DIY Ornaments To Make With Kids

This fall, I got to help Dr.Biden and the White House prepare for the holidays. You’d be surprised how much holiday decor is actually hand made – this was one of those projects. And if I do say so myself, it was a crowd favorite – it received SO MUCH media attention because it came from the heart.

We created these ornaments using self portraits hand drawn by (K-12) students from across the United States.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Clear Round Ornament
Glue stick
Scissors
Holiday Cardstock or Construction Paper
Glue Gun (I prefer the battery operated glue gun)
Ribbon

(DIY ornaments featured in the White House State Dining Room for the holidays.)

Choose a Family Picture or Doodle

The hand drawn kids portrait really add a heart felt touch to this project. It’s a great way to incorporate the little ones in your life and to display that art you’ve debated tossing out. Don’t worry, all parent friends have already admitted to that.

If hand drawings aren’t your style, you can instead use ultrasounds, wedding pictures, cute text messages, or small collages. Whatever you choose, make sure that your image is big enough to take of the full width of your ornament.

Assemble Your Ornament

Glue your image to decorative card stock using a glue stick. You’ll want to avoid using a glue gun because the glue will show through your image if the paper is not thick enough.
Trim your picture out to be slightly smaller than your ornament. You will want enough room for your confetti to move around.

3. Glue a small piece of cardstock to the back side of your picture. This tab will attach to your picture and (in the next step) to your ornament.

4. Glue the cardstock tag to the inside of your ornament using glue gun glue. You do not want the glue to touch the rim of your ornament or it will prevent it from properly closing.

5. Hand cut confetti! Kidding, you don’t have to hand cut confetti, you can purchase this online ( I didn’t find any in store). However, hand cutting it like we did in our White House decoration project, totally works! Fill your ornament with a generous scoop of confetti.

Bring both parts of your ornament together. To make sure the two pieces don’t come apart, add a small drop of glue gun glue to where the two pieces meet.

6. Top off with festive ribbon that fits your style or color palette.