Christmas Ornaments

I am sure that as a teacher, you probably have your students make ornaments each year. This is the best Christmas gift for parents! Once you do a few it is easy and inexpensive. Here are the materials you need to make silhouette ornaments.

SUPPLIES

Ornament Frames– I bought these ornament frames from Hobby Lobby for 40% off. If you can’t find them you can use these too.

Camera– I use my iPhone

Backdrop– I used a plain wall. You could use butcher paper too, just make sure it is smooth without wrinkles. You will want it a contrasting color. Sometimes I will use orange or bright yellow paper, something they wouldn’t wear.

PowerPoint

Paper lunch bags

Markers, ink, paint, or crayons

HOW TO MAKE THE ORNAMENTS

When all my students are here, I call them back in line order to take their pictures. Try to tell them to look at the door and smile. I am sitting in a chair, so I don’t have different sizes of pictures to crop. Have them stand facing something that is easy to stare at (the door). Once the pictures are done, I upload them to my computer and put them in a folder on my desktop.

When I have time, I use the tutorial from Zippi Kids to make the pictures into silhouettes.

I measured the frame to see what dimensions I need for the ornaments. Put them on a separate slide so you can print them out at once. You can fill the background with a pattern if you want. This makes it a lot easier to cut out!

I use brown lunch bags to have students decorate it as their gift wrap. You can do their thumbprints on a string of lights, do a directed drawing from Art Hub or just let them do what they want. We write TO and FROM at the top, staple it and send it home. DONE!

OPTIONAL

Tie a fun holiday ribbon as the string.

If you have a blank space on the back of your ornament a wish list is cute! I make these with my own children each year and they love looking at their Christmas Wishlist! I print them and Modge Podge them on the back. For Modge Podge you can just do ½ glue and ½ water and mix it. Then, I have them write in pencil and then use a thin Sharpie to trace it.

This is an ornament that any family would love to put on a tree! If they don’t celebrate Christmas, this can be put in a frame from Dollar Tree or decorated with winter colors. Don’t let the PowerPoint scare you, it gets easier each time you do one! Happy Holidays!