Easy Handmade Holiday Ornaments

Looking for an easy handmade holiday ornament project? I got you!

I love making items add during the holiday season. And, I especially love easy projects.

These ornaments are simple and easy. Have children? Well, they are also great project to do with your children.

project materials List

• DAS Air-Hardening Modeling Clay, 2.2 Lb. Block, White Color
• Wilton Star Cookie Cutter Set or Cookie Cutters of Choice
• Embossing Folder such as Kwan Crafts Merry Christmas Flowers Plastic Embossing Folders for Card Making Scrapbooking and Other Paper Crafts
• American Craft Vicki Boutin Silver Mixed Media Silver Glaze
• German Glass Glitter
• Rhinestones Self-Adhesive
• Rolling Pin
• Parchment Paper
• Mod Podge
• Paint Brushes
• Wooden Skewer or something to make a hole in the ornament for hanging
• Thin Ribbon of Choice- Silver Ribbon Here

I have listed the product links above. You can click on the product name to view.

Let’s get started

First, layout a piece of parchment paper on your counter top. Next, pinch off a hand full of the DAS Air Hardening Modeling Clay. I pinch off enough to work with and like to work in small batches.

Begin rolling the clay out with the rolling pin as if you are rolling out cookie dough. Roll it until it’s approximately 1/4 inch in thickness.

Now on to the fun part! Grab your favorite cookie cutter. I found this small Christmas Tree Cutter at Michaels and the best part, it leaves an impression.

This step, you want to cut as many as you can from the rolled clay. Carefully, place each cut ornament aside on the parchment paper.

If you are using a regular cookie cutter, you can cut out your design either plain or create a design.

This step is optional. To add a design on your ornament, I used an embossing folder with polka-dots or Poinsettias. You simply lay the embossing folder over the clay with the raised texture side down. With your rolling pin, press lightly over the clay to make an impression.

Next lift the embossing folder up and grab your star cookie cutter.

It does not need to be perfect. You just want a slight pattern for your ornament.

How pretty do these look? I am loving the Poinsettias embossed stars.

With your thumb, smooth out the edges of each of your ornaments. You are smoothing the clay to have clean edges.

With a wooden skewer, poke a hole in the center of your ornament. You will need to make sure the hole goes all the way through the ornament.

You will want to go over each ornament and smooth out any rough edges that were missed before.

These ornaments can be left to air dry over night. You will want to flip them over.

You can also bake them at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

Time to decorate your ornaments

After you have allowed your ornaments to completely cool, it’s time to decorate them. I am using American Craft Vicki Boutin Mixed Media Creative FX Silver Glaze. What I love about this glaze is it’s fast drying. You are not waiting hours for it to dry. It dries in a matter of minutes with a thin coat applied to the clay ornament.

With a brush, I applied a layer of Mod Podge around the outer edges of the star. Then, I sprinkled German Glass Glitter over top of the Mod Podge shaking an excess over a plastic container. This way, I can pour the German Glass Glitter back into my container to use again.

It is time to set the ornament aside to fully dry. Now let’s work on the remaining ornaments.

I always have rhinestones on hand. My favorite are the self-adhesive rhinestones in various sizes. They come on sheets. All you have to do is grab the size you need and add to your ornament. I would recommend adding a dot of Mod Podge or craft glue to adhere it. This way, your ornament can be used for years to come and not lose any of it’s jewels.

Once you have finished embellishing all of your ornaments, you are ready to string your favorite ribbon on twine for hanging.

The ornaments are ready to hang on the tree.

How easy to make a beautiful ornament!

I love how they turned out and how easy and fun the project was to complete.

How beautiful does it look tied to a holiday gift. It makes the gift even more personalized with a handmade item from you.

I hope you give this project a try. Be sure to let me know how your ornaments turned out.

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