Photo by Hert Niks on Unsplash

‘Tis the season for twinkling lights, Christmas trees, and spreading joy. Start a new tradition this year and add to your ornament collection by making your own. Here, a few of our favorite ways to add a personal touch to your decorations this year.

Dried Orange Ornaments and Garland

What You’ll Need
Oranges
Twine or String
Scissors
Baking Sheet + Parchment Paper
Chopstick/Skewer

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees F
2. Thinly slice oranges
3. Place slices on the baking sheet
4. Bake until dry (4-6 hours or less. Time varies depending on oven). You’ll want to flip the slices throughout.
5. Remove from oven and cool
6. Use skewer or chopstick to poke holes in the oranges and thread the twine or string through. You can either make a garland or use smaller string pieces to make ornaments

*At the end of the season, throw the ornaments in the backyard for the animals! Remove string before doing this.

Salt Dough Ornaments

What You’ll Need
4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1.5 cups warm water
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters
Baking Sheet & Parchment Paper
String/Twine

Instructions
1. Mix flour and salt together
2. Slowly pour in warm water. Mix.
3. Once the dough is too hard to mix with a spoon, remove dough from bowl and continue to mix with your hands.
4. Continue to knead with hands until dough is smooth and pliable
5. Roll the dough out to desired thickness
6. Use cookie cutters to make ornaments, or for a personal touch, use your kids’ hands, feet, etc. to make prints that will document this Christmas forever!
7. Poke a hole in the top of each ornament
8. Transfer ornaments to baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees F for about an hour
9. After cooling, string the ornaments or paint them before hanging on the tree!

Keepsake Ornament

What You’ll Need
Ornaments that open. We like these two options: 100mm Clear Christmas Ball Ornaments, Hanging Figurine Ornament
Any keepsakes that you would like to place inside

Instructions
While there are no direct instructions here, these ornaments are perfect for cherished keepsakes to place on the tree for years to come. Some ideas of what you can put inside are:

- Baby hats and hospital bracelets
- Twigs from this year’s Christmas tree
- Christmas lists for Santa
- Trinkets from a recent or memorable vacation
- Weddings memorabilia

Tree Trunk Ornament

What You’ll Need
Christmas trunk piece — use the one that the shop cuts off from the bottom!
Drill
Paint/markers to decorate
String/twine

Instructions
1. Don’t let the trunk go to waste! Grab the thin piece that the shop cuts off when you buy your tree and bring it home.
2. With paint or markers, decorate the trunk however you like—don’t forget to put the year!
3. Drill a hole in the trunk piece
4. Thread the ornament and place on tree

*This could also become a garland that you add to annually to document every Christmas season