Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Holiday Ornament Ideas

There's still plenty of time to create festive, one-of-a-kind ornaments--made faster still using Standard 910 air dry clay. I created these and painted them using regular acrylic paints from your craft store. This is a fun project for grown ups and a great idea for kids. Enjoy!

Charms & Frames
These ornaments start with cookie cutter frames, then either use very small cookie cutters or hand cut/made charms to dangle via ribbon.
At right: Snow Daze. A simple painted snowscape frames a dangling snowman charm. White ribbon is used to hold both the ornament frame and the snowman.

At left: Tree Trio! The star and tree are cut from a thin slab and held in place with ribbon. The ornament is a hand-rolled bead that is suspended with jewelry-stringing wire and held in place with crimp beads.
Simply Shaped

Just cutting out simple shapes can result in a really special look. At right: Dancing Star.
A series of these simple stars will adorn the tree planned for our front window this holiday. I drew several shapes until a found one I liked then scanned it, printed out several copies on card stock and used it to cut multiple stars. Easy and they actually match!

At left: Gift Tag/Ornament.
Finally, a simple round, cut with a small cookie cutter is adorned with a furled ribbon and personalized. This idea could begin as a gift tag and become an ornament to be treasured for years to come.

Here's hoping clay plays an important role in your holiday decorating.