This weekend I hosted the first of what I hope to be many crafternoons. I invited my pals Kellie and Melanie over to make some ornaments, drink some lambic, snack for hours and watch Scrooged – essentially the perfect day.
I’ve been making these geometric folded paper ornaments for years and everyone seems to dig them, so I figured why not hang out and teach some friends how to make some too. It’s perfect for crafternoons because it’s quick enough to learn in a few minutes and doesn’t require so much concentration that you miss all the good parts of your favorite Christmas special or all the good gossip.
There’s also the added bonus that this project only takes a handful of supplies, some of them you probably have on hand. So here’s what you’ll need:
- Scrapbook paper
- Glue – any clear-drying type will do
- Hole punch – mine is 2″
- Embroidery floss or thin ribbon
- Large-eyed needle
- Glitter if it floats your boat
I know that this project isn’t exactly an original, but I recall figuring out how to assemble these at first and it being a real mess. I hope this little run-through makes it easy.
To start, punch out 20 circles and trace a equilateral triangle on the back of each. You don’t want to eyeball this one, believe me. Also, I recommend a nondirectional pattern if this is your first time at the paper ornament rodeo; that way you don’t need to worry about which way the triangles are pointing.
Once you got those all traced out, get folding. Fold the patterned side toward itself, be as precise as possible and make sure to get a good crease in there. If you’ve got a bone folder, break that baby out.
Now here’s where the layout of this comes in. You’ll need five triangles for the top, five for the bottom and the remaining ten form the middle of your orb.
Then you’ll start glueing according to the layout above. You’ll notice that as you add pieces, it will start to form a dome shape. Thumbs up. Try to be as exact as possible when lining up the edges – it’ll help all the pieces fit together in the end.
Repeat that process to form another little dome. Think of these two pieces like the bread of a sandwich. For the PB&J portion of this ornament, follow the layout above (point up, point down, point up, etc.) until you have a long strip. Then just glue the two ends together. It might look a little wonky, but as long as you’ve got five tabs on each flat side, you’re good. The two domes will tie it together and give it the proper structure.
Once your three sections are dry, you can assemble your sandwich – I mean ornament. Just match the five tabs from the domes to the five tabs on that middle section. Easy peasy.
To finish off, just thread a little ribbon or embroidery floss through a flap and call it good!
Once you got this down pat, you can branch out with different sizes, add some glitter to the edges (ooh pretty!), add a bow up top or even use photos. Below you’ll see a photo version I made from snaps from a trip to Montreal and it’s just about my favorite ornament ever.
These are so simple and customizable that they make the perfect little extra present and add some handmade to your holiday. Now go forth and craft a hundred of these!
