For a Few Christmas Ornaments More...

Other types of unusual Christmas ornaments are those involving folded paper into shapes. Remember that all Christmas ornaments do not have to be put on the Christmas tree. Some are useful in all sorts of Christmas settings - as attachments to place cards, as parts of a Christmas gift tag atop a Christmas present, etc.. They can be made into Christmas garlands, or arranged into wall decor. Those choices are yours, but now let's make them!

Fan-tastic Christmas Ornaments

Fan Christmas ornaments are easy to construct. Cut a 6 x 12 inch piece of foil wrapping paper. (For a more festive look, use printed foil paper. An elegant ornament should use gold or silver paper.) Make an accordion fold every half inch.

Hold the closed folded fan in the middle and cut the top and bottom with a scissors to round them out. From the bottom of one end of the fan, tie a color-coordinated piece of ribbon or raffia into a bow, spread the fan, and add a ribbon loop to the back for hanging.

For a more elaborate fan, after rounding it out, cut a pattern such as triangles into the folds. You can also put beads or other shiny faceted stones at the cutout points.

A great use of these fans it to attach them to indoor mini-lights and create a garland that goes across an archway. The light shines through the cutouts in the fans or reflects off the faceted stones and makes lovely patterns on the walls.

Victorian Doily Fans

Kids will find these fans even easier to make. Cut a gold doily in half. (You can get these here or at any other party or baking store.) Accordion it into a fan and attach a cluster of small fabric or dried flowers to the front with glue. Attach to the Christmas tree or again to mini-lights.

Cornucopias

Even though they aren't fans, they still involve folding paper into an interesting shape. Victorians loved trimming the Christmas tree and their homes with cornucopias.

Cut a quarter wedge out of a white or gold doily and wrap the rest around until you have a cone shape. Glue or staple it together. Add a small bow or some ribbons to the front and fill it with dried heather, lavender, pine sprigs, or baby's breath for a fragrant ornament of attachment to a place card or gift tag.

I always suggest using handmade or art paper for one of these. In that case cut a circle pattern 12 inches in diameter and then cut into four wedges and roll each one into a cone. You can fill these with candies or flowers and make them Christmas gift decorations instead of the traditional ribbons and bows

Next time, we will talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly Christmas ornaments!