Somebody (hi Jenny!) was kind enough to ask how I made the Christmas ornament I showed you in this post and last year in this post. I created it out of our leftover wedding invitations and a little glue as a first anniversary gift to my husband. Here’s a quick tutorial if you want to make your own!
Tutorial: Invitation Ornament
Supplies:
1. Thick paper (invitations, cardstock, scrapbook paper, etc)
2. A pencil
3. A circle punch or circular object to trace
4. A scrap piece of lightweight paper
5. Craft glue (I used Elmer’s)
Disclaimer: The following photos were taken over a year ago (before I knew how to take a decent photo), so please excuse the picture quality! Thanks 🙂
Step 1: Trace and cut out 20 circles from your invitations. Mine were about the size of the wide opening of a shot glass (classy).
If you want certain sides of your ornament to show certain parts of your invite or paper, center those parts in your circles.
Step 2: You can see on the ornament how the edges of the circles are folded up and glued to each other (scroll up if you need to!). The folds are along the lines of an equilateral triangle.
Next you will make a template of that triangle so you can draw one on the back of each circle like this.
To make the triangle template, cut an additional circle the same size out of lightweight paper. Then fold that circle in half and then in thirds. Unfold.
Make a dot along the outside edge of the circle at every other crease so that you have three equally spaced dots. Draw straight lines between the adjacent dots to form an equilateral triangle and cut it out. (No photos of this step, but I borrowed this method from this site.)
Trace the triangle onto light cardboard or a scrap of your invitation paper and cut this out. Using this as a template, trace a triangle onto the BACK of each of your 20 circles.
Step 3: After you have all your triangles traced, fold your paper along each side of the triangle. You will be folding the paper up so the “good” sides touch.
Notice below how the triangles are traced on the back of the paper so the lines don’t show on the front when the paper is folded.
Step 4: Starting with 2 of the folded circles, glue them together at their top “flaps.”
Here is a view of this step from beneath.
Step 5: Continue gluing flap to flap until you have 5 circles glued into a cone shape. This will be the bottom of your ornament.
In the photo below you can see where I just have one more set of flaps to glue together (on the left).
Step 6: Repeat this process with 5 more circles for the top half of the ornament. This time, when you have one more set of flaps left to glue, insert a ribbon knotted in a loop with the knot inside the cone. This will be how you’ll hang the ornament.
Now you should have a top and a bottom for your ornament. You will have used 10 of your 20 paper circles to get to this point.
Step 7: Assemble the middle of your ornament using the remaining 10 circles. You will glue each circle to the next at one flap so that all of your circles form a straight line. Your strip of circles will have 5 flaps along the top edge and 5 flaps along the bottom edge.
By now, you should have used all 20 of your circles to form these 3 sections.
Step 8: Attach the top section to your middle strip, gluing the 5 flaps on the top section to the 5 flaps along the top of your strip. Your middle strip will curve into a loop as you glue it around the flaps on the top section. Do the same with the bottom section.
Step 9: Enjoy your new ornament!
I was so happy with how our ornament turned out. It’s a great way to enjoy our leftover invitations and the memory of our special day.
Stephen proposed to me when we were setting up our Christmas tree 3 years ago, so it seems especially fitting to bring this ornament out at Christmas time each year.
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this personalized ornament! Just imagine the possibilities! You could make these ornaments for yourself or as gifts from so many different materials. Old Christmas cards, scrapbook paper, baby announcements, wedding invites – the list goes on and on.
If you have any questions or if my steps weren’t clear, please leave a comment or send me a message! I’d love to see what you come up with if you try this tutorial for yourself!
Linking to:
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings
Christmas Craft Link Party at Centsational Girl
