DIY Christmas Ornaments

From various blog inspirations I decided to make a few ornaments for our tree this year.  I was getting a little sick of the plain glass balls so I wanted something a little more creative.

Here were my supplies.  I started out with a lot more glass ornaments than I ended up with because I messed several up and got impatient.  Hey, it happens.

I tried putting acrylic paint in the glass ornament and swirling it around.  But even after days it still wasn't dry, so I gave up out of frustration.  The ornaments were about $.40 so I wasn't too concerned.  I did have a few successes though.

#1: Glitter Monogrammed Ornaments

First I cleaned the ornaments by swirling alcohol around and letting dry overnight.  Then I sprayed spray adhesive on the inside of the ornament, making sure I got every spot.  Then I poured glitter in and swirled it around to cover the whole ornament.  I then sprayed a little more adhesive into the ornament so that the glitter would stick.  Then I took scrapbooking letters and placed them on the outside to make them monogrammed!  So easy!

Cost:

*Ornament - $2.50 for 4 large, 6 medium, or 8 small (originally $4.99, 70% off at JoAnn's right now!)

*Glitter - price varies, $2.99 for a medium amount, less with a coupon

*Spray Adhesive - varies, mine was about $6 with a 50% off coupon

*Letters - varies, mine were $1.39 (30% off of $1.99)

Total - $1.05/ornament (roughly)

#2: Sparkly Orbs

(I don't have a better name than this besides gems on a styrofoam ball ornament!) 

I really like how this one turned out!  I don't like the green as much since you can see the white styrofoam through the gems.  It probably would have been okay if I painted the styrofoam green, but I was too impatient.

I started with a styrofoam ball (from WalMart or the Dollar Tree) and began hot gluing on vase filler gems.  (The white ones were from Michael's and green from the Dollar Tree.  I liked the ones from Michael's better because they have different shades/colors.  If I had blues on my tree I would have gotten the really pretty blues/aquas they had.)  It's okay if there are big gaps, especially with the white gems, no one will notice!  When you have covered all you can, find the biggest gap and attach your hanger.  I hot glued ribbon on and put two straight pins to make the ribbon secure.  Wait a while before hanging, and make sure you put them on a low branch at first to make sure the hanger is secure.

One package made about two ornaments.

Cost:

*Styrofoam balls - 6 for about $3

*Gems - $2.00 for the white ones, $1 for the green

*Ribbon - $.99

Total - $1-$1.50 per ornament

#3:  Snowballs

These are my favorite, and I have a couple more to make (hopefully before it's time to take them down!)

First I cut the styrofoam balls in half that I had left over from the previous ornament.  Then I cut squares of fabric, about one inch in size.  I used a white muslin fabric I got in JoAnn's remnants section for cheap!  Then I picked a section and put a little Elmer's glue on the half circle and with a toothpick (sharp end cut off) began poking the center of a fabric square into the foam. Keep going until the whole half circle is covered!  Get close to the other fabric pieces, but not so close that there's no foam around each fabric piece.  Then I hot glued silver cord on the back as hanger.

Cost:

*Styrofoam balls - 6 for about $3

*Fabric - $.75 for about a 1/2 yard

*Silver Cord - $2.99

Total - $1 / ornament

#4: Monogram Snow Globes

These were definitely the easiest ornaments!  I cleaned the inside out with alcohol and let dry overnight.  Then I poured Epsom salt inside (looks a whole lot like snow!).  You can't put too much in, it gets pretty heavy and might weigh a branch down too much.

Next I put a silver glitter scrapbook letter on the outside (if I had a Silhouette I would have been much more creative! Santa?) and tied a bow around the hanger.

Done!

Cost:

*Ornament - $2.50 for 4 large, 6 medium, or 8 small (originally $4.99, 70% off at JoAnn's right now!)

*Epsom Salt - $1.75 at Kroger for 1 lb

*Ribbon - $.89 (sale!)

*Letters - varies, mine were $1.39 (30% off of $1.99)

Total - $1 / ornament

Four great ornaments for about $1 a piece!

 (guessing based on what I paid, didn't get the calculator out)

If you made ornaments this year, I'd love to see them!