One of my husband's coworkers needed a small gift for her son to give to his teachers for Christmas and asked him if I could make ornaments. I have made ornaments in the past but never one for a teacher so I decided to give it a try and here is what I came up with:
I think they turned out pretty good and my husband's coworker and son were very pleased as well. Her son was so pleased he was trying to come up with more teachers to give them to, too cute!
- Plastic or Glass Ornaments - plastic is safer, especially if your kids will be handling them
- Red, Black and Green Paint Pens*
- Ribbon - I used solid red and a teacher themed ribbon from Hobby Lobby.
- Cord Ribbon - .99¢ at Walmart
- Scissors
- Paper
- Chop Stick or something similar - Optional
- Mod Podge and small paint brush- Optional
* I used Painters Paint Pens by Elmers and the only one that worked right was the red so I DO NOT recommend buying this brand. Buy the Sharpie paint pens instead, they work so much better.
How To:
1. Draw the apple on the front of your ornament and let dry.
2. Once the apple is dry you can personalize it with your teachers name. Let Dry.
I recommend wiping down the surface you plan to draw on before you begin. I used a Magic Eraser to wipe off my ornaments in hopes that it would also make the surface a little more ruff so the paint pens would stick better since they weren't sticking when I started.
If the paint pens appear watered down, shake them a little more and if they still appear watered down then it is probably your paint pen and you will have to put a bunch of coats on to get it to show up like I had to do with my green and black.
If the paint pens appear watered down, shake them a little more and if they still appear watered down then it is probably your paint pen and you will have to put a bunch of coats on to get it to show up like I had to do with my green and black.
3. Optional: I wrote "Love, student's name" in the middle of the back of the ornament so that the teacher would know who it was from for years to come.
4. Optional: ONLY DO THIS if your paint pens are NOT oil based.
Once the design was dry, I covered it with Mod Podge by painting a circle around the year and apple and filled it in. Let Dry. The Mod Podge also gave it a nice shine.
4. Optional: ONLY DO THIS if your paint pens are NOT oil based.
Once the design was dry, I covered it with Mod Podge by painting a circle around the year and apple and filled it in. Let Dry. The Mod Podge also gave it a nice shine.
5. While the ornaments are drying, cut the paper into small strips. I cut my paper in half, folded it and cut thin strips. I used three sheets of paper for five ornaments.
6. Spiral the strips of paper. I did this by wrapping each strip tightly around a wood chop stick. You can wrap the paper around anything similar such as a pencil. You can also wrap the paper strips around your finger but they won't be as tight of a spiral.
7. Remove the top of the ornament and fill the ornaments with the spiraled paper until you are satisfied with how it looks. Put the ornaments top back on. Each ornament will need at least 15 strips of the spiraled paper.
8. Cut the ribbon and cord to your liking and tie it around the hook at the top and let it hang. I put one strand of red and one strand of ABC123 ribbon on each ornament. I then attached the cord to make a nice hanger for the ornament. You can use any hanger you would prefer.
9. Wrap it up and let your child give it to their teacher!
These ornaments took a while to make because the black and green Painters paint pens didn't want to stick to the plastic ornament and kept evaporating but if they worked like they were suppose to it wouldn't of taken that long.
I think these ornaments turned out really cute, the pictures don't do them justice and I'm glad my husband's coworkers family loved them, I hope the teachers do to. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
I think these ornaments turned out really cute, the pictures don't do them justice and I'm glad my husband's coworkers family loved them, I hope the teachers do to. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
I'd love to see picture of your finished ornaments. You can share them with me on:
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UPDATE:
I made more Personalized Apple ornaments this year (2016) as gifts and wanted to share them with you. This year I used Sharpie paint pens and they worked ten times better than the Painters brand I had last year. DO NOT USE PAINTERS PAINT PENS, THEY ARE AWFUL.
Since I used Sharpie Paint Pens I did not have to seal the ornament. The Sharpie pens are oil based so the paint stays on plastic ten times better. I also used an extra fine black tip paint pen to write with so the names looked a lot neater than before.
I made more Personalized Apple ornaments this year (2016) as gifts and wanted to share them with you. This year I used Sharpie paint pens and they worked ten times better than the Painters brand I had last year. DO NOT USE PAINTERS PAINT PENS, THEY ARE AWFUL.
Since I used Sharpie Paint Pens I did not have to seal the ornament. The Sharpie pens are oil based so the paint stays on plastic ten times better. I also used an extra fine black tip paint pen to write with so the names looked a lot neater than before.
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