have another idea for a project using this fabric that might be a bit easier and less fiddly for the very young and very old who attend. Stay tuned. 

Hidden Money Ornaments

It's time to share another money gift idea! This year, my nephew Timothy's Christmas gift was money hidden inside Christmas ornaments. 

I shared the steps to painting and decorating glass ornaments a few weeks ago, but I intentionally didn't mention how great they are for hiding money! 

To hide money in a glass ornament, simply remove the top of the ornament, roll up the money, and slide it in. Replace the top. Money fits perfectly inside. It's not too difficult to get out; tweezers help. 

Making the gift was the easy part. Getting it from California to Idaho took a bit more effort. Fortunately, all four ornaments survived the plane trip. Once I got to Idaho, I attached a tag (1 of 4) to the green ornament. I wrapped it for Timothy to open and kept the other three to hide. 

I'd expected we'd be opening gifts at my mom's house, where I could hide the ornaments amongst the many on her tree. Instead, we opened gifts at my sister's house. They don't have a traditional Christmas tree up anymore. 

Needless to say, a cat tree would not be a great place to hide glass ornaments (for many reasons), so I had to resort to tucking them anywhere I could find that would not be too obvious (to the humans) or enticing (to the cats). Success! No one noticed the ornaments until Timothy opened the first one and started looking for the rest. 

Believe it or not (I barely do), this is the 42nd money gift tutorial I've shared. You can see them all here: Creative Ways to Give Money. Fingers crossed that I can dream up something for #43!

Painted Glass Ornaments

I've been painting glass ornaments to give as a gift. This set of four sparkles and shimmers in the light. I like them individually but I love them together as a set. Aren't the colors pretty? Affiliate links below. 

 

Painted Glass Ornaments

Materials:

• styrofoam block
• wooden skewers
• sponge
• plain glass ornaments
• Folk Art Gesso
• Folk Art Color Shift paint
• Folk Art Extreme Glitter
• craft glue
• colored rhinestones

Steps: 

Set up a drying station BEFORE painting. Insert skewers into the styrofoam, leaving enough space between them that the ornaments won't touch. 

Remove the metal tops of the ornaments and set them aside. Use the sponge to cover each ornament with gesso. It's tempting to try to cover the whole thing at once or do sponge painting with the ornament on the skewer, but I found it's easier to cover half of each ornament (while holding it in your hand), let that dry on a skewer, then paint the other half. 

When the gesso is dry, paint the ornaments with your desired colors. (Same recommendation: paint half first, then the other half). For three ornaments I used the three shades of Color Shift that I own, then painted the remaining ornaments with a base coat and corresponding shade of Extreme Glitter. 

When the paint is completely dry, replace the gold hangers. Decorate the ornaments with rhinestones as desired. I found it really handy to use a jewel picker. Add an ornament hanger, decorative cord, or ribbon and they're ready to hang or give as a gift. 

Decorated Cinnamon Ornaments, Three Ways

Have you ever made the classic cinnamon ornaments? They are fun and easy to make and they smell absolutely amazing. I've made cinnamon ornaments a handful of times, but this time I wanted to experiment with decorating them in three different ways. The results were really interesting! Affiliate links below. 

Cinnamon Ornaments

Materials: 

• 1 container cinnamon (2.37 oz)
• 6 tablespoons applesauce
• plastic wrap
• Christmas cookie cutters
• straw
• needle file
• Folk Art paint, Titanium White
• Folk Art Dots, Whisper White
• Apple Barrel Paint Pens
• twine

Steps: 

Mix the cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of applesauce in a bowl. Add the remaining applesauce if needed to make a smooth ball of dough. (Note: Some people add a tablespoon or two of Elmer's Glue to the dough, allegedly to help the ornaments last longer. I don't find this necessary, but go ahead and try it if you want.)

Roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, to approximately 1/4" thick. Peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap, then cut ornaments from the dough. Use a straw to poke a hole in the top of each. Transfer your ornaments to a baking sheet. Ball up the scrap dough and repeat the steps until the dough is gone. Bake the ornaments at 200°F for about 2 hours. (Alternately, you can air dry them on a wire rack. It will take a day or two.)

