Oh, Christmas Treat!

The stocking may be hung on the chimney with care, but have you taken care of your handmade ornaments with the Swell Noel paper crafting collection now available on Lettering Delights?

This year, I have been making ornaments for the tree with the Swell Noel ornaments and medallions sets on LD. These are not difficult to make.

They require six sides per ornament (which means you will print and cut the same ornament (bell or medallion) six times. Once you have all six pieces, you will fold each down the middle, place one half of one piece directly in line with another half of another piece and glue those two halves together.

Repeat this until you have all but one folded piece left to finish the complete ornament. At this time you will glue the ornament hanger (ribbon, baker's twine, etc) into the middle of the set, making sure it is secured, and then glue the last ornament piece into its position. Once they are dry, it will be time to trim the tree with your own handmade creations.

To make the long ornaments that have the white deer and the “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” ornaments, I cut out only four pieces to create the 3-D ornaments. I used the red with white deer for two sides and the green with white deer for the other two sides. In the case of these examples I chose not to crease the shaped directly down the centers, but rather bend them, and glue along each edge with the matching shape on either side, remembering to add the hanging string before glueing the last piece in place.

I did not add glitter to these 3-D paper ornaments, but that sparkle would be a great touch and bring a little glistening snow into your cozy home for the holidays!

The bells and medallions were made like the ornaments with six sides. For the bells, I chose to trim off all of the balls that dangle from the bell, expect for one. I then took one of the trimmed balls and glued it to the back side of that remaining ball, so both sides would have the colored ball visible.

To get these and other files for your own tree trimming, go to the Swell Noel collection on Lettering Delights so that you can be home-made for the holidays!