DIY on a budget: It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Now that Thanksgiving has officially ended, Christmas season goes into high gear.  It’s time to blow the dust off the ornaments after their year long hiatus and string them proudly to help welcome the holiday to come.

After several years of decorating my tree with the same theme, I decided to change things up a bit this year.  I still used my white and gold ornaments from years past but added a splash of red for this year’s tree.  I’m very picky about my ornaments and I searched for just the right ones but after not having much luck, I decided to make my own.

One of my favorite ornaments I made were string balls which are very simple to make but can get a little messy!  You will want to spread out newspapers to help with the clean up of this project.  To make the string balls you will start out with any color string that can be bought at a craft store in the knitting and crocheting section.  It can be as thick or thin as you wish.  Next fill a bowl with one third white glue and two thirds water and mixed thoroughly together.  You will then blow up a balloon to what ever size you wish your ornament to be.  Most of the ones that I made were either golf of soft ball size.  Pull the string through the glue and water mixture and wrap it in different directions around the balloon until it has covered most of the surface.  Lay the string wrapped balloon on some newspaper to dry overnight.  You will need to leave a small area at the balloons opening not covered in string so once it’s dry you can use a needle to pop the balloon and pull it out through the opening.  Simply tie a piece of dry string onto the ornament to hang onto your tree. 

Try this project with your children or grandchildren.  They can personalize the ornaments by adding jewels or stickers and they also make great gifts or decorations to enhance Christmas packages.

Store bought ornaments are great but it’s the handmade ones that create memories.