'DIY Ornaments'

The 6-foot Christmas tree - decked in white lights, silver and red ornaments, and a snowflake embellished tree skirt have now been ordered for the office.

With only 23 shopping days left, I expected a bit more savings in the online Christmas décor department and found little.

Then I realized that I already knew of some clever do-it-yourself ways to make ornaments from a feature I had read in Redbook Magazine, using household items and leftover remnants from Christmases long ago.

Not surprisingly, I found other DIY addicts that in years past have fashioned their own ornaments using variations of the similar technique.

Light as a Feather

What instantly caught my idea about this holiday decorating tip, is that I can make some use of the leftover peacock feathers from my Halloween costume (yes, I created my costume by adorning a metallic teal halter dress with rows of feathers and substituting a feather mask as my tail).

All you need are some clear glass ball ornaments – they can be other shapes too (i.e. teardrops and bulbs) as long as it’s clear. Fill the ornament with a feather and hang either by attaching a hook or ribbon. To create the illusion of snow, Younghouselove.com (above) coated the tops of the ornament with craft glue and then sprinkled glitter on top.

Redbook (photos shown up top) prominently featured the feather ornaments as a chandelier – suspended as a cluster from a hook in the ceiling. But a strand of garland, Christmas tree, or the fireplace work just as well!

Cookie-Cutter Tree

The last time I used cookie cutters in my parent’s house, I was 10-years-old and always in need of sugar cookies and brownies for bake sales and class parties. For now, the plastic shapes lie somewhere in my cupboard, collecting dust with the other unused baking supplies.

Well, not anymore.

Whip up a batch of cookie cutter ornaments by attaching some ribbon and dangling the cookie cutters from a doorway or on your kitchen wall. Even the harshest food critic will give you five stars.

Christmas Medley

We first learned how to reuse and recycle. Now everyone “thinks green.”

So before you throw out a bunch of your mismatched ornaments, think about how you might be able to recycle and exercise some green savvy.

Take your mishmash of ornaments and have the ornaments painted in a uniform color: white, green, red or any other shade that compliments your holiday setup. For those ornaments that cannot be so easily primed, spray painted and hung to dry – organize the leftover ornaments in a theme and display them in your home as a cohesive collection.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of Redbook magazine and www.younghouselove.com