DIY: Paper Ornaments

These ornaments can be easily customized to match your decor. In addition, you can add some personal touches by using different types of paper material. You can use a map of a place that you traveled to this year, photocopies of pages from a favorite book, or sheet music for a favorite song. The option to personalize this project also makes it a great gift option. Keep in mind, whatever paper product that you choose, the thinner the paper is, the better. I don't suggest using anything thicker than a standard piece of scrapbook paper or it will be impossible to get the strips to lay flat.

Here's what you will need:

• glass or plastic ornament
• paper
• scissors or a paper cutter
• Mod Podge
• paintbrush or foam brush
• shallow plate or dish filled with water
• glitter (optional)
• acrylic paint (optional)
• acrylic gloss medium (optional)

1.   Cut the paper into small strips that are about 3/8" x 6". I like to cut the strips in various widths smaller than or equal to 3/8" just to mix it up a bit. The number of strips that you need will vary depending on how you arrange them on the ornament, but you should not need more than half of a 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper. Once you have cut 12 or so strips, place them in the water to saturate them (if you are using something thinner than scrapbook paper, it may be better to saturate the sheets as you use them instead of soaking them).

2.  Working with one strip at a time, coat the back of the strip with Mod Podge and lay it as flat as possible across the ornament in your desired arrangement. Once the strip is on the ornament, coat the top of the strip with the Mod Podge. The best way to get the edges to completely adhere to the round shape of the ornament is with your fingers. That's right: prepare to get messy with this project!

3. Repeat step two until the ornament is completely covered with the paper. Note: the paper strips are not going to lay completely flat throughout the process. Do your best to get them as flat as you can, but as as you can see in picture 3, it isn't going to look like the finished product just yet.

4. Put one last coat of Mod Podge all over the entire ornament and use your hands to get all of the edges to lay as flat as possible (I am getting redundant...I know). Again, you're probably not going to get it perfect at this point in the process. After you've given it your all, let it dry for 3-4 hours.

5. After the ornament is dry (it doesn't have to be completely dry, but not tacky to the touch), I chose to apply a coat of acrylic gloss medium instead of Mod Podge because I wanted a gloss finish (and I only had matte finish Mod Podge) and it was a bit thinner so it worked better to get those last few stubborn edges down after it was dry. If gloss medium is not something that you have around, then a coat of Mod Podge will work.

6. I also added a couple of drops of silver acrylic paint and about 1/8 teaspoon of extra fine glitter to the gloss medium/Mod Podge to give it a sparkle glaze. You can use any choice of color and/or glitter to get the look that you desire. After applying an even coat of Mod Podge or gloss medium let the ornament dry for another hour or so (the gloss medium will probably dry faster than the Mod Podge because of the consistency).

7. After the ornament is completely dry, put the topper back on and it is ready to go on the tree! 

TIPS:
• Try to use a few strips of paper as you can. The more you add, the more bulky it becomes, and at some point, the edges just will not lay flat.


• Every so often, you may need to wet the tips of your fingers. As the Modge Podge becomes sticky on the strips of paper, you may take of the finish of the paper as you handle the ornament if your fingers are also sticky.