Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Friday, December 2, 2011

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

I love, love, love to make handmade Christmas tree ornaments.  I've been making them every year for as long as I can remember.  My favorite time of the year to make them, prior to homesteading, was during the summer months.  I'd take my supplies outside and watch the kids play in their small pool.  Now that I garden in the summer, I have to adjust my time. 

These are just a few of my handmade Christmas ornaments, but wanted to share a few.  Each one brings back memories of when and where we lived when I made them.  


 Made from a tiny basket that I bought at a dollar store, filled with mini-balls of yarn made from embroidery threads, and the "knitting needles" are toothpicks and beads.

Update:  You can find directions on how to make this ornament at:  How to Make a Knitting Basket Christmas Tree Ornament
 

 Almost every ornament I have made, has been made for gift giving to my family every Christmas.  This one, however, was the only one I made.  He is made from a wooden clothespin, paint, felt and small pom poms. His arms are chenille stems, or what we call "pipe cleaners."

 Made from craft foam and texture paints.  I made several with red and green glitter to look like sugar cookies also.

 Simply made with felt, thread, and buttons.

Remember when grocery stores still bagged groceries in paper bags? This is made from a paper grocery bag, rick rack, buttons, ribbon and stuffed with pillow stuffing.

 Made by tracing 3 heart cookie cutters in different sizes, cutting them with pinking shears, and the top dots are made with textured paint.

Made from a recycled Capri Sun drink pouch.  Only one exists.

Made from a plastic lid, threads of beads, and crocheted around the edges.  Only one exists.

 This was one of my favorites.  I made a bunch of these for gift giving one year.  They are made from two wooden popsicle sticks, and the ski's are painted toothpicks, snaps for the bottoms of the skis, and metallic thread for the ski handles.

One year I made a bunch of these in different sizes.  I purchased clearanced blue ornaments, and the head are styrofoam with glued beads.  I made many of them to also look like policemen.  Some had police hats, and had belts, guns etc.  Those went to my brother for his tree and for the tree at the police station.

 Candy Apple Ornament.  These were fun to make also.  A simple plastic apple from a dollar store, dipped in glue, and then in bird seed, and glued into a silver candy paper.  The stick is a cut piece from a wooden skewer and pressed down into the plastic apple.

 Wine Cork Horse.  These recycled wine corks were cut with a small hand saw, and glued together.

 Made with recycled denim, buttons and a small amount of ribbon.  They were filled with pillow stuffing.

These were made from a paper toilet paper roll, cut and then glued.

This was another of my favorites.  The drum is made from a toilet paper roll, covered with felt and ribbon.  The top is white craft foam, and the sticks are toothpicks and very tiny black pom poms.
This was made with twigs and twine.

Chocolate Christmas Candy.  It's made from a painted ping pong ball, with a hole drilled in the top for the hanger, and the white frosting is made from crayola's model magic clay.  It's topped with leaves (sequins).

12 comments:

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

Wow, Kristina,

Your Christmas ornaments are super cute ;) :) My hands-down favorite is the basket with the mini balls of yarn and the toothpick knitting needles ;) :) Too cute :) Have a great weekend. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)

Pam said...

Tell me what your favorite tradition is and why.

My favorite tradition is driving around looking at all of the Christmas lights, near & far. I also really like getting together with family (my Mom & sister) to do Christmas baking - butter tarts, shortbread, Grandma's sugar cookies, Grandma's nuts & bolts and a few new recipes to try.

For myself, my favorite thing is to make something for my niece & nephew & see their reactions when they open it. My nephew is 8 now & he likes to look for whatever Aunty has made him this year. My niece is only 2, so she doesn't quite care yet, as long as her brother doesn't have something better than hers! (I'm slowly learning that I need to start doing things in March instead of waiting til Oct/Nov/Dec!)

Thanks for doing this giveaway :). It warms my hear to see such generosity, especially around Christmastime :).

Pam (aka 22angel on MJF)

Katmom said...

Kristina,
You are so clever!
Our favorite tradition, as my daughter was growing up was making red & green paper chains, we would write friends & family members names on the inside of the chain/links...to keep them linked to us during the Holidays.
Merry Christmas

Carolyn said...

My favorites are the candy apple, cookies and the star! I think I may have to steal some of your ornament ideas for OUR family tradition!

This is DD's third Christmas and I'm sorry to say we haven't had any traditions for our new family yet...but when I was living at home the tradition of having Dad sit up in the hole in the ceiling (the attic) and sling down boxes of holiday decorations using a long rope was my favorite part. Weird, I know, but I'll always remember it.

judster said...

Your ornaments are super! I love to add to my grandchildren ornaments by making something new every year. This year I have quilled them snowflakes.

One of my favorite traditions is ice skating on the pond and then making ice cream. If the pond isn't frozen, we have a bonfire.

Candy C. said...

All of your ornaments are cute, cute, cute but my favorite is the wine cork horse!! :)

Unknown said...

Wonder full! I love all your creativity...each one is so different..so cute. And they don't even look too difficult. I have been wanting to go to a more art full tree...this is perfect.

Nancy Jo said...

So many cute things!! Tiny basket of yarn is so cute.
All the family is at our House on Christmas Eve, then Christmas morning we go to my daughters house for brunch.
Nancy Jo

City Chick said...

Love your homemade ornaments! You are so creative.

My favorite tradition is decorating the tree. I love to look at each ornament before it goes on the tree. My Gram started the tradition of giving us an ornament every year - those are the most special since she's now passed. We now do the same for my children. One day they will have an assortment of ornaments for their own tree.

Gail said...

Your ornaments are so cute. Some bring back memories of years past. I use to make toy soldiers from old clothes pins too. I'd like to try the baked ornaments again. I just found my old recipe. what fun.

missmisi said...

These make me smile and cry! My favorite memories are of my Ma, my baby sister and myself crafting together. We’ve made several of these and now that both of them have passed they become even more precious. Thank you for sharing❤️🌲💚

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks missmisi. I love making ornaments.