Today I am going to teach you a little known fact about Christmas that I’ll bet you’ve never heard before. The seven swans-a-swimming and the eight maids-a-milking were actually all given by my true love (and your true love, too) on the same day. It turns out that our true love liked to wait ’til the last minute. Which is SUCH a coincidence, because I just happen to be doing my Twelve Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 7 and Day 8 DIY’s on the same day, too.
My last few ornament DIY’s have been more non-traditional colors and style, so today I wanted to make one that was totally Christmas-y. :)
This one is simple, too. And, it’s a great way to use up some leftover Christmas ribbon that you might have.
You’ll need:
- A smooth styrofoam ball (I used a 3″)
- Narrow ribbon. I used a little more than one 9 ft roll of 3/8″ wide ribbon. That is about as wide as I would go for a 3″ ball…any wider, and it won’t lay as flat on the ball. I also used a foot and a half or so of another ribbon to decorate the middle of the ornament, and for the hanger.
- Craft glue
- Fine sandpaper
- Some sequins, seed beads, and a pearl head pin
If the styrofoam ball has a bumpy “equator” around the circumference, sand it down lightly so that it’s smooth.
Starting at one of the “poles”, draw a thin line with your glue to the opposite side of the ball. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect; you will be covering the whole ball anyway.
Then, lay your ribbon on the glue, making sure it’s smooth and straight.
Do the same to bring it back up around the ball to where you began:
Now bring the ribbon down right beside your first line, just slightly overlapping the edges of the ribbon that is already glued down. (Put some glue on the ball first.)
Cross over the first line of ribbon at the bottom of the ornament, before bringing the ribbon back up to the top:
Continue doing this, working your way around the whole ball:
When the ball is covered, glue the end of the ribbon securely at the top of the ball (so that you can cover the raw edge with the hanger).
Put a little glue on the back of a piece of coordinating ribbon, and glue that around the center of the ornament:
Make a hanger by creating a loop with another piece of ribbon, and pinning it to the top of the ornament with the pearl head pin and a sequin:
Just to dress it up a little more, I added some gold seed beads and red sequins to straight pins…
And pinned them around the ornament just above and below the red ribbon:
All done! Simple and quick, but very festive.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
There are a thousand possiblities with this one. I could use up some old ribbon and have to go out and buy new ones! LOL! Thanks for the step by step instructions.
You’re welcome! Yes, this is a GREAT way to use up old ribbon…and an even BETTER excuse to buy more. (as if an excuse is needed!) ;D