Vibrant, Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments: Hand-Made For Keeps

Post by Janine from True Aim (with permission)

We have a lot of fancy ornaments stored in the garage.  But I cherish the homemade ones my kids make the most.

I can’t wait until they fill the tree on their own, so we can start re-gifting our store bought ones.  We’ve already made some homemade Christmas ornaments this year, but this Beaded Christmas Tree is my favorite!

16 years ago, I made a similar one for my Aunt Julie.  She still has it!  So, although some kid-made ornaments are fun for just one year, this one is definitely a keeper.

How To Make Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments

First, gather your supplies.  You’ll need:

• wire
• beads that fit on your wire
• small pliers to bend the wire at the ends to keep them on
• some card stock or something that is cone shaped like a styrofoam cone form
• long pipe cleaners for small hands

Audrey tried 16-gauge wire and colorful seed beads for her first tree ornament, and we found some bigger wire to work with larger beads.  We found that if you use the big beads on the smaller wire, your tree won’t hold it’s shape.

Emma (3) had a harder time with the tiny beads.  Although she could do it, she wasn’t as interested.  So, I gave her some pipe cleaners and pony beads instead.

Audrey was diligent and worked hard on her ornament.  She strung all the beads on the wire, and we wrapped it around a cone shape to make them into Christmas trees.

Emma’s turned out great, too, I just wish we would have used longer pipe cleaners.

There are so many different ornaments you could make with this technique.

I think a beaded star or cross would look great, too!

So what kind of homemade Christmas ornaments did you make this year?

Need some more beautiful ideas?

Janine LaTulippe is the Mother of 6 blessings. She believes that an elite education begins in the Home. Her sites www.BlueManorAcademy.com and www.TrueAimEducation.com provide curriculum, free resources, and inspiration for Homeschoolers!

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