Perler Fuse Bead Ornaments: Another Technique

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler bead kit)
*Metal cookie cutters
*Cooking spray
*Cookie sheet
*Parchment paper
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive
*Metallic thread

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
*Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
*Place the desired cookie cutters onto the parchment paper.
*Coat the cookie cutters and paper thoroughly with oil.  Since melted fuse beads can be very difficult to remove, I recommend using cookie cutters that you would not mind ruining for this project.
*Pour some fuse beads into the cookie cutters, making sure to fill in as much space as you can.  You may even consider adding a second layer of beads to make sure that you do not end up with any gaps in your finished project.
*Pop the cookie sheet into the oven and heat for 5-10 minutes, depending on how melted you want your ornaments to be.
*Once the ornaments are melted to your liking, remove them from the oven.  Carefully peel them off the parchment paper and drop them into a bowl of warm water.
*Let the ornaments sit until the metal and plastic are cool enough to handle, then remove from the water and dry off.
*Remove the ornaments from the cookie cutters.
*Trim off any excess or awkward looking plastic with scissors.
*Glue metallic thread to the back of the plastic to turn your creations into ornaments.

Bonus Idea: Miniature Model Ornament

     If you have someone in your family who enjoys making models, here is a great way to get this individual involved in the holiday decorating.  

Materials:

*Miniature model kit

*Thread

*Scissors

Directions:

*Assemble the model following the instructions given in the package.

*Tie a piece of string around the model to hang it from your tree.

Glitter Ornaments Take 2

    Last year when I made glitter ornaments, I had some difficulty getting the glue to dry.  When I went to A. C. Moore after Christmas, I noticed that the store had some glitter ornaments on display and I asked an employee how they made their ornaments.  The employee explained that there was a special type of adhesive that you needed to use to make them.  Unfortunately they had sold out of it, so I did not get a chance to experiment with it last year.
     When November rolled around and I started thinking ahead to Christmas crafts, I recalled the glitter ornaments and decided that I wanted to try making them again.  My aunt suggested that I bring some ornament making supplies down for Thanksgiving so we could all make ornaments together and I immediately thought that the glitter ornaments would be perfect for that.  I had yet to try the new adhesive, but when we started making the ornaments it turned out that it was really easy to use and we all had a blast.

Here we are, working on our ornaments

And here are the lovely glitter ornaments we made.  Notice how my sister's ornament is half pink and half silver.  If you're feeling adventurous, try making a two tone ornament.

     These ornaments are so pretty and easy to make that I made some more for my own tree a couple of days later.  When my friend and fellow math grad Sophie stopped by my house over the weekend and the subject of Christmas ornaments came up, I suggested we make some.  The ornaments came out wonderfully.

Here are the ornaments we made

     If you're looking for something fun to do with your family or friends this holiday season, try making some of these ornaments.  They are easy enough so that even those people who consider themselves inept at crafting can make them.  Or, if your loved ones aren't interested in crafting, you could give them out as gifts.

Materials:
*Plastic or glass ball ornaments
*Ultra fine glitter
*Glitter It adhesive

Directions:
*Layer your work space with newspaper.
*Uncap your ornament and pour in some Glitter It.  Swirl the adhesive around until it has coated the entirety of the inside of the ornament.
*Pour excess adhesive back into the bottle.  Let the adhesive drain out for about 15 seconds.
*Open a container of glitter and pour into the ornament.  Swirl the glitter around inside the ornament until it has coated the entire ornament, adding more glitter as necessary.
*Pour any excess glitter back into the container.
*Set the ornament aside to dry.  The package for the adhesive did not say anything about how long it would take to dry, but letting the ornaments sit for about 15 minutes before putting their tops back on seemed sufficient.

     Looking for more Christmas crafts, such as ornaments or advent calendars?  Check out the Christmas section of my blog.

Perler Fuse Bead Ornaments

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Scissors
*Iron
*Gold or silver thread

Directions:
*Select the appropriate peg board for the ornament you would like to make.  Both the owl and the penguin require a large square pegboard, the candy cane uses the small heart pegboard, the shoe needs only a small square pegboard, and the ornament takes a small circle pegboard.
*Arrange beads on the peg board in the desired pattern.  I forgot to take pictures of the arrangement of the beads for the owl ornament, but here are the other ones:

*Cover your beaded project with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side, then remove from the peg board, flip over, put waxed paper on top and iron the second side.  You can find more detailed directions here.

