How to Make Easy Holiday Paper Ornaments

DECK THE HALLS WITH HANDMADE PAPER ORNAMENTS!  The holidays are among us in full swing.  Would you not love to craft with your kids during the holiday break?  Not just any craft.  I’m referring to a craft that calls for only two main materials and the possibilities are endless.  Adorn every room in your house with these unique hanging ornaments or give them as gifts.   Here is How to Make Easy Holiday Paper Ornaments. 

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This craft is not designated for only the holidays.  Oh, no no.  You can easily craft these paper ornaments for any occasion.  Use multicolored paper to create a magical rainbow hanger or themed colors to match a superhero logo.  One year I used orange and green paper to create hanging pumpkins.  Go nuts and craft away!  Alright, now for what you will need to succeed.

MATERIALS

Construction paper (or any paper really)

String

TOOLS

Stapler

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil or Pen

The first step is tracing your strips.  You will want to cut enough strips to have 3 on each side and one middle strip.  Therefore, a total of 7 strips for each paper ornament.  Grab your paper, ruler and pen or pencil.  Draw lines approximately 1-1.5 inches wide vertically across your pieces of paper like so.

Once you have your strips lined on your paper, its time to snip them up.  Cut along your lines to create a bundle of paper strips. If your using average sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) and measured to have 1 inch wide strips you should end up having 8 11-inch strips of paper and one tiny half inch strip left over per sheet.  The more the merrier.  If you happen to have more than seven strips, that makes for more fun.  I will explain in a bit how to make a multi-tiered paper ornament with your extra strips.

Get Crafty

Now, in order to create the mystical effect this paper ornament has we need to measure our strips to size before assembly.  You will need three strips for each side of the ornament.  Each of these three strips will vary in size to create the vented effect of the ornament.  Keep two strips as is (11 inches).  Measure another two strips, color of your choice, at 9.5 inches and cut off the excess.  Then grab another two strips and measure their length at 8 inches.  Cut off the excess 3 inches.

You should now have two 11 inch strips, two 9.5 inch strips and two 8 inch strips. (6 of 7 total)

Line it Up

To begin assembling your paper ornament you will need one center strip measured 6 inches long.  (strip 7) This center strip will be the middle anchor for all your outer strips.  Sort out your pre-cut strips in ascending order along either side of your center 6 inch strip.

Thus, you will align a 6 inch strip in the middle, on either side of that will be your 8 inch strips, then your 9.5 inch strips and lastly on the outer ends your 11 inch strips.  Line the ends of all the strips evenly at one end of the 6 inch strip and staple secure as shown below.

Next, align the inner (8 inch) strips along the opposite end of your center strip evenly to create a vented effect. Secure with a stapler.  Repeat this step for all the remaining strips.

Feel free to staple as much as you need to.  You can align all the strips at once using only a single staple.  However, its OK if you need to staple a few of those flailing tentacles down to keep things organized. The beauty of this project is there is no messy glue or tape you need to worry about.  Therefore, the lack of mess makes this craft a great activity for younger children.  Even if your little ones are toddlers that cannot use scissors, simply pre-cut all the needed material.  Then watch as their little eyes light up when they are allowed to help staple these paper ornaments to life. Be sure to help as well as supervise the use of the stapler.   No need to prematurely introduce piercings in odd places. (I don’t believe I have ever met anyone with a finger piercing…)

A Pleasing Paper Ornaments

Continue to secure all the strips on the opposite end.  You are now left with a stunning paper ornament.  All that is left to do is add string for hanging.  Your kids will love crafting these and they can be embellished in many ways.  Add writing, glitter, stickers or even paint.  (That would invite a mess, but hey, that’s half the fun)

Use different paper colors, textures and patterns to create unique and personalized hanging ornaments.  This is a project that is very pleasing to the eye.  It appears as though you put a ton of effort into its elaborate design, when in truth it is relatively simple.

To create a multi-tiered paper hanger and really impress your friends and family is just as simple.  Create three paper ornaments following the steps above.  However, alter their measurements by an inch for each.  This way you have three paper ornaments of three different sizes.  Next, staple them together with the smallest at the top and the largest at the bottom.  The appearance is impressive and your guests will marvel at how creative you are.

The ornament above consists of two identical ornaments in size and one smaller at top.  Feel free to experiment and see what unique variations you can come up with.

Want to read about another amazing way to add a little creative joy in your life?  Check out this riveting read on “How to Use Chalk Pens to Brighten your Day”