#728. Cute and Easy Christmas Tree Ornaments

Art, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Dec 15 17:24:23 PST 1998 by Cheryl Ristow (ccmristo@pacbell.net).
Valencia Park School, Fullerton, CA USA
Activity Time: About 10 minutes per child

I know it's a bit late for these-- but there's always next year!

My own wonderful mom came in today and we whipped these puppies out in an hour and 15 minutes! They
are just darling-- the hit of the teacher's lounge today at lunch when I took one in to show the others.

Here's how to make cute Christmas tree ornaments:

For 20 students, purchase one yard of green (I used green/white gingham)
fabric.
20 cinnamon sticks cut into 5 inch lengths
20 1-inch terra-cotta pots (they are sold in the floral section of arts and crafts
stores- 5 in a pkg for about $1.20)
Floral clay (altho I wonder if play-doh wouldn't work, too)
20 small wooden stars-- I found them w/the craft/popsicle sticks-- a big bag
for under $2.00
Small buttons in various colors
Tacky glue (I used Aleene's)

Tear (or cut) the fabric into long, 1-inch wide strips. Cut each long strip into several 6 inch lengths.
Each child will need 8 of these strips.

Roll a small amount of floral clay into a ball and put it into a pot. Stick the cinnamon stick into the
clay.

Tie a knot in the center of each fabric strip. Older kids may be able to do this themselves-- my first
graders couldn't so I did it for them. Put a "dollop" of glue on the knot and glue onto the cinnamon
stick Continue knotting strips and gluing them on until you are about an inch or so from the top.
Have the kids color a star w/yellow marker (or it could be left plain) and glue this to the top of the
stick. Then have them put 3 or 4 dots of glue along the "trunk" of their tree and glue on buttons.
Have an adult cut the strips from wider at the bottom to narrower at the top to make it look more like a
tree. I also had an adult glue gun a loop of jute on to make a hanger.

Hope this is useful to someone! They were really easy and fun to do.