Twelve Days of Christmas (in July): Day 5!
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Last year I wrote about our annual tradition of turning the Christmas cards we receive into ornaments for our tree (you can read that post here). I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from the idea and several of you tried it yourselves!
I’ve had a couple of requests to write a more specific post with step-by-step instructions. Well here it is friends! I tried to be as detailed as possible. If you have any questions please let me know!
To get started, gather all your photo Christmas Cards and download and print the template I created (Christmas Card Ornament Template). You’ll also need a pen, scissors and a hot glue gun.
Decide which size ornament you’d like (small, medium or large) and cut out the circle and triangle shapes.
Using the circle shape, trace and cut out twenty circles from your Christmas Cards. You’ll need five circles for the top, ten circles for the middle and five circles for the bottom. Line up and rearrange your cards so they look like the photo below.
Now, using the triangle template, draw a triangle on the BACK of each circle. For the top row, make sure the triangle faces upward.
For the middle row, make sure the triangle faces down on the top five circles and up on the bottom five circles.
For the bottom row, make sure the triangles face downward. (Use the photo below for reference.)
Using the triangle outlines, fold the edges of the cards up (see photo below).
Time to get out the hot glue gun!
We’ll start on the top row. Using the photo below as a guide, glue together flaps:
- 2 and 3
- 4 and 5
- 6 and 7
- 8 and 9
- 10 and 1
When you’re done the top should look like this:
Now we’ll move onto the middle row. Using the photo below as a guide, glue together flaps:
- 2 and 3
- 4 and 5
- 6 and 7
- 8 and 9
- 10 and 11
- 12 and 13
- 14 and 15
- 16 and 17
- 18 and 19
- 20 and 1
When you’re finished, the middle row should look like this:
Now onto the bottom row! Use the photo below as a guide and glue together flaps:
- 2 and 3
- 4 and 5
- 6 and 7
- 8 and 9
- 10 and 1
When you’re down, the bottom should look like this:
Now gather your three pieces and we’ll finish this up! You should have a top, middle and bottom piece, like in the photo below.
We’ll start by attaching the top and middle pieces. There should be five flaps on each, just glue them together one by one.
When you’re down, it should look like this:
Now attach the bottom. Glue together the bottom five flaps and the middle five flaps one by one. The ornament should look like this:
Almost there… All you need to do is attach a ribbon. Ta-Da! You’re done!
I hope you enjoy! Trust me, once you get into the groove, these ornaments get easier and easier to make. And I just love the way they look on our Christmas tree! Enjoy!
