Recycled Christmas card ornaments

These orb like ornaments are virtually free except for a little bit of glue. We spent part of the afternoon and evening creating them. Dancer and Dad are still going strong with no signs of slowing down. They have moved on to making them in different sizes. One that will be about the side of a basketball is in the works right now. Dancer is also a buzz about all the different materials she could make them out of. The ones shown here, our first attempts, are about size of a baseball. The ornament on the bottom is a double decker with two middle parts. These have been around probably since the beginning of time, but if you haven't seem them before or need a refresher course, here is how it is done.

Using the fronts of old Christmas cards, cut out circles. We used the cup from children's suspension medication, like liquid Tylenol, for the pattern. Each ornament needs 20 circles or 30 for a double decker. Each circle needs to have it's edges folded so that there is triangle in the middle of it and three tabs around the outsides. The piece on the left shows the triangle and on the right is how the circles will look when they are ready to be put together. The more precise the triangles are folded the better all the pieces will fit together. You could draw a little pattern or just eyeball the folds. Once the pieces are all cut out and folded the construction can begin. Tacky Glue works extremely well for this project because it sticks so fast, which makes it easy to get the pieces together with out a lot of holding on your part.

The top and the bottom of the ornament. Both the top and bottom require five pieces. Glue them together by their tabs in a domed circle. On the top piece, thread a length of yard, who's end is tied in a knot, and string it through the middle. There will probably be a bit of a hole where the five pieces come together. If not put the string in place before gluing the last pieces together. Here is a top view and an underside view. While these are drying move on to the middle piece.

The middle of the ornament. Lay out ten of the pieces in a straight line and glue together as shown on the bottom of the picture. Form this strip into a circle and glue. If you want a double decker ornament make two middle pieces and glue them one on top of the other. Now glue on the top and the bottom to the tabs on this circle.