Use a needle file to smooth any rough edges. You can see that the tree ornament below has some extra material (especially on the bottom branches) that needs to be removed. This task only takes a minute or two and it smells amazing. 

This is what all of my ornaments looked like after filing. See how much cleaner the tree looks? (Bottom left). 

On to decorating! I used three different products by Plaid to decorate my ornaments. I used Dots for the gingerbread man, star, and dotted tree; the paint pen for the snowman and holly leaf; and the paint for the bell and the other tree. 

As I was decorating, I was comparing the merits of each method. I found the Dots most difficult to control, but you can't beat the vibrancy and coverage. With practice, I could probably do better than the uneven dots and lines I made. The paint pen was the easiest to control, perfect for little details, but I had to let the first coat dry and do a second coat in order to get full coverage. The paint had good opacity and it was relatively easy to make simple lines and designs with a liner brush. 

I let everything dry overnight and ended up with this: 

The ones done with the paint pen are slightly less vibrant, but look at those tiny details. Now that I've tried them all, I'd recommend the paint pen for children, the paint or a paint pen for teens, and the Dots for cake decorators and other people who have spent a lot of time practicing squeezing with uniform pressure. 

The final step is adding hangers to your ornaments. I like the look of twine with these, but you can use ribbon, cording, or whatever else you want. 

The ornaments will last indefinitely, but their scent will fade over time. There are two ways to keep them smelling just as good as when you made them. The first is to gently file the edges and back each year before hanging them on the tree. This will, of course, make the ornaments smaller over time and will eventually cause them to break. Alternately, you can add a tiny drop of cinnamon oil to the back of the ornaments. 

Gingerbread-Inspired Joy Christmas Ornament

I love making Christmas ornaments. This one is inspired by two of the best scents of the Christmas season: gingerbread and pine. The ornament took very little time to make, other than the drying time for the paint. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Affiliate links below. 

Gingerbread-Inspired Joy Christmas Ornament

Materials: 

• unfinished wood letters
• Plaid paint (Nutmeg Brown)
• white paint pen
• twine
• artificial pine tree branch
• wire snips
• red flatback craft pearls
• hot glue gun

Steps: 

Paint the letters brown. When the paint has dried completely, use the paint pen to add the frosting details to the letters. Cut a piece of twine to make a hanger. Snip the pine branch to the desired length. 

Assemble the ornament by first gluing the letters to one another. Glue the connected word to the pine branch, then add the twine. Finish the project by adding pearls in clusters of three. 

Football Helmet Christmas Tree Ornaments (or Refrigerator Magnets)

Ever since making the NFL helmet refrigerator magnets, I've been paying attention to helmet designs. I had extra wooden shapes, so I decided to paint some college teams. I turned some into Christmas tree ornaments and others into magnets. Affiliate links below.  

Football Helmet Ornaments (or Magnets)

Materials: 

• wooden football helmets
• Folk Art acrylic paint
• paintbrushes - flat and liner
• hand drill 
• Mod Podge Sealer 
• decorative cord 
• self-adhesive magnets

Steps: 

Use a flat brush to paint the base coat for each helmet you are making. When the paint is dry, you can draw your design freehand. Or, if you need a little help getting the proportions of the logo just right, print out an image of the actual helmet that is the same size as the wooden helmet. Cut around the edges, then use this transfer technique to get the design onto your wooden piece. 

Use the liner brush to paint the logo onto the helmet, then paint the facemask in the appropriate color. The facemask continues onto the body of the helmet. I painted freehand, but you can sketch it out first or use the transfer technique again. 

If you are making ornaments, use a hand drill to put holes into the top of the helmet. If you are making magnets, you don't need a hole. Seal the helmet with Mod Podge. 

Add a piece of decorative cord to hang your ornament or apply a magnet to the back of the helmet. 

