Window Ornament Sun-Catchers

This was a family craft. We each made our own ornament to display on our back door. The tree is window crayon, but you can completely skip that part if you prefer, and just "hang" your pretty ornaments or lights alone.



These really took on a three-dimensional appearance, and they look pretty at night-time!

Get materials ready - Clear Contact paper, Tissue paper (torn into pieces), Scissors, Permanent Marker, Scrap paper

1) Trace around a bowl or glass to create the ornament shape on a piece of scrap paper. This is your template. Now trace around your template with a permanent marker onto your contact paper to make as many ornaments as you desire.

2) Cut your contact paper with the traced ornaments into manageable squares, and then cut out the same-sized and the same number of blank contact paper to be used for the backs.

3) With your remaining scrap paper, cut out highlights (white) to give the ornaments dimension and tops to "hang" them by.

(If you do all the prep work, this project would be perfect for very little children, and could make a great Sunday School project simply by adding a message about Christ or by changing the shape to make a cross, heart, or other relevant shape.)

Decorate your ornament! - Each family member made their own ornament. Even Landon decorated his own with very little help.


4) Peel the backing off your ornament shape and lay it face down with the sticky side up.
5) Place your highlights and top first, so they will show on the front of the finished ornament.
6) Lay the torn tissue paper to cover the ornament. Going over the edges is fine, in fact it's good, because it will be trimmed off later. Crinkling/folding the paper even adds a nice touch, so don't worry about being perfect.



Finishing -

7) The last step is covering the back with contact paper, cutting out the ornament, and taping it to the window. I washed the window crayon tree spot where Ava wanted the ornament to go, so the sun would still look pretty filtering through it.

An easier process, which we used for our small ornaments, is to make several at one time and wait until the end to add the top with a permanent marker.



We also made lights! The lights and ornaments all appear prettier in the sunlight than my photo suggests. All-in-all.... a very cheerful Christmas decoration!