Saturday, December 18, 2010

Vintage Santa Christmas Ornaments

 

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My Christmas Spirit is improving. :)  Our daughter finished her last exam and came home yesterday for Christmas break.  My Christmas shopping is almost done.  And my Christmas cards were sent out last week.  Yes!  Last week! That is a record for me.  Usually, the cards are one of the last things to get done.  Not this year.  The Christmas decorating inside our house could use some more attention but I am not so secretly hoping our daughter wants to take over the decorating of  the big tree.  We shall see….

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So, off and on throughout the day yesterday, I started making these Vintage Santa Ornaments.  I have never really made anything like this before but it was a a lot of fun and now I have a little production line going.  I am thinking I might make some more and write our names on Santa’s beard and use them as place cards too. 

I got the idea when I was looking at all the Thrifty Thursday projects posted over at  Tales from Bloggaritaville and the ornament posted by SWAMPGIRL caught me eye.  She made an ornament similar to this and I just loved it. She folded her paper differently from the way I did mine.  And one reason it caught my eye was because I had saved the same Santa face from last year when it was posted by Karen at The Graphics Fairy.  I knew that I wanted to make something out of that Santa.  It just took me about a year to figure out what I wanted to do.Christmas Santa Ornaments 2010 002

I think these ornaments look retro and vintage with the music paper.  Last summer I found an old children’s music book at the Goodwill and bought it for $2.00.  I finally had my chance to use it.  The Graphics Fairy also has some music sheets you could print out if you don’t have an old music book you want to take apart.  

Here is how I made my ornament:

I tore out a page in the music book and folded the page in half and tore it into two pieces. Then I took each half and tore them in half so that I had 4 strips  each approximately 1 and 3/4 inches from each sheet of  music. 

I started by taking each strip and folding the end of it down approximately 1/2 inch.   Then I flipped it over and folded it back over on itself another 1/2 inch and continued to fold the entire strip so that it looked like an accordion. 

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After you get two of your strips folded, glue them together into one long folded strip.  Let Dry. 

I think Tacky Glue works best for a project like this. 

Smooth out the strip a bit and run a line of glue down one of the long edges and then sprinkle it with glitter.  Let dry. 

I like the Martha Stewart Glitters the best.  Beautiful colors and textures to choose from. 

While the strips are drying,  Cut out two circles of heavy card stock to fit in the middle of your ornament.  I used a sparkly paper and this is where I glued my Santa face.   You can find paper that is already glittered at your craft store.   I traced around the bottom of a small jar for my circles and then cut them out. 

You will need to glue your accordion strip to itself to form a circle. First tighten your strip up by folding it back into it’s accordion shape.  Stretch it out just a tiny bit and then glue it to itself and make it into a circle. Let it dry. 

Now comes the tricky part.  After your strip is dried and glued together in a circle, you will have to gently push and bend it towards the center so that it forms the circular fan shaped ornament and you want to make it so that the bead of glitter is on the outside edge of your ornament.

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Now you will need to use your Tacky Glue and cover the back of one of your circles with enough of the glue so that is will “catch” in several areas on your ornament accordion circle .  Place in the middle and then use something flat to press down on your circle while it dries.  I used the bottom of a glass of water.  You want it just heavy enough for the pressure you need to keep it flat while it dries but not too heavy that it smashes your ornament.  Let dry.

Flip your ornament over and glue your second circle to the center of the back of your ornament for a finished look. Let dry.

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Now you can glue your Santa Face or really anything you want in the center of your ornament. 

I copied my Santa image to a Word file and then duplicated as many as I needed and then printed them out on Photo paper for a glossy finish and for a heavier weight of paper.  Card stock would also be good here. 

After cutting out my Santa face, I glued it to the center of the glitter circle in the middle of the ornament. 

I then glued on a couple of Snowflakes.  (Not very retro since the snowflakes are made of plastic but I liked the way they looked.)  Feel free to embellish any way you would like. 

Last step is to take a piece of ribbon and cut it and make a hanger for your ornament and glue it to the back.

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I’ll bet you can cut a neater and rounder glitter circle than I did here.  :)  oops.

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And there you have it!  I think these are very cute and I plan to make several more now that I now what I am doing.  :)  Merry Christmas!

I am linking this post up to Tatertots and Jello.  More than 300 other Christmas projects to be inspired by!

And I am joining Linda for her Christmas Open House over at Coastal Charm.

13 comments:

Verde Farm said...

Oh LIsa, I absolutely love these. My step daughter and her BFF are coming tomorrow and my step daughter is going to be her for all of Christmas. I am going to get our supplies and we will make ornaments one day this week. I love it. Would be really cute to add to a gift too :)

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

How fun, Lisa, and great idea to set up an assembly line style if you are making several. Also a great idea to use the glass filled with water as a weight. I was wondering how you get the paper long enough to do the accordian fold and yet still meet around in a circular shape. Now I know! Thanks for your great tutorial!

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

Lisa,
Lovin' this darling idea...hop over and share it at my OPEN HOUSE! Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Blessings,
Linda

Flavia Galasso said...

Thanks for sharing explanations.....hugs, Flavia

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

So cute. You've been busy!

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

Hi Lisa,
I think your little vintage Santa ornaments are so very cute. Isn't it wonderful when everything is finished and you can spend some time having some fun.

hugs
Sissie

ClassyGal said...

Just beautiful, and you got your glitter on!

Janean said...

HO HO HO lisa's been a very good girl....

:) sa-weet

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

Wow, so clever. I love how vintage they look.

Betty said...

I love the way these look. Thanks for the detailed instructions.

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

Awww, sweet friend...thank you for linking back to me. I LOVED Swampgirls ornaments too. So wonderful! And thrifty! I am so very blessed to call you a friend through blogging!!! I am so grateful for that. Thank you Merry Christmas!!!

Jane said...

The ornaments turned out great. I love the vintage Santa image and sheet music is perfect for this project.
I still don't have my Christmas cards out yet. My MIL is mortified that they haven't been sent....I figure as long as people get them before the end of the year I'm good :)
Have a wonderful holiday.
Jane

Jen S. said...

I just stumbled upon your blog and boy am I glad I did--I LOVE IT! You are so creative and I love how you share your ideas :) What a great blog!
I'll be back to visit again!
Have a great day :)