Easy and Inexpensive Handmade Ornament

 

I love handmade gifts at Christmas time!  There is something so special about a gift that someone took the time to make with their own two hands, don’t you think?

So I started brainstorming about something I could make…and make CHEAP!  Let’s admit it.  Times are tough for all of us.  We want to bless others with gifts at Christmas time, but sometimes we do not have a lot of money in which to do it.  Well, I say we get creative and see what kind of beautiful things we can make for pennies!

Here is what I came up with…

 

easy inexpensive handmade ornament

These festive and simple ornaments only cost me 45 cents a piece to make!  (I’ll explain more about the cost in a minute.)

All I had to do was purchase one of these clear plastic ornaments at Hobby Lobby.

 

This ornament costs $1.49 at Hobby Lobby, but with my 40% off coupon, I got it for about 90 cents.

I decided to make two ornaments out of this one ball, so I had about 45 cents in each ornament.

I took half of the ornament and traced it on some craft foam board that I already had. (You could use cardboard from a box or anything else that is a little sturdier than paper.  Be creative!  Just look around your house and see what you can use!)

I used an Exact-o Knife to cut a little inside of the circle so my foam board would fit in my ornament.

 

Now it was time to decorate the ornament.

 

Now I have to admit, I didn’t have to pay for the rest of the supplies because they were things I had in my craft boxes from previous craft projects.  I already had the ribbon, the alphabet stickers, and the sticky rhinestones in my craft supplies (all of which were purchased at Hobby Lobby last year).  You could use whatever left over craft supplies you have in your home to make your ornaments too!

 

I decided to see what kind of “Christmasey” words I could make with my stickers, and I decided on “JOY” and “hope”.

 

I simply added the self-sticking rhinestones under the words to give it some Christmas “bling.”

I was planning on gluing the foam board to the inside of the plastic ornament, but I didn’t need to.  It fit so snugly inside the plastic ornament, that it is not going anywhere.  :)  But if you felt the inside of your ornament needed a little extra support, you could apply craft glue to the sides to help hold it in place.

I love the way the white inside the ornament and the bright red ribbon show up against the greenery of the tree!

For fun, I used some scrapbook paper I already had, cut it out in the same shape of the ornament, and glued it to the back with some adhesive spray.

 

I really do love the way they turned out!

If I had not already had all of these supplies on hand, I would have gotten them at the dollar store.  I think you could get some ribbon, alphabet stickers, “bling”, and sturdy board for about $4.00 at the dollar store.  That would make each ornament cost about $2.45!  Not bad for a gift for a loved one, teacher, or neighbor, right?!

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Wouldn’t these ornaments be cute with a child’s name in it, or a monogram, or maybe even a picture of someone?

I am brainstorming some more ideas to make with these clear plastic ornaments!

 

 

Have a blessed day!

20 Comments

  1. Oh man. I have so many great ideas for this going through my mind right now. I already bought the clear ornaments on clearance last year cause I knew I wanted to do something with them for gifts this year and now you’ve made my job just that much easier!

  2. Oh my goodness Traci this is a FANTASTIC idea! I have spent the last couple of seasons lamenting the fact that I could never find my “style” of Christmas ornaments and even the ones I liked were too expensive. It wasn’t until this year and this kind of inspiration that I’ve realized I can make them exactly how I want them – and for cheap which is my favorite word! Thank you so much for this post; I can’t wait to get to HL and start making my own!

  3. Absolutely darling! Can’t wait to make some. My 13 yr. old loves to give out gifts to all her girlfriends & wouldn’t that be perfect w/ monograms like you suggested? So so cute!

  4. EEEEK! We are getting our FIRST Hobby Lobby in Western Washington (I’m from Midwest so have missed them horribly) It opens October 28th! I’ve even taken the day off (compensatory time I needed to use) lol I AM SO EXCITED!!! Totally making these!!!Thank you so much for sharing!!!
    :) :) :)

  5. Sorry to post again! Since the backside is flat- you could TOTATLLY slap a sturdy magnet on that! Actually I may have to dig through my stash and see if I have any of these.

    1. Our daughter is a Kindergarten teacher and every year we send each of them a fluffy fleece snowman blankie for Christmas. We also send a snowman ornament with their name and/or picture in/on it. This year they will get ‘snowball’ ornaments, each with a picture, name, and year in them. FUN … and they will love them! Thanks for the great inspiration!!! And Merry Christmas!

  6. These would be great to make with my granddaughter as gifts for her friendsor teachers!
    Thanks for this idea Traci!

  7. Adorable! Another cute idea would be to fill the ornaments with mini-toys (a la Dollar store), such as airplanes or cars. Or glue one to the foam board and put a child’s name under it. Just a thought. I love it when I see a project that gets my creative juices flowing!!! Thanks!

  8. Joy and hope are excellent choices for the ornaments, considering the season. Focusing on those sentiments is a wonderful way to stay in the Christmas spirit.

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