Unique ornament traditions hold a special place in my heart. Each year I give our children a special ornament. Sometimes we make it together, but most times I buy one that symbolizes something special in their year. When they leave our nest, I will be launching them with their own set of ornaments to start their own traditions. I shared a bit about our ornaments a few years back and when I heard what Shena did each year, I was excited to have her share.
Our family has a long honored tradition. Every Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to spend time with my Grandma, and she would plan a craft for the girls.
She passed away much too young and I missed being able to this. Sometimes, my mom would do it with us after grandma passed away, but I swore when my kids were old enough I would do this.
I love it because most Thanksgivings there isn’t much to do and it gave me something great to remember and look forward to each year. Eventually even the men of the family would join in.
I specifically made our craft a Simple Christmas ornament. I had to come up with ideas that were easy enough for all my kids to be able to make their own, yet short enough to hold their attention.
I tried something a little harder one year, can we say epic fail!?!?! I was the one that ended up making five extra ornaments. It wasn’t fun!
This is a super quick, inexpensive, and easy Christmas ornaments you can make with your kids!
Simple “Christmas List” Ornament
SUPPLY LIST:
- wooden spool of thread
- Acrylic Paint of your choice
- glue
- Christmas paper
- decorative string
- pen
- ribbon
- plain sticker paper (optional)
I bought my wooden spools at Michael’s and/or Walmart, but most craft stores will carry them. You may also order Wooden Spools online and have them in two days with Prime. An old fashion tree made with these would be so cute.
- Start out by painting the wooden spools and set aside.
- Cut strips of Christmas paper the width of the inside of your spools, as they may vary in size. On the white side of the paper, if the kids are able to write, or if you want to do it for them, write their Christmas wish list for that year. I brushed the edges with an ink pad to add some depth, but that is totally up to you as well. Add your own flare and personality please!
- Run some glue at the top of the white side of paper and roll the paper around the spool.
- Take decorative string and tie up the list. Shhhh….. This keeps it a secret! 🙂
- Then cut a piece of matching ribbon and string it through the middle of the spool. Cut it long enough to able to tie the end and be able have enough space and hang on your tree.
- Very last, I took a piece of sticker paper and folded around the base of the sticker, close to the spool and wrote the year we made them.
Estimated cost: much less than $1 each- depending how much you pay for your wooden spools. 🙂
I love to go back and read what my kids wanted that year and see how cute their young hand wrote their list.
A little about Shena: I’m a busy stay-at-home- mom of 5. I’m a professional photographer as much as I they allow me to be. My husband is amazing supportive of my crazy ideas and is great to help work out the kinks and somehow makes it all come together when I can’t make it work. 🙂 What a guy! I feel very blessed with the life I have. I’m one that literally hates spending money on things I can make cheaper and way cuter on my own. I love crafts of all kinds. I love to paint, sew, knit, crotchet, scrapbook…. I am willing to dip my hand in a number of things to say I have tried it. lol My mom has such a gift of doing such things and so grateful she taught me to be like her!
How cute! My boys are young enough that it’s a perfect time to start a tradition like this!