Gifts from the heart, not your wallet...

While the economy is getting better, its still not great and folks are still  living with tight belts.  That can be a dilemma when you are trying to give a little something to your child's  teacher, music instructor, the mail man, your computer tech and so on.  So I thought I would share this little ornament idea that I found, I just love the way these turn out and they are easy to customize.  In this case the picture is for an ornament made with sheet music. (This can also work for any gift giving, use the recipients favorite song or Christmas carols.)

•STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam:
◦Ball, 4"
• sheet music or photocopy (or book pages or old stamps.... be creative)
•Artificial berry or holly pick
•Decoupage medium
•White/iridescent glitter
•Silver jingle bells, 1", two
•Sheer white/iridescent ribbon, 1/2" x 1/3 yd.
•Silver cording
•Pencil
•Ruler
•Wooden skewer
•Wide, soft paintbrush
•Water basin
•Paper towels
•Scissors
•Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
•Thick, white craft glue

1. Cut title from sheet music and cut rest of page into 1-1/2" squares. Insert wooden skewer into bottom of foam ball to use as handle.

2. Follow manufacturer's instructions to apply decoupage medium to small area of ball and to back of one paper square. Smooth paper onto ball; if paper won't lay flat, cut tiny slits into paper edges and press to ball. Cover entire ball in same way, overlapping paper edges.

3. Trim music title as desired and glue to ball in visible location; place skewer in heavy glass or jar to dry. Apply generous coat of decoupage medium to entire ball; while wet, sprinkle with glitter. Let dry. Remove skewer.

4. Cut 8" length from cording; knot ends for hanging loop. Use skewer tip to make small hole in center top of ornament. Apply glue to cording knot and use skewer to push knot into hole. Tie ribbon bow and glue to base of hanger.

5. Cut two 6" lengths from cording and tie a jingle bell to one end of each length. Place dot of glue into hole at bottom of ornament and use skewer to push cord ends into hole. Glue small bit of greenery to ornament to cover hole.

These are fun to make and you can make quite a few in one sitting.  Here are some creative ideas instead of music.  For a postal worker or stamp collector use stamps, a caddy or friend into golf use score cards,  for the avid reader or library worker use pages from a worn copy of A Christmas Carol or any favorite book,  for someone who just passed the bar exam you could use pages from legal statutes, or if you want it to be funny looks up some weird but true laws that are still on the books, (and there are some great ones!), you can even make these to give out unaccustomed by just using gift wrap.

 

I would love to hear your idea!

 

Have a great weekend!

C.Q.