Last Minute Pretty Paper Ornaments

In the P.S. of my most recent newsletter I mentioned that I intended to make paper ornaments over the weekend for which I would use wrapping paper scraps. Well, typing it held me accountable and guess what? They turned out even prettier (and easier) than I expected! 

 

Because theses wreaths go together quickly, there's still time for you to give them a go. Use gift wrap leftovers or do what Melanie of DIY Sperenzien on Instagram did for her wreath ornament tutorial - use pages from a discarded book. Out of date road maps and atlas pages would work well too. 

 

Melanie's Instagram post was where I first saw how to fold the rectangles and fit them together to make a wreath. Her text description is in German (with a translation option), but just swiping through the photos and watching the quick video she provided are all that's needed to meet with success. I also found a YouTube video.

 

Once the rectangles were assembled, I slid a bit of glue under the raw edge of each folded section on both sides of the wreath to make sure it didn't come apart. To do this, I used the tip of a ball head pin to pick up just a tiny dab of glue from a plastic lid. You could also use a clay modeling tool (the pointed silver tool in the photo below) instead of a pin.

 

 

The red and gold wrapping paper is from Tuttle Studio (via Amazon Prime) and it is lovely... glossy, such a nice weight, and very easy to work with. 

 

 

When folding each rectangle, I didn't make the creases really sharp on purpose... this resulted in slightly puffy wreaths to give them a bit of dimension. Another little tip for puffiness and to avoid wrinkles is when folding a rectangle in half, first curve it around the barrel of a pencil and then make a soft crease.

 

 
 

It's easy to adjust the size to go smaller or larger... for example, cut rectangles 1.5" x 3.5" instead of 2" x 4". When finished, I used a 1/8" punch to make a hole for the hanging cord.

 

Heady with success after seeing how quickly the wreaths came together, I then made some cardboard tp roll star ornaments. Dandy Instagram instructions were again provided by Melanie. Even easier than the wreaths, you just flatten a roll and cut 1/2" strips (Melanie used three, I used four). Snip a V shape into the ends of each strip and then stack and glue where they overlap, angling to create a balanced star. Here's a YouTube how-to video.

 

I gave my glued stars a quick coat of metallic gold acrylic paint on the outer surfaces and edges before adding a silky ribbon hanging loop. Even with the paint and bright ribbon, it's still a pretty rustic ornament... I'm going with pretty as the keyword. :)

 

So perhaps make yourself a batch and use them to fill any bare spots on the tree or tie one on as a little something extra on top of a wrapped present - a gift on a gift!

 

 

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Wishing you and yours happy holidays! 

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