Dollar Store DIY Holographic Initial Ornaments

This has been my favourite DIY ornament to make yet! I used vinyl for the letters but you can use anything adhesive you’d like, even stickers. All other materials are from the dollar store. These ornaments make great gifts for teachers, anyone who loves colour, or you could even create the whole alphabet for kids! I finally had an opportunity to use some bold ribbons; this is your chance to use your most colourful and flashy materials!

ETC: 30-50M

Supplies:
– Plastic ornaments
– Tiny Styrofoam balls
– Rainbow sequins
– Rainbow letters
– Vinyl
– Ribbon or string

I originally came up with the idea for these beauties when I thought of using ornaments to help teach kids the alphabet, all while decorating the tree as a family. I decided to use a cursive font for the holographic vinyl for a playful, whimsical vibe and so that you could really see the colour behind the letter. I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut the vinyl.

I stuffed the ornament with tiny, white styrofoam balls, small/medium/large rainbow sequins, and rainbow letters. Mixing a filler such as styrofoam balls with chunks of reflective colour help to actually fill the ornament, and not have the confetti all sink to the bottom.

I loved being able to use all sorts of colourful strings and ribbons that I normally wouldn’t have a reason to use! One of my favourites was this dark teal with yellow stitching. Using holographic vinyl makes these ornaments unique in the sense that you can make them unconventional.

Stay inspired,
Kendra

DIY Glass Ornaments for Late Loved Ones

An ornament is the perfect sentimental gift to give to someone special during the holidays! It can represent a small, beautiful token of love and gratitude for a loved one who has passed on. In this post, I’m going to show you how to make a two different meaningful ornaments.

ETC: 30 minutes – 1 hour

Supplies:
– Blank glass ornament
– Vinyl
– Jute or ribbon
– Confetti or glitter


I think the first time I ever heard the term ‘snowflakes are kisses from heaven’ was in a Hallmark Christmas movie, and I think it’s adorable for little DIY crafts such as this.

I found these flat glass ornaments at Michael’s. Glass ornaments are better than plastic ornaments in terms of denting; when applying vinyl to plastic, I have to be so careful not to press down too hard on the vinyl to be sure I don’t dent the ornament.





I created this particular design in Cricut Design Space. I used the font Halo Handletter by Mario Arturo which you can find here. I tweaked the curve, length, height, and width to contour the letters to flatter the shape of the ornament.

Then I cut the design on vinyl and used transfer tape to apply it to the ornament. I always wait to fill the ornament with confetti until after the vinyl is applied, just in case a piece were to get stuck under the design. I stuffed the ornament with snowflake confetti and translucent glitter.

I bought this lovely cardinal SVG design here from the amazing Lyrical Letters Design. It’s originally $4.63 CAD but I got it on sale for $2.78 CAD! A great bonus is that a premium license is included with purchase of the SVG, so you can use this design on projects to sell!

‘Though we grow in different directions, our roots remain as one’


I decided to make the ornament reversible once I realized how tiny the design would look. An important tip to remember when working with vinyl is that smaller, cursive letters are harder to weed and and not rip. I put the quote with one cardinal on one side and the tree with roots and one cardinal on the other side. I love being able to see the other cardinal on the tree through the quote.

Clear ornaments tend to look plain or empty- use a thick or chunky ribbon to give it a professional look.

I filled the ornament with snow-like confetti to reflect the lights on the Christmas tree. To finish, I went with a thick, red velvet ribbon.

Handmade gifts are the best gifts!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Dollar Store DIY Wooden Ornaments

These adorable wooden ornaments cost less than $2 to make!

ETC: 20-40 minutes

Supplies:
– Blank wooden ornaments
– Stencil
– Paint and paint brush
– Ribbon


Once the holiday decor began to hit the shelves at Dollarama, the first thing that caught my eye were these wooden ornaments! I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to decorate them but I had to have them.

They come in packs of 4 for $1.25 CAD, with a thin red ribbon. I wanted to change the ribbon to make the wood look less plain, so I went with a candy cane twine from Michael’s; I also used this for my DIY card display!

I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut the stencils I used to paint the words onto the ornaments, using the Cricut adhesive stencil vinyl. After a few minutes of seeking out the perfect font, I tried The Skinny by Jusebox which you can download here. It’s completely free for personal use!

It took some trial and error to get the size of the font just right and it’s also personal preference. I made the font slightly smaller than I originally planned, so I could fit all of the holiday words I brainstormed (such as sleigh, elves, merry, etc.) on the 12×12 Cricut mat.

After I used Cricut transfer tape to apply the stencil to the ornaments, I used black acrylic paint and a small foam brush to paint on the words. Each ornament takes less than 20 minutes to dry!

The first set I made!

I’m going to make another set except add a thin wreath around the inner edge of the ornament. I’ll post an update of them here soon!

Stay inspired,
Kendra