I mentioned last week that I was excited about Christmas this year, and I really must be, since last year we waited so long to get a tree that they were on sale by the time we got one, and this year we have one already. Since we didn’t have many interesting ornaments, I decided to make my own out of little more than paper, glitter, and glue. You may recognize the glitter paper–it’s actually left over from this garland. The non-traditional colors and shapes make for a fun holiday tree, but you could also use them for a garland or even for New Year’s Eve decorations.
Materials:
Paper – I used colored cardstock that I found at Michael’s and a local craft shop.
Glitter paper
Gem template – I used my own template for the glitter version, and one from here (Model A) for the non-glittered shapes. Here’s another, more complicated diamond.
Scissors
Glue – I used Alene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue.
Yarn or thread
Toothpick
Chopstick or bone folder
Steps:
1. Print and cut out the gem template. I sized the one I made so that you can get two ornaments out of one standard piece of paper. There are a lot more paper gem templates here (I used Model A). Here’s another, more complicated diamond shape.
2. Fold along the lines of the lines of the template so that the printed side will be inside the shape. I found that it really helped to get nice lines to use a chopstick or ruler to burnish each fold after I made it.
3. Trace one of the triangles (minus the flap) onto a piece of scrap paper. Use this is a template to trace and cut out four glitter triangles.
4. Choose which segments to add a glitter piece to by folding up the shape and looking for the ones that will be on opposite sides. Mark with a pencil. Spread glue onto those four triangle segments.
5. Press the glitter triangles onto the segments you spread with glue, and allow to dry.
6. Fold up the shape, using glue on the tabs to hold it together. Be sure to add a loop of string or yarn on the point where you want to hang the ornament.
These shapes also look cute as part of a garland:
Have fun folding!
