Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Today I am going to show you how to make Christmas ornaments for practically nothing. These make great gifts or decoration for yourself. My mom made these for our tree when I was a child and me and Pat made these last year for our tree... we made a few more this year because some got water damaged and to give as gifts.

All you need is:
-water
-flour
-salt
-vegetable or olive oil (optional - makes dough more workable)

Pat and I used this recipe as a base which makes them sugar cookie-like but you can experiment with the consistency (like to make it more sandy looking with more salt). You can bake them if you like but I prefer to let them air dry... just make sure you flip them over to dry. If you don't have cookie cutters you can likely find them second hand at a thrift store, borrow from a friend, or cut them to make your own shapes. I did this with the cat shaped ones.  Also, make sure you make a little hole with a pen to hang them later.

Then you can decorate them with acrylic paints or puffy paint  and glitter like we did. You cold also hot glue funky decorations on them like buttons and other odds and ends if you like! If you don't have puffy paint and like the raised frosting look you can also hot glue your designs then paint them after the glue drys. Try just using what you have rather than buying extra supplies.

These can also be used to decorate gift packages or are nice as a simple gift by themselves. You can personalize a set for your family, recreating each member as an ornament. This year I am giving two out individually and have a little set of cats made up for my boyfriend's stepmum.

A Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz... another happy little gift. Other popular films/fandoms could make a nice set! ^_^

Our tree also has hand made bows, candy canes from last year, extra lights from relatives, and some glass balls that I found secondhand for $0.50 for each set of three last year.  We also have two strings of tinsel, one bought this year and one last year at target (so if you need some extra decoration you can think of something to buold on to next year rather than buying tons of stuff all at once).

~Lydia

Taking my own advice

In my last post I explained a little about voluntary simplicity and encouraged you to try to pair down some possessions (you could give then to a friend/family member, donate to a charity, or even sell it if it has value). I went through my clothing again and found another dozen or so items that I no longer love or that I often wear to put in my Goodwill box. I always try to have a donate box or pile around and slowly add to it. I can always change my mind and pull it out if I end up missing it or want to craft with it; and when it is full off to Goodwill it goes.

I found a few more things even after this picture :)

The box is getting full again!

I also organized my closet and dresser a bit.... it gets a little messy on days that I work. I end up stumbling in the dark to find certain things while trying not to wake my boyfriend. I know it still looks pretty full but since the weather tends to have me layering up I have held on to some things.

I would love to have only 100 pieces of clothing, which is my goal. I still don't know how to count undies and socks though. Any ideas would be helpful! With my basic wardrobe I counted around 115 but I forgot: coats, PJ's, winter gear, shoes, undies/socks, jewelry, belts, stockings, and other odds and ends. My clothing from my costume/sewing trunk is not counted as well. I also need to go through my craft explosion supplies. Still, every little bit help and lightens the load. I'm just slowly turning it down a notch. Have a nice day!

~Lydia