Homemade Clay Christmas Ornament Craft Project

Creating our own homemade Christmas ornaments with the kids is a great way to spend time together at the holidays. This craft project is easy to do for kids of all ages. Younger kids will have just as much fun as teenagers making these homemade Christmas ornaments. Use up leftover craft materials and paints and the only thing you will have to buy is the clay!

To Make Homemade Clay Christmas Ornaments All You Need Is:

Activ-Clay (Or any air drying clay product on the
market)
Acrylic Paint
Gel Wood Stain
Tooth Pick/ Needle/ Carving Tools
Christmas Cookie Cutters
Ribbon or Hooks
Matte Decoupage Medium
Rolling Pin
Paint Brushes

To start making your homemade Christmas ornaments you need to roll out your Activ-Clay to about �¼ inch thick. Use your rolling pin to do this on a clean work surface. I like to lay a vinyl tablecloth on my table and work on this.

Use Christmas shaped cookie cutters to cut out your hand crafted ornaments. Use your toothpick to push a hole through the top of the ornament for a ribbon or hook to go through. It is important to do this while the clay has not dried. If it dries you will not be able to poke a hole in the Activ-Clay material. I like to this at least �¼ inch below the very top of the Christmas ornament. This will create a stable and sturdy ornament that can easily be hung from the tree. Slowly peel them away form the rest of the clay. Lay the hand crafted ornaments out on a safe surface where they can sit and dry.

Once the Clay Christmas Ornaments are dry you can start to paint. Let the kids paint their own designs. If want to get a uniform look you could limit the number of paint colors they use. You could also spray all of the ornaments in a solid base color and let the kids add the accents with fine paintbrushes and color.

Once the paint has dried completely lay them out on some newspaper. Use a soft paintbrush to paint on a layer or two of the matte decoupage medium. This will protect the paint on the clay ornaments and keep you from having to spray them with smelly spray paint outside.

Now for the really fun part. Choose: fun ribbon to tie through the holes of the hand made ornaments. I like to cut my ribbon about a foot long. This will make them easier to tie into a bow. Raffia looks great for a more rustic look. Brown twine rope also looks great for a more vintage or rustic feel. Gold ribbon is perfect to carry on a formal Christmas theme. Try to match the ribbon to the look of the ornament. To save money you can use the ribbon that comes on a roll and is meant for gift wrapping. For a cute country look recycle existing fabric by cutting it into thin strips. Use it in place of ribbon to hang the Christmas tree ornaments.

Tips:

Try painting all of the ornaments in a pearly white spray paint. Add detail with gold or silver acrylic paint. This is a great way to create a classy uniform look for all of your ornaments.

To antique the ornament craft project spray your Christmas ornaments one uniform color. Paint details as usual. Once these have dried rub gel wood stain on with a dry sponge and wipe it off with a white t-shirt. Instant age for your ornaments.

Paint family names or the year on the ornaments. This is great way to remember a specific holiday or personalize the hand crafted ornaments for family members.