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super-easy, fabulously sparkly, no-mess ornaments

home / Activities / holidays / christmas / super-easy, fabulously sparkly, no-mess ornaments
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post contains affiliate links

 

 

super easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.com

 

Each year, I’ve tried to have my kiddos create a gift for our family members. Okay, when they were super-tiny, I slapped their cute faces on ceramic ornaments, but now that I’ve got a crafty 6, 4, and 2-year-old, I’m putting them to work.

And really, the time we spend together working on our projects rocks, and they all love creating beautiful art for people they love.

Only this past spring did our family discover the joys of Model Magic–it’s by Crayola and is every parent’s dream.

It’s a no-mess, easy-to-use modeling clay with bright, mixable colors, and it air-dries after only a day or two. And it doesn’t stain. And it never flakes off and ends up in the carpet like Play-doh. And kids can color on it with markers. Or glue stuff to it, and it sticks like whaaaat.

So after I saw this idea on Frugal Family Fun (a new blog I have only recently discovered and totally heart), I decided to follow Valerie’s lead and use Model Magic for our homemade ornaments this year.

Her idea was awesome, and we just took her idea a step further and blinged ours up a bit.

(Spoiler alert: family members, close your eyes. . . )

  • Model Magic Ornaments: These are seriously super-easy, fabulously sparkly, no-mess ornaments. I love them, and I really think our family will, too.super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.com

On Friday afternoon, after Maddy got home from school and everyone had eaten their snacks, I said,

Okay, my friends. We have a lot of work to do today. We are going to put on our ornament-making hats and start some presents for our family.

Who’s ready?

From that point on, we worked.

We rolled out our Model Magic, using my big rolling pin and two tiny ones I picked up (for $1 each!) at the craft store.

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.comOwen was one strong roller!

Then we used our smaller holiday cookie cutters to cut out stars, snowflakes, balls, gift boxes, and trees. I wanted the ornaments to be light and small enough to not break the branches of everyone’s trees.

(I actually bought the cheapest, largest pack of holiday cookie cutters I could find at our craft store. And I love them. They do the job–and the big ones are perfect for cutting holiday shapes out of sandwiches!)

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.comMaddy uses her knife–carefully!

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.com
Maddy, Owen, and Cora used plastic knives to get their shapes out, and believe me–the shapes were not all perfect.

We decided to use all of the shapes, even the sad-looking ones, and we’d just make sure to give those guys a little extra sparkle.

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.com

When we finished most of the blue, green, and white Model Magic and our hands were tired and sore, we used a straw to make tiny holes at the top of each ornament, and then we let our shapes dry.

We waited about two days until our ornaments were totally and completely dry, and we spent a chunk of the morning beautifying. We used glitter glue–which I totally wish I would have invented–and we also added sequins, sparkles, and more glitter glue.

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.comCora uses a Q-Tip to apply Tacky glue to her ornament.
Then she’ll add her sequins!

Before we knew it, every last ornament was covered with sparkle, as were six tiny hands and smocks. The turned out more beautiful than we could have imagined–and they were so easy to make!

super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.comOne tray of finished–beautiful–ornaments

I wrote M, O, & C–2009 on the backs of the ornaments (that’s about all that would fit!), and then we finished our gifts.

The final steps were simple–I tied skinny ribbon on all of the ornaments while Owen and Cora decorated tiny brown bags with Christmas Foamies.super-easy, no-mess ornaments | teachmama.comWe then made a pile for each of our family members and took turns each picking an ornament for that person. Each person–or family, actually–has four special ornaments in their bag.

 

So that’s that–even though the gift took a few days to complete, the ornaments are gorgeous, the steps were easy, the cost was low, and the time spent together was fun.

Happiest of holidays!

And thanks again to Valerie at The Frugal Family Fun blog for the Model Magic-meets-Christmas idea!

Want a few more holiday-inspired giftย ideas or activities? Check out:

must have gifts for kids and families | teachmama.com

gifts for sunday school teachers or CCD teachers | teachmama.com

 

kids and family gift guide from teachmama.com

 

teachmama gift guide 2012

 

 

holiday gift guide | teachmama.com

  • True Holiday Spirit Lunchbox Notes
  • Holiday Fun Fact and JOKES Lunchbox Notes (with Hannukah!)
  • Holiday Time Fun Fact Lunchbox Notes
  • Little Holiday Notes and Jokes
  • Holiday Notes for Families
  • The Polar Express tradition
  • Scratch-off Cards
  • K-Cup Advent Tree
  • New Year’s Family Interview
  • Happy Holidays Backyard Birdsย 

 

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are โ€œaffiliate links.โ€ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionโ€™s 16 CFR, Part 255: โ€œGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.โ€ ย For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy.ย 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:my early christmas present
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Comments

  1. Alyssa Marie Willis

    November 24, 2010 at 4:54 am

    I’m so glad I found this post! It’s great! After Thanksgiving, I can’t wait to do these with my little girl. And YES, sparkle will help the “sad” looking ones!

    Reply
    • amy

      November 24, 2010 at 7:22 am

      Hooray! Send a picture my way when you finish!! Can’t wait to hear how it goes–we love, love, love, Model Magic!

      Reply

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