Children's Project - Keepsake Christmas Ornaments

I wanted to give my family something special from the entire family this year. We decided that ornaments would be a great way to show off each of our unique talents. I hope you enjoy and if you decide to make some of your own I would love to see them!

Supplies

Below are links to tools and materials I used in this build. It is either the exact tool/supply or something very close.

Paper

Scissors

Pencil

Wood - I used some scrap wood (walnut, maple and cherry) and baltic birch plywood

Bandsaw (or Jigsaw/Scrollsaw)

Drill Press

Files - https://amzn.to/34MWqyI

Flexible Sanding Pad - https://amzn.to/3962PZj

Sanding Discs - https://amzn.to/35W9anX

Kid Safe Paint - https://amzn.to/2PSQKyJ

Paintbrushes - https://amzn.to/2PS0jhu

Very small drill bit

Mini Eye Hooks - https://amzn.to/2EP1gkj

Pocket Knife - https://amzn.to/2So7srr

Pyrography Kit -

Note: The links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Step 1: Designing the Templates

My wife is a good artist, so I asked her to design the ornaments. She drew up 4 different types, two stars, a Christmas tree and a traditional Christmas ball.

I then cut the paper templates out.

Step 2: Tracing the Templates Onto Wood

I used the paper templates to trace the designs onto some scrap wood. The multi-coloured wood is walnut, maple and cherry that was a cut off from another project and the other wood is 1/2" baltic birch.

I used templates as I was planning on making a few of the same designs, but you could just draw directly onto the wood if you wanted.

Step 3: Cutting the Ornaments Out

Using my bandsaw I followed the lines I had drawn and cut out the ornaments.

You could also use a scroll saw or a jigsaw for this task.

Step 4: Optional Step: Cutting the Ornaments With Inside Cuts

One of the designs had an inside part that needed to be cut out. This meant that I had to drill a hole on the inside and then cut that out.

I used my scroll saw (with a jigsaw blade in it) to cut this part, but you could also use a jigsaw.

Step 5: Sanding and Filing

Now the fun part of every project, the sanding!

I put a small needle file into my scrollsaw and used it as a power file in order to cut down on the amount of time I needed to spend sanding this project. You could just use a regular file or simply use sandpaper.

For the faces, I used a sanding disc that I attached to a flexible sanding pad.

Step 6: Painting

Now the real fun part! My wife and I set up my son in his painting smock and let him go to town on the ornaments.

We gave him gold, silver, red, green and white. In retrospect green was a bad choice as it really makes the ornaments blend in with our Christmas tree. So keep that in mind if you are making some of these.

Step 7: Adding the Eye Hook

In order to hang these on the tree, I needed to add an eye hook. I got these very small ones from amazon and drilled some 3/64 pilot holes.

On the more pointy designs I had to use my pocket knife to make a flat spot in order for the drill bit to not wander.

I found that when using these very small drill bits that it helps to have them in the drill press. That way to can concentrate on getting the work-piece in the right place and not worry about it sliding all over the place.

Step 8: Adding a Special Message

My wife used her pyrography skills to add a special holiday message to the backs of each of the ornaments. It says:

Merry Christmas

From: Fletcher

2019

Step 9: Hang the Ornaments and Enjoy!

Now you get to hang the ornaments and enjoy them in your tree.

As I said earlier we made these ones as gifts for family members and I think they will really appreciate them!

I your family gets together and makes some I would love to see pictures in the comments below. I think any age group could help out, and the older your children are, the more steps you can include them in!

Merry Christmas to all!