Here's a closer look at each of the helmets I made (before I decided which would be magnets and which would be ornaments, which is why you don't see the holes yet): 

Indiana University Hoosiers

University of Oregon Ducks

University of Nebraska Cornhuskers

University of Michigan Wolverines

University of Georgia Bulldogs

I like the versatility of this craft. You could easily have a room full of people working on the same basic craft, but each could choose their own team and whether they want it to be an ornament or a magnet. 

Denim Monogram Ornament

I had to retire a pair of jeans that were too threadbare to wear anymore, so I salvaged what denim I could and made a monogram ornament. I had a wooden T on hand, but have completely run out of C's. So this ornament is for Trevor. Since he doesn't read my blog, I can save it for Christmas and surprise him. Affiliate links below.  

Denim Monogram Ornament

Materials: 

• 4" unfinished wooden monogram
• Folk Art paint (Navy Blue)
• fabric scissors
• denim
• Mod Podge (Fabric)
• jute twine
• holly leaves and berries

Steps: 

Paint the monogram letter navy blue. 

Cut out a piece of denim about a half inch larger than the monogram in all directions. Cut a second piece of denim that is about a quarter inch smaller than the monogram in all directions. Set that second piece aside. 

Place the first piece of fabric upside down on a piece of wax paper. Add a coat of Mod Podge to the monogram, then place it sticky-side-down on the fabric. Press it firmly in place and let it dry for a few minutes. 

Starting with a straight edge (if your letter has one), spread Mod Podge on the edge, then pull the fabric tightly over that space. Use more Mod Podge to secure it to the back. When you get to a curved area, snip the fabric so that you can round the curves without it looking bulky from the front. 

Cut a length of twine for the ornament hanger. Glue it to the back of the ornament. Add a coat of Mod Podge to the back of the ornament and glue the second piece of fabric to it. Not only will it make the back look a bit more finished, but it will help hold the hanger in place. Let the glue dry completely. Then decorate with holly berries and leaves. 

One pair of jeans has enough fabric for a lot of monograms, so go ahead and make a bunch! I only made the one ornament, but I did use another part of the jeans for a different project. I'll show you that tomorrow. 

Fireplace Christmas Ornament

Part Two of my Pinterest challenge was to make a craft inspired by something on my Christmas Crafts and Gifts Pinterest board. I chose a super cute fireplace ornament by I Heart Crafty Things. I made a few tweaks and came up with this:

 

This is the original: 

As you can see, the basic concept is the same. I replaced the cardstock logs with mini craft sticks, which I decorated to look more like logs. I colored the main part of the fireplace like bricks and left the mantel wood. I shrunk the stockings significantly, added a third, and wrote in names: Trevor and his cousins, Timothy and Allison.

Below you'll find a tutorial that includes the changes I made. Definitely check out I Heart Crafty Things' detailed tutorial; Caroline includes a video plus photos for almost every step. And, of course, she is the original artist who came up with the idea. Affiliate links below. 

---------

Fireplace Christmas Ornament

Materials: 

• craft sticks (8)
• mini craft sticks (4)
• Folk Art paint (brown, red)
• cardstock (black, red, white)
• fine Posca pen (white)
• tissue paper (yellow, orange)
• Scribe-All pencil (white)
• colored pencil (brown)
• craft glue
• twine

Steps:

Paint three of the regular craft sticks and all of the mini craft sticks brown. Paint the remaining five regular craft sticks red. 

While the paint is drying, cut out the cardstock. Cut a black square that is approximately 4" and set it aside. Cut out however many stockings you want. Write the names on the stockings with the Posca pen, then glue white trim to the main part of the stocking. Tear the tissue paper to make flames. 

When the paint is dry, use the white Scribe-All pen to draw three lines down the length of each of the red craft sticks. The lines don't need to be perfect - freehand is fine. Then draw short vertical lines to represent the mortar between the bricks. Use the brown colored pencil to draw arcs at the ends of the mini craft sticks, as well as woodgrain along their length. 

Arrange four of the brick-painted craft sticks vertically to form the sides of the fireplace. Lay the final brick-painted stick across the bottom of those sticks and glue it in place. Then glue the remaining standard craft sticks side by side across the top. Allow the glue to set for a few minutes.

