Emily has to make a Christmas ornament out of recycled materials for the fourth grade ecology club.

They both are supposed to make a homemade ornament for display where their daddy works.

Any creative ideas? I'm excited, and will google, but figured you ladies are such a creative bunch, I'd ask for your ideas, too!

By Cat on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 04:05 pm:

I recycled some of my grandmother's old glass bulbs one year. We soaked them in bleach-water to get the old paint off and then very carefully filled them with various things. One with poupori (sp), another with Easter grass, painted on some others, etc. Then I tied a ribbon around the top. I did a dozen, gave away about 4 (to my grandmother and her sisters and my mom) and I still have 5, I think. They're very fragile, so you have to be VERY careful with them. You could also take old metal cookie cutters (the ones that are like 3/4" thick) and glue ribbon on the outside and add a bow and hanger. Old scraps of material or old clothing that doesn't fit can be made into cute little stuffed ornaments. I'm sure there are tons of other ideas. I'm interested in what the others will come up with!

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 04:09 pm:

Gosh, I know we've had discussions about this before, but nothing is turning up in the search!

I made them as a child, and all of my kids made them, but I see you are looking for ideas out of recycled materials only.

I'm sure our creative moms have some suggestions for you.

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 04:15 pm:

No, only one has to be recycled. The others just need to be handmade out of any materials, recycled or bought. So give me those ideas Karen!!!

By Kaye on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 05:17 pm:

One of the recyled ones I have seen is you cut circles out of old christmas cards (a little bigger than a quarter, then you fold each circle on three sides, so the center is a triangle with round edges pointed out. Then you start glueing those flaps together.

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 06:23 pm:

Kaye, that sounds neat! Do you fold the flaps back, like behind the picture, or towards the front? What does the finished ornament look like?

By Tink on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 06:59 pm:

I *think* your dd is old enough for this. It was done in the most recent Woman's Day magazine. They took different styles of lightbulbs, painted them with acrylic and metallic paints and then hung them by ribbon loops. These were really pretty and unusual. Similar to these, although they could be painted anyway your dd would like.

By Robin on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 07:22 pm:

I lived by the beach as a kid. My mother and I would look for old oyster shells. We would take them clean them, etc. Then you take pictures from last year's cards (not photos) glue them onto the shells and shelac. They last a long time.

Another thing is pine cones. We take pine cones, and dress them up as Christmas Carollers with pieces of fabric such as felt and put on googly eyes, etc.

The last one I am not sure what exactly you do but I bet you can find it on line. A friend of mine takes cd discs that you get free (such as aol discs) and has her kids decorate them. I have never seen these ornaments but as I said, maybe you can google.

The last place I'd look is Family Fun. I bet they have lots of ideas.

By Tink on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 07:25 pm:

Argh! My pc doesn't want to let me post photos!!!

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 08:19 pm:

Recycled--I got this one out of a WD Christmas special mag and dd and I are going to do this. Cut a bell shape out of some type of paper. The mag used sheet music (appropriate for a bell I guess). Cut out 9 more copies so there are 10 bells. Fold then in half, then flatten back out and stack them, staple ribbon along the center of both sides of the bell. Then fold and glue at the ribbon to hide the ribbon. Above the bell, knot the ribbon, then put a bead, then another knot. Then leave a place to hang, another knot, a bead and 1 last knot.

We are just finishing this one. Using white bread and your fave cookie cutter, cut out shapes. Using a straw cut out a hole to use in hanging the ornament later. Leave on a rack to dry out overnight. Mix white glue (like school glue) and a color of paint to paint the ornaments. Paint 1 side and let dry, then paint the 2nd side and let dry. BTW, it is easiest if you paint the edges first. Let dry then smear with glue and sprinkle glitter all over it. It takes awhile for each drying so dd and I have worked on it for several nights after supper then let dry until the nest night after supper. We've had fun and they are really pretty. We'll finish tomorrow. We've made 12 of them.

If anybody likes these ideas and my instructions don't make sense, and it is not illegal I'll copy the exact instructions from the mags they came out of.

By Kaye on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 08:42 pm:

fold them out...I will try to put a pic here..

By Kaye on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 08:42 pm:

woo hoo, i made it work

By Luvn29 on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 09:44 am:

I love these ideas guys! Thanks so much. You don't know how much my dd and I appreciate your help.