Christmas – Page 13 – A Smith of All Trades

Christmas, Craft Projects, Dollar Store Crafts, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts

Red flower ball ornaments

December 7, 2012 Jessica Smith

My tree needs more red. It also needs more lights, but that’ll have to wait until next year. But as far as red goes, I can fix that now.

I bought 30 or so styrofoam balls at Granny’s Attic (an indoor yard sale benefiting Dana’s church) in November for only 50 cents! Total score! These things are inexplicably expensive at craft stores, so I was really excited to find such a bargain.

I grabbed a styrofoam ball and some red flowers from the Dollar Store and starting making a flower ball for my tree.

First, I took a bead reamer and pierced a hole through the ball.

Then, I threaded a button into some black wire and placed it through the hole in the ball. At the top, I twisted the wire and made it into a loop to hang from the tree.

I picked a pretty button so even that part of my ornament would be fancy. Oh la la!

Next I pulled the flowers off of the wire stems and hot glued them to the ball. This was tricky because hot glue melts styrofoam a tad bit, so I had to hold the flowers onto the ball for a while until they dried completely.

As I added more and more flowers, the ornament took shape. To fill in any white spots, I glued red petals directly to the ball.

When I was finished, I ran upstairs to hang it on our tree. It adds a nice pop of red to the tree without being terribly heavy.

Love it! Now I just need to get more red flowers to create more. I had just the perfect amount to cover one ball.

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts

Wine cork ornaments

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012 Jessica Smith

Need a simple and pretty way to gussy up your tree this season? Try making these easy wine work ornaments.

All you need is a drill, some wire, beads, ribbon and a cork.

Using your drill, go through the cork vertically (run the bit up and down in the same hole a couple of times) to make a pathway for the wire.

Thread your beads onto the wire, starting with the beads you’d like to appear on the bottom of your ornament.

Put your wire through the cork starting at the bottom and piercing through the top, then add and extra beads you’d like on top. Twist the wire into an eyelet to allow room for the ribbon or hook on top. Embellish with ribbon accents and a skinny ribbon to hang your ornament on the tree.

See, wasn’t that easy?

I especially love this ornament because it is made from a Linganore cork, which is where Brian and I got married. Adorbs. I made a couple extra for gifts, too.