Posts Tagged ‘how to make ornaments’

How to Make Valentines Ornaments

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Create fun and inexpensive holiday ornaments for every holiday.

                

With all of the hustle and bustle of the December and January holidays in the past, it’s time to think about Valentine’s Day and the ornaments that can be made for a Valentine’s Day tree!  Valentine’s Day decorations and ornaments are growing in popularity, and kids have always enjoyed making Valentine’s Day gifts for classmates and friends.  This year, why not spend an afternoon with your children creating Valentine’s Day ornaments that are fun and inexpensive?    

Valentine’s Day ornaments do not have to be elaborate to be beautiful.  In fact, one of the latest techniques is to create these ornaments out of recycled materials!  Using things you have around the house or buying recycled art supplies can be a fun and inexpensive way to encourage creativity.    Here are a few ideas for items you may have around the house that can make for beautiful Valentine’s Day ornaments.

  1. Yarn (left over from a knitting project or other misc.);   
  2. Tissue paper (check in some of the gift boxes you saved from Christmas);
  3. Old greeting cards (Valentine’s or not);
  4. Candles (melt the wax and use as glue);
  5. Ribbon and/or bows (check those Christmas gift boxes again);
  6. Newspapers or magazines (paper mache is so much fun).

The options are really limitless!  Get creative and have fun.  Making Valentine’s Day ornaments is a wonderful way to spend a cold, wintry afternoon with your children.  Once you’ve got a variety of ornaments, decorate a Valentine’s Day tree and give the rest away as gifts.  At the end of February, be sure to store the ornaments in a safe place so you can enjoy them next year!

Article and images used with permission from UltimateChristmas.com.

Fun Ornament Projects for January

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond presents 27 creative ornament projects for any level beader. This book presents a variety of ornament projects using different techniques including bead stringing, wirework, stitching, and netting. Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond includes an introduction, basics section, comprehensive list of tools and materials, step-by-step photographic instructions, and design guidelines to guide beaders through their work.

“Our ornament projects are always really popular. They are a fun, festive way to show off and share your love of beading,” says Cathy Jakicic, BeadStyle editor.

Beaders will learn to make holiday ornaments such as beaded wreaths, poinsettias, ornament covers, standing spiders, and even peyote-stitched Russian ornaments, as well as beaded air balloon ornaments, stitched crayons, moccasins, leaves, flip-flops, and fruit and vegetables. There are even ideas for creating ornament hangers or ornament alternatives such as drawer pulls, drapery tiebacks, doorknob decor, and more.

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond is available in bookstores and direct from Kalmbach Publishing Co. for $19.95. To order the book direct, call (800) 533-6644, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time or visit them on the Web at KalmbachBooks.com.

Article and image used with permission from KalmbachBooks.com

5 Fun Christmas Ornaments to Make at Home

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Each ornament kit comes with everything you need to make a great ornament!

There are several ornament kits to choose from at BeadBuddies.net and they probably have hundreds of different beads and crystals. The ornament kits are complete with the beads, supplies and instructions, so you can get started right away. Whether you are an accomplished artist or a beginner looking for a rainy day project, you will be very pleased with the kits. The ornament kits range in difficulty from beginners level to advanced, so there is something for everyone.

Owners Rod and Kim offer discounts when the ornament kits are purchased in multiples, so making ornaments could turn into a fun family, club, or classroom project. Once you have mastered a couple of their kits, you may want to mix it up a little and use the same ornament pattern with different colors of beads, or you can come up with your own ornament designs using the beads and crystals at BeadBuddies.net.

When you are thinking about ideas for ornaments, don’t forget all of the possibilities for making wearable ornaments using the gorgeous beads and crystals. Rod and Kim like the potential of the semi-precious stones. They say that the patterns in each stone are really amazing and can lure you in. Rod’s favorite stone is Red Tiger Eye and Kim really likes Bronzite and Crazy Lace Agate.