Glue the black cardstock to the back of the fireplace, then glue the tissue paper in place. Arrange the mini craft sticks over the tissue paper at the bottom of the fireplace. Glue the stockings to the mantel. 

Cut a length of twine and glue it to the back of the ornament to make a hanger. 

Quilled Cross Ornaments

Quilling is a great craft. It's inexpensive and easy to learn. The projects you make can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. This simple quilled cross ornament is a great project for people who are totally new to quilling. Affiliate links below. 

 

Quilled Cross Ornament

Materials:

• white cardstock
• Taylored Expressions Big Cross die
• white quilling strips (5 mm)
• quilling tool
• craft glue
• paperclip

Steps: 

Cut four crosses from white cardstock. You will be using one whole cross plus three extra borders for each ornament. 

Glue the borders, one at a time, on top of the base cross. You’re forming a barrier that will hold the quilled shapes in place. 

If you are not able to find a die with a border like this (I wasn’t able to find this particular die for sale online to link to it), you can glue a quilling strip on its edge to form the border. This is the more traditional method for quilling. You can use that technique for any shape, which makes it a lot more versatile. 

Now start quilling rolls. You can make loose or tight curls, teardrops, marquise shapes, or a combination of them. As you complete each roll, glue it in the cross. Continue until the entire area is filled. 

You can get completely different looks depending on what rolls you use to fill the cross. The cross on the left has a variety of shapes arranged symmetrically, while the cross on the right has a single shape in different sizes. 

Open a paperclip to make a hanger. Attach it to the back with hot glue or a piece of tape. Your ornament is ready to hang on the tree or to display anywhere in your home. 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

I liked my wood slice American Robin ornament so much that I made one for the Western Meadowlark. It is the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming and is easily recognized by the black V-shaped bib on its yellow breast. Beautiful! 

As with the robin, you can make this with leftover drills from previous diamond art projects, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. I used a variety of greys to make my bird since that's what I had on hand. Affiliate links below. 

 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, and a variety of greys - I used 8440, 8441, and 8444)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the package directions. Don't use too much or the moisture can cause your ornament to crack. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. The stars on my pattern mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the whole design. 

In order to center the meadowlark, put the center drill onto the center of the ornament. Then fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but since these ornaments can crack with too much moisture, I wouldn't risk it. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood. That will eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

-------

Have you seen the Aububon Birds stuffed animals from Wild Republic that feature a realistic call? I love them! There are over 30 different birds. This is the Western Meadowlark. 

Interested in learning more? Read about the Western Meadowlark and hear its calls at Audubon.com. 

American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

I've been wanting to make a bird ornament using my copious supply of leftover drills from diamond art for a long time. I'm so happy with how this robin turned out! Don't have leftover diamonds in the correct colors? Not a problem! Substitute with what you have, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. Affiliate links below. 

 

American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, 8356, 8443)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the directions on the package. If you use too much, your ornament can crack from the moisture. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. This is the pattern I made. The stars mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the design. 

In order to center the bird on my ornament, I put the center drill onto the center of the ornament... as best I could. The wood slices I used are quite irregular. In retrospect, I could have moved my starting drill over a hair to the left to better center the design. It didn't bother me much, so I left it that way.

Fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but not on wood like this. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood to eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

-------

The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin, making this a great activity for kids (or adults!) in those states. But it's equally great no matter where you live. This interesting songbird is one of the most recognized and most widespread in North America. Pair your craft project with a shaped puzzle featuring the American Robin, then check out these fun facts about this beloved bird. 

State Flag Wood Slice Ornaments

Crafting with friends is always better than crafting alone, so when Jonna came over we worked together to tackle my state craft goal, We brainstormed a bunch of ideas, then jumped right in with these wood slice ornaments, inspired by state flags. I made Alabama, Arizona, and New Mexico. Jonna made Colorado and Alaska. Affiliate links below. 

