Ornaments!

Sorry I don't have a soup recipe for you.  We have been eating out and finishing off leftovers.  I'll have some new ones after Christmas!  I have some craft ideas for you instead :)

For the past 2 years, my friends and I have had an ornament exchange party where we made and exchanged ornaments.  All of these were made for me by friends and family.  I love decorating the tree each year, because these ornaments bring back memories and make me think of special people :)

We didn't get to have the party this year, but I still wanted to make ornaments.  I had lots of ideas floating around in my head, so I set out to make them happen.

Foam Ball Ornaments

For some reason, I really wanted to see what I could do with foam balls this year.  I had seen some ideas on Pinterest that I wanted to try and had come up with some others myself.
I gathered my supplies and got to work...

I had some ornament fails...

This cupcake ornament didn't quite work out the way I hoped that it would.

These didn't work out either.  

These good ideas gone bad didn't make me give up though and thankfully I had some great ornament successes too!!

Yarn-wrapped Foam Ball Ornaments

I am sure there are directions out there for these somewhere, but this is one that I just made on my own.  I used simple foam balls, yarn, and craft glue.  I decided starting in the middle would be easiest, so I covered half of the ball with glue and then wrapped the yarn around the ball.  Once that half was finished then I covered the other half with glue and wrapped it with yarn.  For the hanger, I pinned ribbon to the top with a sequin pin.  I had some bells left from other projects, so I either strung them on the top ribbon or pinned them to the bottom.  The red, white, and green yarn was a little smoother and was easier to work with than the other yarns shown, but I was happy with how they all turned out.  The most challenging part was trying not to get my fingers in the glue!

Ribbon-wrapped Foam Ball Ornaments

I found this simple idea online here www.houseontheway.com/christmas-ribbon-ornament-craft/
I used smooth foam balls for these and I pinned the ribbon with sequin pins, because I already had them.  The shiny ribbon was a little more challenging to work with, but so pretty!  Tip:  When you cut your ribbon, cut it a little longer than it takes to wrap around once.  I didn't do this with my shiny ribbon, so I had to pin both ends.

Fabric and Sequin Foam Ball Ornaments

I had an idea in my head of how I wanted this ornaments to look, but it did not work out.  As you can see from the fail picture (green one of the left), I couldn't get the fabric to sit just right.  I even tried using a template for cutting the fabric that I found online, but that didn't work out either.  

Thankfully I found this site www.stitchingunderthesoutherncross.yuku.com/topic/2559#.UrBzr9JDsfV

It took a little while, but it turned out way better than my first couple of tries!

I really enjoyed making these ornaments and am super happy with how they turned out!  Hope you will try them too!!  

One last idea...

I made ornaments similar to these a couple of years ago for our ornament exchange party.  I decided to make some more this year.  This year I used the larger glass ornaments, but the small ones work well too.  The side of the ornaments that you can't see has the first initial of the person who they are for, but I can't show you that because I haven't given them away yet ;)

Here's how you can make your own...
Fill plain glass ornaments with fake snow (I made a mess doing this, but I got them filled!).  I always glue the top back on in hopes of keeping it from falling off and making a big mess!  Clean the side of the ornament that you are going to paint with rubbing alcohol.  Let it air dry (doesn't take too long) and then paint.  Enamel paint is best for painting on glass and mistakes can be "erased" with rubbing alcohol.  I used circle sponges to make the snowman body, because that was easier than trying to paint circles and I like the texture that they create.  When I made these before, I painted several snowman around the ornament.  This time, I painted an initial on one side and one snowman.  Allow the body paint to dry and then dress your snowman.  It's fun to customize the snowmen by using the person's favorite colors or modeling them after something the person likes (favorite sports team, school colors, etc.).  I made all of these in a couple of hours.

If you ever have questions or need more directions to help make something, don't hesitate to ask!  Also, feel free to share any ideas for Christmas crafts that you have made!  I love new ideas!!  :)