Skip to main content

Tuesday Time to Tackle: Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Instead of other gifts, my siblings and I exchange ornaments at Christmas.  (Siblings, spoiler alert! Continue reading only if you don't want to be surprised this year.) Nothing says the ornaments need to be homemade, but I do try to make a new one each year.  I make them not only for my siblings, but also for my children and others. 

This year, I found an idea on Mamie Jane's blog for ornaments made from Scrabble tiles.  I really recommend going to her blog to see her ornaments; they turned out very cute.  Even though I did a few things differently (I was lazy and just working from memory), I still like the end result. 


To make the ornament, you will need a yardstick, old Scrabble tiles or little wooden alphabet tiles (you can find bags of them at the craft store), ribbon, wood stain, and little eye screws (found at a home improvement store). 




Choose what words you would like to spell, then lay them out on the yardstick.  Mark with a pencil where to cut the yardstick.


Using a bandsaw (or, in my case, having my husband use the bandsaw), carefully cut the yardstick into pieces.  With the stain marker, stain the edges and part of the front of the tiles and yardstick pieces.  Cut lengths of ribbon and glue to the yardstick pieces.  When the glue is dry, glue the tiles onto the yardstick.  Screw the screw eyes into the top of the ornament, and string ribbon through to make a hanger. 

That's it!  Simple, cute, and frugal.  Remember to write the year on the back of the ornament, along with any Christmas wishes for the recipient. 
Thanks for "outside-the-box" ideas, and thanks for memories of playing games, including Scrabble.


Pin It

Comments

  1. They look great Kristi!!! I have seen hers and many other versions of this ornament but I like how you added ribbon behind the words. They will love them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a clever ornament. It would look great hanging on the wall, too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: 39 Years Edition

A political map of the world circa 1987. The Soviet Union takes up a sizable portion. A lot has happened in the last 39 years. The Berlin Wall came down. The Soviet Union collapsed. The Twin Towers fell. Technology has changed: landlines and phone booths are practically extinct, and random questions can be answered in seconds by asking Google, Siri, or Alexa. No longer do drivers keep the Thomas Guide in their cars; navigation systems will give turn-by-turn directions, and recalculate when the driver doesn't follow the directions. Some cars don't even need drivers. While many shoppers do their shopping in-person, some simply log into Amazon and have their item show up on their doorstep--sometimes within hours.  I've seen pieces of the Berlin Wall. I've traveled to places that used to be behind the Iron Curtain. I've been to Ground Zero. I no longer have a house phone, and have looked up the answers to countless questions using my cell phone. I do not miss the stress...

Ten Things of Thankful: April Showers Edition

  A red peony bud prepares to open fully  After an incredibly dry winter, we had a bit of precipitation this past week, in the form of falling snow. We didn't have much, and it didn't really stick, but we'll take water however it wants to come. Fortunately, my peonies seem unaffected by the cold snap, and are ready to put on a show here soon. 1. I'm thankful for moisture. 2. I'm thankful the flowers are still going to bloom. I don't know how the colder temperatures will affect the fruit crops. The strawberries look like they are still planning to set fruit. We'll have to see what happens with the peach, apricot, pear, and apple. (The apricot only bears heavily every other year anyway, and I think this is an "off" year--though I could be wrong.) Strawberry plants in full bloom 3. I'm thankful for anticipated berries.  We continue to clear out and otherwise prepare John's parents' house for sale. I've been going through old photos and...

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...