by Linda Spradlin

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 16, 2009

Making your own Christmas Ornaments

In these days with the economic times being as they are, everyone's trying to tighten the purse strings. Making your own anything can be the most cost effective way to get what you need. Besides, making something from nothing is a very rewarding feeling.

Your first step should be to decide what you want your color theme to be for your Christmas decor. You can go with the elegance of all white and just a touch of red, or you can have mostly red decor with a touch of white. You could also choose to go with mostly green with both red and white accents.

When choosing the theme for your decor, your choices are literally endless. Some examples include angels, Santa Claus, white doves, red bows, woodland animals, just to get your creative juices flowing. You can narrow the list by a process of elimination, or find a couple of themes and mix them.

Once you make a decision as to the color and theme, your first search for goods and supplies should be at your neighborhood Dollar Store. Walk every isle in the store, and look for things that seem attractive to you, but that go with your theme. You'll probably want to grab a wreath form, greenery, ribbon, and miniatures to make a wreath. See the items not as they are, but for what they could be. This takes some imagination, but its well worth your effort.

Also go on an exploration journey through your local thrift store. Again keep thinking about what an item could be, not what it is. For instance, an old tablecloth (even one with a stain in the middle!) could make a beautiful tree skirt, or an old sweat shirt could be a beautiful stocking. Think outside the box as you peruse the isles.

Home with all your goodies, retrieve last year's box of decorations to see what you can remake from them. Lay all of your pieces out and decide what you'll use for which piece. Having them all lying in front of you can make the individual projects seem overwhelming, so take the shopping bags and separate the items into piles for each item you will be making. Bag, and then mark them according to the individual project pieces inside. Decide which project you will start with and put the other bags away. Generally you would want to do your tree ornaments last, so you can utilize small leftovers in that project.

Let's begin with a wreath. Cover your wreath form with wide ribbon or with enough greenery to completely cover the form. Glue the material to the form, of if there is absolutely no chance of a child getting

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