Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

When I was a child in the 1970′s and 80′s, my parents had quite a collection of funky ornaments from their early married life that decorated the tree. I was fascinated, and a little embarrassed, by them. The disco colors and flowing shape and strange glass, so different from the plastic Hallmark Store pieces I choose every year.

Now that I’m on the other end, however, I wish I had those funk-a-delic ornaments in my own collection (how many plastic raccoons could I possible have needed?) so this year I’m going to deck my tree with a 1960′s inspired paper garland. If you’re in the mood for some Christmas funkiness, you can too!

Here’s what you need:

Paper – mid weight works best here. You can stick with one color or go with a variety of paterns and colors, your choice!
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Hole punch
Clothespin or binder clip
Paper scissors or a paper cutter
Ribbon or yarn

1. Cut your paper into 1/2 inch strips. For each “ornament” you’ll need 7 strips of varying lengths so choose your color combinations with this in mind.

2. Cut one strip to the length that you want the height of the finished ornament. Cut the remaining strips in pairs, each a bit longer than the last. The bigger the difference in lengths, the more accentuated the curve of the ornament will be.

3. Sandwich the shortest piece of paper between the two next shortest pieces and tap the bottoms so that all three pieces are even at one end. Glue the layers together and secure with a clothespin while they dry.

4. Flip to the other end and pull the longer two pieces out so that the ends are one again even. Glue into place and pin to dry.

5. Continue adding layers in the same manner until you have used them all. Punch a hole about 1/2 inch down from one end and string each ornament onto your yarn, glueing or tying into position. Drape around your tree or across your mantle for some vintage holiday fun!