Monday, December 20, 2010

Last Minute Snowflake Ornament

Looking for a inexpensive last minute ornament to make or maybe you just need something to occupy the kiddies for a little while.  I've got the perfect thing and most of the stuff you probably already have on hand.  Ready? Ok here goes:

Supplies:
24 Clear or colored light bulbs from a string of Christmas lights
white school glue
clear protective disk (they come in a pack of cd-r's or dvd-r's) or an unwanted cd
scrap paper
pen or pencil
scissors
hot glue gun
small length of ribbon for hanger

When you remove your light bulbs from the string they will have a green or white cap on the bottom like this:


First  (and you probably want to do the next two steps before you hand it over to the kiddies if they're little ones.) remove the green caps from the bottom of your light bulbs. So that they look like this:

Now you will need to remove the wires coming from the bottom of all the bulbs:




Now all your bulbs should look like this:

Now take out your clear disk (or cd):


Trace and cut out a circle from your scrap paper using the disk as a template:

Now you need to divide the paper circle into 6 sections so first fold it in half:





Then into thirds as follows:


Now unfold the paper circle and draw lines on the folds like so:
Place the piece of paper BEHIND the disk:

Put glue on the disk using the lines as guides.  Do not put glue on the center circle. If you are using a cd you will only see a small segment of each line at the center just draw with the glue out from there.

Now your disk should look like this:





Place two light bulbs on each line of glue like this:




 When all the glue has light bulbs it will look like this:



Now use the glue to draw diagonal lines coming out from where each of the two light bulbs meet:



Put a light bulb on each of these glue lines:




Now you will need to wait for the glue to dry before moving on to the next step. I let mine sit overnight but an hour should be enough so go watch Olive the Other Reindeer. I love that movie!


Next cut and tie a length of ribbon to be used for the hanger.

Once the glue is dry enough to flip the disk over without having any light bulb casualties you can attach the hanger.  Time for Hot Glue! (Anyone else excited? :-> I thought so!)
Place a small amount of hot glue on the back of the disk making sure it will be hidden by a light bulb when the disk is flipped back over. I am sure you will do a better job than I did.


Add Ribbon:



Now you have a spiffy new ornament! 


Hang it on your tree and enjoy!