The classic primary red and green Christmas colors just don’t do it for me. In the past we’ve had a tree with only white and silver decorations, and last year I made geometric paper ornaments in pastel pink, blue, and teal. Now that I look at them, I realize that the pink and blue are dead ringers for Pantone’s 2016 colors of the year, “rose quartz” and “serenity.” I may be ahead of the color trends, but marble has been going strong for quite a while now. And in keeping with my theme of understated Christmas decorations, I made some marble gem ornaments for my tree this year. So if you’re with me on the non-traditional holiday colors, here’s how to make your own easy marble gems.

Materials:
Marble contact paper – I used Duck Brand Peel and Stick liner, which I can’t find online, but I’ve seen people use and recommend this kind.
Glue – I used Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue, and even if you don’t use this exact one, a quick-dry glue makes a big difference.
Scissors
Template print-outs – I used the large sizes of Models A and B, plus my own template for the simplest shape.
Fishing line, sting, or yarn
Toothpick or skewer
Wire ornament hooks

Steps:
1. Print out your template, then roughly cut around the shape. Place it on the back side of the contact paper, and cut out a piece of the contact paper around it.

2. Peel the backing off of the contact paper, and stick the template to it. If you don’t stick it on there quite right, you may be able to peel it off and reposition it if you haven’t smoothed it down yet.When you’ve gotten the position right, smooth it down to make sure you don’t have any bubbles.

3. Cut out the template, this time in detail. Back:

Front:

4. Fold the template on the lines. Fold the back (white) sides together.

5. Once you’ve folded on all of the lines, make a small loop out of 3-5 inches of your fishing line/string/yarn. Knot it a couple of times to create a loop with a big knot at the bottom.

6. Start glueing your template together by smearing a layer of tacky glue on the tabs and pressing them in to the corresponding piece. Before you glue the top point (or whichever point you want to hang it from), add your hanging loop so it pokes out of that point.

7. Let the glue dry, then hang them up with wire ornament hooks.