Easy, Sparkly & Fun!

Perfect ingredients for a Christmas tree ornament! This is a simple, satisfying project to work on together these dark and cozy afternoons.

This neat idea was shared with me by my dear little friend Abby (8), whose mother Lisa is one of my best friends. Abby is a crafter like me, and after making these ornaments with her church group recently, she made sure to tell me all about them. In fact, she showed me how to make them last week! I couldn't wait to tell you all here. :)

This craft requires some patience, but is nice methodical handwork. It would be easy to keep the materials in a small basket (or in my case, a tupperware container) and keep them handy for those quiet afternoons leading up to Christmas. A perfect craft to work on while listening to read alouds or maybe while watching a holiday movie.

So, on with the craft! Materials you need: styrofoam balls (the smaller the ball, the quicker the craft), sequins, sequin pins, thin ribbon and a pair of scissors.

It's as easy as this: place a sequin on the ball, and secure it into place with a sequin pin. Repeat until the ball is completely covered, then pin a small loop of ribbon at the top.

Once I started working on mine, the older two boys immediately started in on their own. We found it easy to work with a tupperware lid as our craft tray.

This was our first try and we kept it pretty straightforward, but you could use various colors and patterns to snazz up the design, even layering two sizes of sequins for texture. You might spell out a loved one's name - writing it in marker first, then using one solid color to outline the name before filling in the rest of the space as described above. (How about a set of these bearing the kids' names? A lovely gift for the grandparents at Christmas.)

And here is the final result:

From left to right we have Bookworm's, Crackerjack's and mine.

This craft took a little under an hour to complete. Crackerjack (7) didn't have a lot of patience for this (hence the smiley face instead of a fully covered ball), but Bookworm (11) really enjoyed it. (Bookworm, by the way, is eager to learn knitting this winter. Calling all knitters for help!) As I mentioned before, you could keep the children's work-in-progress in a small container and pick up where you left off as time allows. These sparkly little balls would look beautiful on any tree, but perhaps most lovely on the children's own Blessings Tree.

Many thanks to my sweet friend, Abby, for showing me this wonderful craft! And for a few more ornament craft ideas, please see my recent post at O Night Divine and today's post at Higher Up and Further In. (LOVE that felt gingerbread man!)

Happy Christmas Blessings to you!