ScrapbooksPlus DT: Christmas in September

With roughly 90 days remaining until the holidays are upon us I thought I’d start my holiday preparation early – no time like the present right?!?! ;) I’ll admit, when I saw the My Mind's Eye, The Sweetest Thing, Bluebell Collection it didn’t exactly scream Christmas. In fact, I think it looks quite ‘springy’; nevertheless, I didn’t let a little thing like this collection not actually having a Christmas theme stop me from using it to make Christmas ornaments! While I love traditional red and green ornaments I like to use lots of colored ornaments on my tree. Blue happens to be one of my favorite colored Christmas ornaments; so after staring at the Bluebell Collection for the last few weeks designing my layouts the idea to use this paper to make Christmas ornaments popped into my head.

So….are you feeling inspired? Are you ready to make your own holiday ornaments? If so, I’ll tell you in just 5 steps how you can make your own! **NOTE: The images shown in steps 1, 2, and 3 were obtained from Google images, as such they do not contain paper from the Bluebell Collection but are being provided to enhance the instructions.**

Step 1: Purchase several paper mache ornaments. I selected ornaments of varying sizes and shapes. You can find paper mache ornaments for $1 (no joke - $1) at a local dollar store, Walmart, Michael’s, etc.

Step 2: Trace around the shape or make a template. For example, the star I purchased was flat so I laid it on top of my patterned paper, traced around it, and then cut the shape out. Because the other two shapes were not flat I sketched a patterned, cut the pattern out and then repeated the process I used for the star. I am NOT an artist by any stretch of the imagination – your sketch doesn’t have to be perfect – just something resembling the shape of your ornament.

Step 3: Adhere the cut out patterned paper shape to your paper mache ornament. I used a combination of hot glue and Helmar Quick Dry 450. Keep in mind the seams don’t have to be perfect!

Step 4: Once the paper is adhered to the shape place Scor Tape (or double sided tape) along the seams and add glitter – nothing like a lil’ BLING to hide those imperfections! ;)

Step 5: Add ribbon, flowers, pearls, pins, etc. as desired! The key: be creative; use those left over items that you only have 1 or 2 of. For example, I had two Tim Holtz Bauble Pearls left in a package so I used them on my ornaments, not only do they look AWESOME, but I also used up an entire package of something! Yippee, see, now I have an excuse to justify buying more! ;)