Wondering why I made a shoe ornament?  I am rather fond of shoes and so for the past couple of years I have received shoe ornaments for Christmas.  I decided to make the shoe ornament a tree tradition and plan to add a new one each year, starting with this fuse bead shoe.  Does your family collect a specific type of ornaments for your tree?  Try making one out of fuse beads.  You can find fuse bead patterns online for almost anything, or you could always design your own .

Also, if you're looking for more fuse bead ornament patterns for your tree, check out my snowflake designs in this post.

Duct Tape Ornaments

     Here's a fast and easy way to liven up some plain ball ornaments.  Looking for more ornament ideas?  Check out these ornament ideas and stay tuned, because I'll be posting new ornaments, if all goes as planned, from now until Christmas.

Materials:
*Plastic or glass ball ornaments
*Duct tape
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cut off thin strips of duct tape and stick the duct tape strips to the ornament.
*Continue adding duct tape strips until the whole ornament is covered in duct tape.

Ornament wreath

     My first Christmas post of the year!  This year I plan on making some new ornaments for my tree, so if you're looking for ornament ideas, keep an eye out.  This week's craft is not about making ornaments, but it does involve them.  I saw this craft on favecrafts and thought I would try it for myself.  It was a lot more work than I initially thought it would be, but the end result was pretty nice.

Materials:
*Wire coat hanger
*About 72 small plastic ball ornaments
*Wire cutters
*Ribbon
*Needle nose pliers (optional)
*All purpose adhesive (optional)
*Thread
*Scissors

Directions:
*Depending on what type of ornaments you are using, you may find it helpful to glue the ornament tops to the ornaments before you get started.  I didn't do this and I kept having ornaments separate from their tops and fall off the wreath.  Let the glue dry before using the ornaments.
*Bend the hanger into a circle.
*Untwist the wire hanger.  This can be a bit difficult to do with just your hands, so you may want to use pliers, as I did.
*Slide the ornaments onto the hanger in an arrangement you find pleasing.  I rotated through the four colors, but I wasn't careful about how I arranged them, so I still ended up with some clusters of the same color.
*Once you've finished adding ornaments, twist the ends of the hanger back together.  Again, you may find it easier to use pliers here.
*Snip off the hook just above where the hanger ends intertwine using heavy duty wire cutters.
*Carefully bend over the twisted part of the hanger to form a hook, making sure not to undo the twist in the process.
*Use heavyweight thread to hang up the wreath.  Tie a bow around the twisted part of the hanger to cover it up.

Fall Leaves Bookmarks

Materials:
*Leaves
*Heavy book
*Scrap paper
*Scissors
*Self-adhesive laminating sheets

Directions:
*Collect various fall leaves.  Place the leaves between a couple of sheets of scrap paper and place a heavy book on top of the paper.  Let sit undisturbed for several days.
*Once you have finished pressing the leaves, laminate the leaves following the instructions on your laminating sheets box.  Leave ample space between the leaves, particularly around the stems as the laminate does not seal as well around the thicker parts of the leaf.
*Cut apart the leaves and trim off excess laminate.

Duct Tape Leaf Garland

Materials:
*Duct tape in colors of your choice
*Leaf templates or leaves and paper
*2-3 cereal boxes
*Pen
*Scissors
*Light brown colored pencil
*Ribbon
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Print out leaf templates in a variety of shapes.  Alternately, you can make your own templates by tracing around leaves you have collected, as I did.
*Select a leaf template.  Place about 3 strips of duct tape slightly wider than the template on the inside of one of the cereal boxes in the top left corner, with only a slight overlap between the strips.
*Trace the leaf shape onto the duct tape.  Draw a stem coming out of the bottom of the leaf on the cardboard.  Color the stem in with a light brown colored pencil.
*Repeat the process with other leaf templates.  You should end up with something like this:

*Cut out your leaves.  Arrange them in a pattern that you find pleasing, then glue the stems of the leaves to the ribbon.