It’s true confession time. I have a hard time putting my kids’ homemade ornaments on the Christmas tree. I’m sorry! But when I sit down to relax on a cold night in December, I want to sit in front of an aesthetically pleasing tree, not a tree covered in paper plates and pipe cleaners and salt dough creations.
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I do save a few of their most special projects. But every time I suggest that we find another home for one of their crafts, like a memorabilia box or a trash can, my husband looks at me with shock and horror.
This year, we decided to cut down our own Christmas tree near Mount Taylor in addition to our usual tree. So we needed a lot more ornaments. I set out to create a collection of ornaments with the kids that were affordable, attractive, and . . . not too “crafty” looking. Here’s a roundup of the three ornaments we made.
Marbled Globe Ornament
I was inspired by these beautiful ornaments. My kids simply squirted various colors of acrylic paint into plastic globes and swirled it around. I was shocked by how beautiful and unique they all turned out. This is truly a fool-proof craft project! Here are two of our finished ornaments, created by a three year old and a six year old.
Pine Cone Tree Ornaments
These pine cone trees are just so cute. In my opinion, pine cones are always stylish! This project requires some dexterity and a hot glue gun, so it didn’t work well with my three year old. My six year old made several all by himself and was really excited about getting to use a hot glue gun. You could even let the kids add paint or glitter, but I didn’t use glitter because I’m not a parenting amateur who likes to create extra work for myself.
Pom Pom Push Ornaments
These ornaments are so simple. But they turn out beautiful! All three of my kids were really focused and diligent, happily stuffing their pom pom ornaments. (And that doesn’t usually happen with my three sons.) This project even worked great with my three year old.
Our kids had an amazing time making these ornaments. I wrote their names and ages on each one so we can smile and remember who made them when we pull them out every year. (See, I’m not a complete monster!)
I am thrilled with our fresh, New Mexico Christmas tree and the new ornament collection that our whole family helped create.
Originally published November 2020.
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