Vintage Book Page Ornaments

November 2, 2014 by Terry

These vintage looking ornaments are so easy to make. They do however take a while to complete. This is a good craft to do while catching up on your favorite t.v. shows as it doesn’t take too much concentration. My girls and I put together some last Sunday while chatting and watching a little t.v.. It was also a great craft for doing a little bonding with the kids.

To make these lovely ornaments you will need:

Scissors

hot glue gun and glue sticks

Old reader’s digest or old book of your choice ( one you won’t mind cutting up) Preferably with yellowed pages for a more aged look.

Styrofoam ball (we used a 1 1/2 inch ball) your choice of size

1 pencil not yet sharpened

Ribbon your choice of color

Something round to trace out a circle. Remember the larger the circle the bigger your ball will get. I used a tiny can of tomato paste as my circle template.

Take and trace as many circles as will fit on the paper being sure to trace over just the words, not the edges of the paper…we want the words only.

Next cut them out. I layered about 5 or 6 sheets at a time to make it go quicker. It will take close to 500 circles to make one ball. I know that sounds like soooooo many but it really doesn’t take that long to cut out.

Next you take your unsharpened pencil, place it in the center of one cut circle and wrap it snug around the pencil. Place a drop of hot glue on the end of the pencil and place it on the styro foam ball… repeat 500 more times until you have covered the whole surface of the ball… about an hour is what it takes to complete one ball.

This is such an easy and inexpensive craft to do and the results are so pretty. Make sure to use the last open space on the ball to add ribbon for the hanger. Just measure how long you would like the hanger to be, cut a piece of ribbon to size, tie the ends in a slip knot and glue it into place with a generous dab of glue.

The girls and I each made 2 which gave us 2 full hours of conversing and goofing off together :0) We even got a little competitive as to who could finish theirs fastest … These ones are for sale in my booth and we will be making more for our own tree. We made some in smaller sizes as well and they are just as pretty!

So… if you’re looking to do something special this Christmas for someone you appreciate, why not give them an hour (or 2 or 3) of your time and make them a special ornament for their tree…they will think of you every time they see it!

I think if you choose the right ribbon or even leave the ribbon off, you could keep them out all year in a decorative bowl or vignette on your coffee table as they aren’t specifically Christmas colors. You could also use different paper or printed paper to create different designs… the possible variations of this craft are endless!

So gather some friends, your kids, or just put on your favorite show and start cutting and gluing… you’ll be proud of the results :0)

Stay tuned for the paper tree we also made….super cute!