by Talia Murphy

Created on: August 25, 2009

If you start right now by keeping your eyes open at garage sales and thrift stores you will be able to decorate your tree for a fraction of the cost of store bought decorations. Keep a look out for sale ornaments. It doesn't matter what color they are, since you'll be painting over them. Look for interesting shapes and sizes. Decide on your color scheme and start watching for paint to go on sale at Walmart or craft shops.

Buy one spray can of Krylon glossy clear coat to seal your works of art from Walmart to give them a shiny finish. Be sure to spray outside and use a mask to cover your nose and mouth. This will preserve the paint finish for future generations. Keep a look out for glitter or any other embellishments that you'd like to use. You don't really have to be an artist to have a beautiful and stylish tree.

Decide if you want to make your ornaments personal to your family or whether you want something hip, such as bold colored geometric colored ornaments. You could even go with a flower, dog, cat or fish theme. Come up with your own theme and find a shape from a coloring book, children's book or draw it freehand. Paint the base color on your ornament and let it dry, then trace the theme shape and paint it in a contrasting color.

You can embellish your design by gluing on rhinestones or anything you'd like. Another idea might be to cut small circles, triangles or squares out of colored tissue paper and glue each piece on with Elmer's white glue. The more crinkled, the better. Remember to seal with Krylon, so that the paper will stay on the glass for a long time. Embellish the ornament by outlining the shapes with a permanent gold or silver marker.

If you want a winter wonderland theme, use clear ornaments and spray a small bit of adhesive inside the ornament before sprinkling white or blue and white glitter inside the ornament, then shake it around. Or, try colorful and bold, fun colors, such as fuchsia or turquoise and lime green.

You can then use a silver or gold marking pen to draw stars or write the names of your own family members to personalize, along with the year. Let your children help with these or make their own creations. These will be the ornaments you'll cherish in years to come. It will also teach them that you don't need a lot of money to create something beautiful and fun.

Another idea might be to paint angels on your ornaments and embellish them with small pieces of pink or white feathers from an old boa (can be bought at Michael's) and then hang your ornament from a tiny piece of pink, white or silver satin ribbon. I did this one year for my sister's club group and they loved them. You could even make your angels resemble your children or other family members or give them away to friends. Be sure to put their name on their ornament and the date, along with their corresponding hair and eye color. The memories you'll create by being together are the memories you'll treasure the most.

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