Family in Feast and Feria

I'm a bit late for Dawn's Loveliness Fair, but I just wanted to share this little craft that I've been doing for years that makes a perfect gift. It requires medium skill, as it can be somewhat challenging to fold and glue just right...and a bit messy in the glitter department.

I'm talking about old Christmas cards recycled into Christmas ornaments. My eighth grade teacher taught us how to make these. She made them when she first married and had no money to decorate her tree. She covered her tree with these and they have been her favorite ornaments. I've been making them ever since that art class...that was 1982. Imagine my surprise when this book from Martha Stewart came out and I saw my ornaments...but lacking the glitter. I found instructions online here, so I won't try to reinvent the wheel. But a few tips from years in making....

Supplies needed: Christmas cards--front with picture, and cards with a solid colored back like gold or silver, blue, red, green.
Circle and triangle templates --The site above gives an example, but you can make them bigger, which will make the entire ornament bigger. Just make sure the triangle stays in proportion to the circle.
Glue Tacky glue, or something that dries fast, doesn't run, and holds well. I haven't tried all the new glues to know if a better one than Tacky glue would work.
Scissors
Thread or string--to suspend ornament
Glitter--

If you don't save your cards, it's not hard to get people to give you their old ones. I've got a whole large box full, and always get more. People now know that I make these, and always are donating. I've also been successful from Freecycle, friends that tell their friends, etc. My sister's in-laws are antique dealers and come across old cards that aren't valuable...and pass them my way.

Since I have a large supply, I sort them by types of pictures. I like to have my baby Jesus, Holy Family, Wise Men, Shepherds, Christmas tree, Santa, etc. all separated. I use large envelopes to keep them separated. I trace the circles and cut out, then I divvy up the ornaments. I try to match color themes, so things don't clash. I use 15 picture and 5 solid colored circles for each ornament. Fold the circles on the triangle.

When you make the first "row", before you put the 5th circle, cut a length of crochet thread, knot it in a circle (make a large knot) and then glue it inside the first row, to come out through the top. Be generous with the glue...this will suspend the ornament, and when this breaks off, it's harder to find a way to hang the ornament. Add the 5th circle and then continue with the next row, which will be 10 circle, but alternating with a picture and a solid color. Then complete the 5th row, creating the globe ornament.

Since I use glitter, the edges don't have to be perfectly lined up. The glitter will cover up a lot of faults. Using glitter glue or tacky glue, make a line of glue along each edge and sprinkle with glitter. I do the glitter in stages, letting parts dry so I can hold onto the ornament while glittering the rest.

Here are the photos on Flickr...and the badge below.

www.flickr.com

Although simple and inexpensive, they really are beautiful and make wonderful gifts.