Do you have a collection of Christmas cards? Have you puzzled over how to recycle and use these? Me, too! The idea for making these heart house Christmas ornaments came from a pin on Pinterest.
Michele at Michele Made Me created the ornament. Her ornament has to be one of the cutest recycled card projects I’ve seen. So, that is the inspiration for this post.
DIY Christmas Ornaments
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Supplies Needed:
- 12 Christmas Cards
- Scissors or X-Acto Knife and Cutting Mat
- Tacky Glue
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Decorative String
- Beads
- Create your own Stencil or Download this Stencil
- light box, a window, or a glass door
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TIKTECK LED Tracing Light Pad Light Box I love this TIKTECK LED Tracing Light Pad! It is less than a quarter of an inch thick and very lightweight. It’s a far cry from what I used at the Art Institute and on my job as a graphic artist!
Directions:
The Christmas Cards
First, you need to go through your Christmas cards and find 12 cards that look good together. A good way to do this is by choosing cards that have a common color or common colors. The other thing you want to consider is the depth of color. If you choose pastels, you don’t want to throw in a couple of vibrant-colored cards in with the mix. Choose cards with the same depth of color.
The Stencil
You can create your own stencil or download the stencil pattern ◄ here. Just be sure that both sides are identical or as close as possible! Use sharp scissors or an X-Acto knife and a cutting mat to cut out the stencil. So, it’s easier for placement, cut off the excess paper.
After cutting out the stencil, fold the house in half and make sure both sides match perfectly. If it doesn’t match, use the sharp scissors to trim off any excess. Use both the cutout house and the background as stencils.
Tracing the Stencil onto the Card
You’ll want to use a light box, a window, or a glass door for positioning the stencil on the card.
You can strategically place the stencil so that certain elements are visible. Using the light box, place the card face down on the lighted acrylic glass. Lay the cutout background over the card and move around until you are happy with the placement.
Then, lay the house heart cutout over top. The heart cutout area will ultimately be removed. Keep that in mind as you plan where to place the stencil. You don’t want to cut out the key elements of a design. Or you can just place the stencil so that the colors and random shapes are the focus.
I use the background stencil to trace first. Then, place the house cutout squarely over the pencil house, and trace the heart.
House Cutouts for the Christmas Ornaments
You’ll need 12 house cutouts. To cut out the stencils, use a mat knife and metal ruler for the straight lines. You can use the X-Acto knife and freehand the roof and the heart. After cutting a couple of these, I cut the heart out with the X-Acto knife and used sharp scissors to cut the roof. It seems to be easier and more precise.
Folding the House Cutout
Fold each house in half. The bottom of this template is 3 inches. Make a pencil mark at 1-1/2 – inches. Then, lay a metal rule from the tip of the roof to the 1-1/2 – inch mark. Fold one-half of the cutout upward creating a creased line. Remove the ruler and fold the house in half, matching the sides.
Then, use the sharp scissors to cut out the heart. Both sides will match if you cut on the fold! Repeat for each of the 12 houses.
Gluing the House Christmas Ornaments
Tacky Glue grips and sets up relatively quickly, but it is still a good idea to use a clamp at strategic points on the house.
Apply glue to the backside of 1/2 of a house cutout. Match up the backside of another cutout and glue it together. Press and clamp the sides together or lay a heavy book on top. (Michele used clothespins, but I don’t have any! I used plastic clips, and they did leave a little indentation but held nicely.) Repeat with the remaining pairs of cutouts. You should have 6 half-glued pairs in total.
Then, glue two of the remaining pairs together matching up the backsides as before. Repeat for the remaining two. You should now have 3 glued sections.
Glue the 3 groups of 4 together as before except leaving the end sections loose! Clamp, especially at the peak. Allow the glue to dry.
Thread a bead on the string. Lay the doubled string along the center with the bead at the base of the heart house. You can glue the entire ornament together and then, thread a needle and go take the thread through the center. This just seems easier to me…
Glue the two end sections together to create the completed heart house. Clamp again, especially at the peak and base.
String another bead onto the loose ends at the top of the ornament. Apply glue to the base of the bead and glue to the peak of the house ornament. Tie the loose string together in an overhand knot.
There, you have it! Isn’t this a cute Christmas ornament? There are lots more ideas on the blog! Use the search box in the sidebar to find something specific.
Christmas Shadow Boxes
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What an interesting paper craft, looks nice. Thanks so much for linking up at the Unlimited Link Party 79. Pinned.
Thanks again, Dee! It reminds me of one of those little Asian ornaments. It’s a good way to use some of those old Christmas cards. Thanks for visiting!