We started making these fun ornaments about five years ago. My girls have loved making them, but mostly finding them on the tree and playing with them.
My favorite is one I made as a craft for "The True Meaning of Christmas" lesson I taught my church group.
All I Spy ornaments need a tag with a title on Front and items to find on the back. Attach to the ornament with matching ribbon.
The front of the tag read:
The Meaning of Christmas
I Spy
The back of the tag read:
Star-burning hope of mankind Candy
Cane-our brother’s keepers
Red
Ornament-the blood
He shed Bell-guidance
and return
Colored
Light-thanks
for the star Wreath-eternal nature of love
Bow-ties man together for good will Fir
Tree-everlasting hope
Christ-the gift of love and life
You can use glass or plastic ornaments found in the craft aisle at most stores.
I would recommend the plastic smaller size. They weigh less when full.
There are two types of plastic ornament balls.
The one that the tops pop off. These hold up and stay together better. The down side is all your objects must fit in the hole. I recommend gluing then shut to keep the top from popping off.
The ones that come in halves work great if you want to include larger items. The downside is your have to glue them well or the might come apart.
You will need some type of filler. I recommend Poly-Fil stuffing beads or the plastic soft pellets used for air soft riffles. Fill either slightly less then half full. Include 8-10 items to find. We found if we filled it more or included more items they floated more toward the top and didn't mix well. I also wouldn't solely use confetti the heavier items helped pull the confetti into the poly-fill.
I have also used pony beads and perler beads.
These made it harder to find, if you like a challenge.
Use of a funnel might make for easier and less messy filling of the ornaments.
The fun part is trying to find all the pieces to fill your ornaments. Check your local holiday aisle for miniature ornaments, shaped garland, button aisle, confetti, charms and the miniature craft section.
For the The Meaning of Christmas ornaments I included these pieces:
I found some tiny bows, but honestly they just float on top.
I found confetti for the fir trees.
I found three star options:
Star buttons,
Star garland that I cut up.
For the gift I found these tiny gift ornaments, but they were made of Styrofoam and only floated, so I went with the gift confetti.
I found two options in the miniature ornaments for candy canes.
I found two options for bells.
I found two options for lights in the miniature ornament section and cut off the strings.
For the red ornament I cut up a string of red beads.
I couldn't find a tiny wreath anywhere, so I made my own using perler beads.
Remember to use parchment paper to prevent your perler beads from sticking to the iron.
I searched and searched for something for Christ. I thought maybe the tiny babies found in the baby shower aisle, but they were two large to fit through the ornament opening. Then, I came across this Merry Christmas confetti and thought I bet I could cut that to just say Christ.
Worked like a charm.
For some basic Christmas fillers we found:
Confetti Deer
Miniature snowflake garland cut up.
Confetti Santas.
You can spell words with letter beads.
For miscellanious I-Spy ornaments to signfy a special event or interest you might find some fun buttons. My girls used back to school buttons set and a dog set of buttons.
I am making a wedding ornament for a friend who was recently married.
Found these in the button section of the craft store.
Found these in the button section of the craft store.
I couldn't pass up these adorable camping buttons, which are extremely tiny.
Some more fun miniature ornaments, just cut the strings off.
Have fun with it and let your creativity shine!
If you liked this craft, you might also like:
