CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT-MAKE & TAKE

What lady doesn't love beautiful Christmas ornaments?  If you're like me, you want a few new ornaments each year to adorn your tree or perhaps you use them to embellish Christmas packages too.  There are MANY uses for ornaments.  My favorite are homemade ornaments.  Anyone can have store bought ones but the beautiful ornaments made by hand are the best. 

This year why not get your ladies together to make some beautiful hand made ornaments. 

Choose a date, place and time for your get together.

If you would like, as the hostess, you can provide a variety of plain ball ornaments in various sizes and some embellishments to use, or ask each lady to bring ornaments and things like ribbon, glitter and Christmas cards with beautiful Christmas scenes, paints, scrapbook paper, songbook paper, and anything else that can be used in making and embellishing ornaments.

Put all the ornaments and supplies together in one location and then share.  This way each lady has a variety of ornaments and embellishments to choose from. 

You can embellish plain ol' store bought Christmas ball ornaments anyway you like.  You can add things like lace and beads or just about any other embellishment you like.

You can also make ornaments.  The following are recipes for salt dough ornaments and cinnamon Applesauce dough.  To make ornaments from these doughs, simply make the dough and use Christmas cookie cutters to cut shapes in the dough.  Use a wooden skewer to put a hole in the top for your string or hanger.  (Note:  These must be made ahead of time, so they have several days to dry before embellishing them).

Salt Dough recipe
Cinnamon Applesauce dough

Ornaments can be painted, decoupaged or wrapped.  The possibilities are endless, just use your imagination.

Ornaments can be made from virtually anything.  Natural items like pine cones, nuts and acorns.  Paper, jar lids, puzzle pieces, games pieces, the list goes on and one. Use your imagination.

Once everyone's ornaments are all made and looking so beautiful, you can choose to either let each lady take her own home or exchange them.

Playing a chinese gift exchange game would be fun.  Place all the homemade ornaments on a table and put each ladies name into a hat.  One by one draw the ladies names from the hat.

The first lady gets to choose the ornament she wants from the table.  The second lady gets to choose one from the table or steal the first ladies and the third lady likewise can choose an ornament from the table or steal from one of the other ladies, and so on.  The more "stealing", the more fun the game is.

Provide some cookies and cocoa for a snack and have a wonderful time.

Happy ornament making and MERRY CHRISTMAS!