Rod and Kim Connors own and operate BeadBuddies.net out of Gray, Georgia. Kim has been beading for over 18 years and she and Rod started their business because they had trouble finding the beads they needed at reasonable prices. In their search for quality and beautiful beads for their ornaments, they discovered that other ornament designers were looking for beads as well. They decided to go right to the manufacturers and make beads for ornaments available for hobbyists and artists online. The Connors are true beaders and they use the beads they sell.

Rod and Kim really make a great team! One of the advantages that they have is that they have all of their beads hanging up in their Georgia office. They can easily try different combinations together until they find what they like. They also have done about 100 different craft shows, and that gives them a good feel for what ornament crafters and beaders are looking for in designs, beads and crystals.

Article and images used with permission from BeadBuddies.net

Personalized Family Ornaments from Montana

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Include every member of the family in a personalized ornament.

Montana artist Peggy Kupper has been in the personalized Christmas ornament business for over 25 years. Ornaments with family names have always been a favorite of her customers. However, until recently, she had no way for her customers to create an ornament to fit every size family and even change to growing families. Thus Peggy used her artistic talents and her creative mind to design the Family Charm Ornament line.

The concept behind the Family Charm Ornaments is simple but yet brilliant. Start with a header ornament and then select from a wide variety of different charms to build a unique personalized family keepsake that includes all the family members and the pets too. The end result… smiles and joy. The ornaments have been an instant hit with the customers who have so much fun designing and building them. Designs range from Christmas, wildlife, sports, mountain, ocean, cats, dogs, weddings, farm animals, and more.

With the success of the ornaments, Peggy enrolled the help of her family to build a website for these personalized ornaments, FamilyOrnament.com. As a family they needed to find an innovative but simple way to capture the smiles on the customer’s faces when they built these ornaments, and then somehow digitize that into a website. Peggy’s two sons Ben and Alex, who both have backgrounds in computers, set out to develop the website. Using a drag and drop concept with the website, they were able to give the customer virtually the same experience online building an ornament as they would if they were doing it in person. Through FamilyOrnament.com Peggy is able to offer her customers a unique approach to personalized family memories. Build your personalized ornament now.

Article and images used with permission from FamilyOrnament.com

Blown Glass Ornaments – 3 Day Process

Friday, October 16th, 2009

The process of blowing glass ornaments is centuries old.

Artisan crafted blown-glass ornaments are created in much the same way today as they have been made for centuries. The process takes several days, and results in a piece of art your family can treasure for decades.

While you may have thought of blown glass ornaments as limited to spheres or simple shapes, the almost infinite variety displayed on Ornaments To Remember will certainly change any idea that you have of blown glass ornaments being restricted to tradition. Their 2009 collection is especially prolific, and ranges from the lovely glass ornaments based on Chinese motifs to Bingo ornaments with alot of fun ornaments in between. It is pretty amazing how much detail the artisans are able to achieve with their latest line of blown glass ornaments, and that isn’t even counting their custom designed ornaments. They even have movie ornaments and food ornaments as well as ornaments for hobbies and occupations.

Here is the basic process for making blown glass ornaments:

Day 1:

1. European craftsmen hold a hollow bulb of glass over an open flame until it is glowing red and pliable.

2. While the glass is still hot, a blower places it in the mold of choice and blows through a connected tube until the glass fills the mold.

3. The ornament cools and is removed from the mold.

4. When it has completely cooled, it is “silvered” using a proprietary blend of these ingredients: silver nitrate, ammonia, distilled water, saltpeter, and sugar.

Day 2:

1. The ornament is dipped in a base coat of lacquer. Our lacquer is non-toxic, does not contain lead, and meets Europe’s standards for being environmentally friendly.

2. Once the lacquer dries, depending on the design, color lacquer is applied in coats, then the ornament is hand painted and glitter and other coating are added if necessary.

3. The ornament is left to dry overnight.

Day 3:

1. The stem of the ornament is cut off and an ornament cap is placed on.

2. The ornament is placed in a specially designed gift box that protects it during shipping and makes a lovely presentation.

Ornaments To Remember is proud to create ornaments in the old tradition in a way that is safe to their workers and to the environment. In addition, all of their profits support the nonprofit parenting website The Learning Community.

