Vintage Paper Ornaments

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

I have been making homemade Christmas ornaments and decorations for years, going back to my childhood.  My sisters and I would make paper chains to hang on our family Christmas tree and I still have wooden Charlie Brown ornaments I painted when in my early teens, and a beaded boot ornament from my late teens.

Many years I made ornaments for each of my children, and then as they got older, married and had families, I sometimes made an ornament for each of the grand-kids.

Recently a few of my sisters, my daughters and a couple friends and I have been doing ornament exchanges.




This year I decided to try my hand at paper ornaments.

Use Christmas themed paper

Supplies Needed

• Scrapbooking paper (music themed, holiday themed)
• Holiday stickers or beads
• Glue
• Scissors
• Paper clips
• Paper cutters
• Wire or ribbon

Directions:

I purchased paper cutters but you can also trace the different size circles and cut them out.

Start with the ornament base.

Cut two strips of paper from music themed scrapbooking paper. 

Fold with accordion style folds.

Fold two strips of paper into accordion folds

Fold each strip in half.

Secure the two halves evenly together with a length of wire or ribbon.  Leave enough wire or ribbon to use as the ornament hanger.

Use glue to attach the two folded strips together.

I used paper clips to hold the glued sections together until they dry completely.

Paper clips work well to hold the parts together until they dry

Hide the wire or ribbon in one of the sections, allowing it to come out the top to use as a hanger.

Hide the wire between folds

Continue to make a few ornament bases, allowing each to dry completely before removing the paper clips.

While drying, cut out the circles.   

The circles should be different sizes, largest to smallest, creating a layering effect on the ornament.  Use different colors and patterns of holiday scrapbooking paper to make each ornament a unique one of a kind.

I used a glass weight to hold the first circle so it would glue down completely on the base of the ornament.

I used vintage Santa and children print paper and snowflakes stickers as the top or final decoration.

You can also add a little glue to the edges and sprinkle with glitter for a beautiful glistening snow effect.

Hope you have a wonderful Holiday season!
Elizabeth

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