Christmas Ornaments for Kids Tutorial

I just got home from spending Christmas with my family in the north woods.  It was so wonderful to be together for the holidays!

My family waited until I got there to pick out a tree and we decorated it together.  I love seeing all of my ornaments from when I was little.  I know Christmas is over, but I wanted to share a couple ornaments I found that I had crafted when I was young.

This adorable bird nest ornament is super easy to make with your kids.  As I've mentioned before, my mom is pretty crafty and I made this ornament with her a long time ago.  You can find all of the materials at the craft store, but you might need to stop by the grocery store for the cinnamon sticks.  

You will need:

6 cinnamon sticks

Ribbon

A cute tiny bird

Nest materials-- you could use mossy stuff from the craft store, twigs, raffia, shredded paper, etc...

Dried flowers

Glue -- hot glue works great!

1.  Glue your cinnamon sticks together to form a house shape.  Make a square with 4 sticks and then use 2 to create a triangle on top.  

2.  Form a nest with your nest materials.  Glue it to the cinnamon stick house.  

3.  Glue your bird in the nest.

4.  Decorate the nest and cinnamon stick house with dried flowers and a ribbon.

Isn't this little nutcracker ornaments so cute?!  I'm pretty sure he's my handiwork.

To make the nutcracker ornament you will need:
1 Old fashioned clothes pin
Paint
Fine tip Sharpie marker
Black pom pom
2 Wooden matches
Thread or ribbon for hanging the ornament

1.  Glue 2 matches to the sides of the clothes pin for arms.
2. Paint the clothes pin to look like a nutcracker-- black pants, red shirt, gold belt and buttons, and whatever color skin and features you like.  A fine tip Sharpie marker would be great for the eyes and mouth.
3.  Glue the pom pom on top of your clothes pin.
4.  Glue thread or ribbon to the back of the ornament to hang on the tree.

Ocean Ornaments Tutorial

To make a beautiful Ocean Ornament of your own, you will need:

Paint-- white and shades of blue

Paint brushes

Sponge

Flat ornament-- glass or plastic.  I bought mine at Michaels

Sand-- I brought some home from the beach, but any craft store should have sand.

Strong Glue (Optional)

 First paint your horizon 1/3 of the way down on the ornament.  

 Paint a line below the horizon in a different shade of blue.

 Continue painting lines in different shades of blue to create your ocean.  Use your sponge to create the tide about 2/3 down from the top of the ornament.  

Fill your ornament 1/3 full with sand.   

Optional: You can put a small amount of strong glue to the cap of the ornament to permanantly seal it closed.  This will avoid any sand spillage when you store it away for next year!  

I have a Martha Stewart stencil that says "Merry Christmas" -- you could stencil or paint a holiday sentiment or maybe the name of the beach your sand is from.  

Post pictures of your ornaments on Mister G's Facebook page or twitter @MisterGandMe 

Merry Christmas!!