Article and images used with permission from Ornaments2Remember.com

Learn How to Make Festive Beaded Ornaments

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond presents 27 creative ornament projects for any level beader. This book presents a variety of ornament projects using different techniques including bead stringing, wirework, stitching, and netting. Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond includes an introduction, basics section, comprehensive list of tools and materials, step-by-step photographic instructions, and design guidelines to guide beaders through their work.

“Our ornament projects are always really popular. They’re a fun, festive way to show off — and share — your love of beading.” — Cathy Jakicic, BeadStyle editor.

Beaders will learn to make holiday ornaments such as beaded wreaths, poinsettias, ornament covers, standing spiders, and even peyote-stitched Russian ornaments, as well as beaded air balloon ornaments, stitched crayons, moccasins, leaves, flip-flops, and fruit and vegetables. There are even ideas for creating ornament hangers or ornament alternatives such as drawer pulls, drapery tiebacks, doorknob décor, and more.

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond is available in bookstores and direct from Kalmbach Publishing Co. for $19.95. To order the book direct, call (800) 533-6644, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time or visit us on the Web at KalmbachBooks.com.

Article and image used with permission from KalmbachBooks.com

Make Ornaments from Rabbit Hollow Patterns

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Create a medallion ornament or a fancy ornament with beads and cabochons.

Rabbit Hollow Creations not only offers one-of-a-kind beaded ornaments for sale. They are also ready to supply the ornament maker with cabochons and “blank” ornaments. Their ornament patterns can be purchased in pdf format and most of the patterns are designed to just be slipped on to a plain glass ornament ball.

Cabochons are disk-like pieces similar to buttons and have many uses besides ornament making. Many crafters use them in their wearable ornament designs, ornamental magnets or barrettes. You can buy them at Rabbit Hollow with images ranging from flowers to Santa as well as in heart shapes.

The owner of Rabbit Hollow Creations is Holly and she doesn’t skip any corners on materials. The elegant round ornaments can include beads, cabochons, fringe and swags. Her medallion ornaments are made from porcelain and glass beads. Knowing that you want to take good care of your ornaments, Holly makes polyester filled gift boxes available too. Be sure to join her mailing list to hear when new ornaments and patterns are offered.

Article and images used with permission from RabbitHollowCreations.com

Eggcentricity Ornaments – How They Began

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Dory shares how a family tradition of making eggs into May Baskets became a year round ornaments business.

Springtime brings back memories from childhood of Easter Eggs and May Baskets. My favorite eggs were the heavy sugar ones with the small end open for viewing scenes of meadows with miniature rabbits and other small animals scattered about. I’m sure there were many other themes depicted, but I liked the animals best. That is probably why I began collecting tiny china figurine ornaments when I was old enough to be trusted to keep them safely out of harm’s way.

After Easter, we would use decorations, ornaments and the imitation grass from our Easter baskets to put inside May baskets. We made the baskets from strips of heavy colored craft paper woven like real baskets only much smaller. That way you could make as many as you needed.

My grandmother told how children would make baskets and secretly leave them on their friends’ doorsteps. It then became a guessing game to learn which friend had thought of you. We lived in the country with no neighborhood families nearby, so our best friends were each other. Still, it was lots of fun to look forward to each year, especially the guessing!

At Eggcentricity, I make May Basket ornaments by cutting an egg horizontally so I get two ornament baskets from one egg. The baskets can be plain or filled with whatever your imagination leans to. The trim around the top is both inside and outside for strength and the handle trip is glued in before the inside trim piece is added.

Eggcentricity has handcrafted eggshell ornaments for every season. Take a look at the Cloud 9 ornaments as well.

Submitted by Dorothea from Eggcentricity.com

Ornaments.com Adds New Ornaments Daily

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

The Ornaments.com staff searches for unique ornaments and shares the results with ornament collectors and gift buyers. The ornaments blog presents a platform for more in depth artist interviews as well as a stage for “showing off” the beautiful ornaments. Please visit Ornaments.com often and watch us add new ornaments daily.

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