State Flag Wood Slice Ornaments

Materials: 

• wood slice ornaments
• centering ruler
• Folk Art paint
• twine
• Ultra Fine Sharpie - red (New Mexico)

Steps: 

Use a pencil and a centering ruler to sketch your design on the wood slice. Here I'm working out the stripes on the Arizona flag. If I were teaching this to students, I'd use the opportunity to pull out the protractors and practice those skills. 

Color your design with acrylic paint. Getting into those small areas was challenging with Arizona. I did all the yellow stripes, then all the red stripes. I filled in the blue area, then finished with the orange star.  

When the paint is dry, add a loop of twine so you can hang your ornament. 

For Alabama, I wanted more of a whitewashed look so that it was obvious the base was a wood slice. I watered down the white paint before painting it onto the ornament, then set it aside to dry. Apparently I watered the paint down too much, because the ornament swelled and cracked. However, once it was completely dry, the swelling went away and the crack is barely visible. You can see it around 4:00 below if you look carefully. I used undiluted red paint to add the stripes, then added the twine hanger.   

I used the same whitewashing technique for my third ornament, New Mexico. At this point, I hadn't seen that Alabama had swollen and cracked, so I didn't adjust the amount of water. This ornament has a much more visible crack, located at 7:00. I like that the woodgrain shows through, so if I were to do this again, I’d still want to do a whitewash. (Yellowwash?) I would experiment with using either less water... or a whole lot more water. I’m thinking that soaking the entire wood slice first (versus just wetting the front) might let it swell evenly and prevent cracking, but I’m not sure. Here is my finished ornament.

Jonna started with Colorado. I think she used a pen cap and a paint bottle as tracers for the circles. In the classroom, I'd pull out the compasses to give the kids practice. Kids LOVE compasses.  

This is Jonna's second ornament, Alaska. After the blue background dried, she used the back of the paintbrush to make the yellow stars. 

There aren't many other state flags that would work well for this project. Most of the rest have tiny details or type that would be way too difficult to paint without drastic modifications. For our next project, Jonna and I switched to markers, which let us make projects with more fine detail. I'll share those tomorrow. 

Ornaments for the Four Sundays of Advent

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ, both the celebration of his birth (Christmas) and his promised second coming. The first Sunday of Advent is the first day of the liturgical year. It can fall any day between November 27 and December 3. In 2023, Advent starts on December 3. That gives you plenty of time to make your own wall hanging featuring the four Sundays of Advent. 

Starting on December 3, hang one ornament each Sunday. When all four are hanging, you'll know that Christmas is next! Affiliate links below. 

Advent Ornament Wall Hanging

Materials:

• wood slice ornaments
• gold Sharpie
• gold Stickles
• twine
• holly leaves and berries
• branch (I cut mine from a tree in our backyard)
• gold wire
• wire cutters
• gold tape

Steps: 

Write the four words representing the four Sundays of Advent on the wood slices. You can write freehand or use this transfer technique if you prefer. 

Add some Stickles to the ornaments. I like just a hint of glitter toward the outside edge, but you can add as much as you want. 

Cut four 8-inch pieces of twine. Tie them into loops, then thread them through each of the ornaments to make the hangers. 

Twist three holly berries together and set them aside. Repeat this for each of the ornaments (12 berries total).

The holly leaves I bought come attached in threes, but if you use them intact, they block the words on the ornaments. I cut them apart, stacked two leaves together, and then used a craft pick to poke a hole in them. 

Put the trio of berries into the hole you just created. Then poke those wires through the hole of the ornament. Snip off any excess wire, then use tape to cover the wires. 

Cut four 8-inch pieces of gold wire. Wrap them tightly around the branch four times, then bend up the ends to make hooks. If your branch is significantly thicker than mine, cut your wire longer than 8". 

Now cut an 18" piece of twine. Tie it to the ends of the branch to make a hanger. That's all there is to it!

Here's a close-up of one of the ornaments so that you can see the glitter:

I taught this craft yesterday to a group at church. We had a lot of fun making them and everyone's turned out great. Now we wait... for the season of waiting!