DIY Christmas tree toy set. Foam ball decorated with rhinestones

New Year is a special, spiritual holiday. And in the pre-New Year bustle, the second most powerful thing, after the desire to sit down at the table as quickly as possible, is the desire to make New Year's toys with your own hands. It is not customary to take into account expenses for the New Year; The holiday industry, we must give it its due, strives to satisfy demand in every possible way and does not charge crazy markups: the product is in demand, the profit will be there. But the variety is so great that you don’t expect uniqueness from your purchase; somewhere else the same thing is sold. So I want something from my own hands and with a piece of my soul.

In this article - part, however, is quite extensive, of the endless sea: how to make Christmas tree decorations with your own hands. Let's touch a little on the very popular door wreath and Christmas tree decoration styles. Of course, there are more than enough New Year's themes for home craftsmen and their little helpers: decorating a room, a festive table, a homemade Christmas tree, and much more. Making a lush and fragrant Christmas tree with your own hands, for example, is not difficult, and living trees remain standing and do not go under the ax. But you can’t immediately grasp the immensity. Therefore, for now we will limit ourselves to Christmas tree toys. But! Take a look at fig. Part, and a large part, of all these Christmas tree decorations is made by hand. Including the bell at the top right next to the red apple. Do you see? It was once a cup of yogurt. Like? Then, as they say, this is the place for you. We will do no worse.

The material is designed primarily for New Year's DIYers who do not master complex technologies and do not have a home workshop at their disposal. To make the New Year's decorations described below, you will need scissors, an awl, a sharp knife with a thin blade (scalpel or pruning knife), thread, sewing needle, nail clippers or side cutters and tweezers or small pliers. Also - PVA glue, superglue (instant cyanoacrylate) and, in some cases, “Moment” or its analogues. For certain types of toys - some other small household tool or household utensil. What other materials will be needed, simple and accessible, we’ll see as we go. All work can be done on the table, covering it with film or covering it with cardboard.

Various tricks and cunning differences

No workflow is possible without the right technology. We don’t need workshops with robots; we need to make do with what we have at hand. In order for homemade New Year's crafts to delight both your hands in the work and the eyes when they are ready, you need to learn several simple ways of preparing blanks and materials for Christmas tree decorations and the rules for their use.

Shine

Now for some reason almost everything shiny for the New Year is called glitter; in Russian - shine. When reading manuals, sometimes, even with considerable personal experience, it is difficult to figure out what is meant: glitter, colored laminated paper, thin shiny plastic film, metallic paint, or some new product altogether.

We'll start with the glitter; There is no way to do without them. Glitter for Christmas tree decorations is inexpensive, but in the outback they may simply not be available for sale. In this case, a manual noodle cutter (see picture on the right) and a foil baking sleeve will help out. A manual noodle cutter is needed; The powerful motor of a food processor does not sense unusual material, and the attachment will immediately become clogged or even break. Manually, the process goes well:

• A section approximately 10-12 cm wide is cut off from the sleeve roll with a knife.
• Gradually unwinding the aluminum tape, pass it through the machine.
• Then, or as the work progresses, if you have an assistant, they chop the “noodles” finely and finely with scissors. The kids like it, if there aren’t enough scissors for everyone, it’s not far from a fight.

Instead of foil, you can also use glitter, which is a shiny colored plastic film. And one more note: do not try to replace assistant shredders with mechanization in the form of a meat grinder. The “noodles” will turn into pellets instead of glitter, and you won’t be able to clean the meat grinder later.

Toys usually “shine” by sprinkling a surface covered with undried PVA, varnish or paint. But you can also “shine” with spots; if there are multi-colored sparkles, multi-colored. To do this, take a portion of glitter into a straw of the required diameter, from a very thin one for juice to a hose with a 2 cm diameter for a smoothie or shrimp cocktail, and carefully blow the glitter onto the desired area. Once you get used to blowing, you can draw patterns. In any case, to blow out the stripes (see fig.), long training is not required.

Colored varnish

Transparent colored varnish is prepared on the basis of nitro solvents 646, 647, etc. Dye – paste for ballpoint pens. OK. 50 ml of solvent is poured into a glass cup (in a ventilated room!), the writing tip is pulled out of the rod using pliers (be careful not to get dirty!), and the paste is blown into the solvent. The tone of the paste is very dense, so more than 1 rod is unlikely to be needed. The finished varnish is poured into a bottle with a gas-tight stopper and lid. Pharmacy vials of hydrogen peroxide work well; they do not need to be washed. The glass (beaker) is washed from varnish residues with the same solvent.

Blanks for balls

In the shops and departments “Skillful Hands”, “Everything for Creativity”, art, and on New Year’s Eve and in gift shops, foam and transparent plastic blanks for balls are sold. Transparent balls are most often filled with something colorful, see fig. on right. For decoration, it is better to take plain, ready-made balloons; they are cheaper and are sold everywhere. We'll see what we can do with them.

In the meantime, let's see where to get them away from centers with a large trade turnover and how to prepare very convenient foam balls for work; we will also deal with them for the Christmas tree. The first question can be solved simply: there will probably be some kind of fishing and hunting shop within reach. And it contains cheap floats for fishing rods and nets made from the same foam balls of different sizes. Are they perforated? So what, it will be easier to attach the hanging loop.

However, polystyrene foam is corroded by almost any paint and varnish. Almost the only thing that definitely doesn’t spoil it is PVA. So you need to coat the foam blanks with PVA before using them further. It’s better to do it twice, with the first layer completely dry before applying the next one. PVA film is quite resistant and will take painting well.

Note: It is also advisable to treat inflatable gel balls with PVA in the places where the pattern will be applied. And if you drew with a gel pen, then it would be a good idea to protect the drawing in the same way from accidental smearing with wet hands.

Papier mache

Adhesive semi-liquid paper pulp - papier-mâché - is indispensable in many cases when making New Year's toys: knobs are made from it, the base of funny faces is sculpted from it, etc. Usually, to prepare papier-mâché, it is recommended to use old newspapers, but due to the admixture of printing ink, the tone of the product then comes out a bit dirty. For papier-mâché, it is better to buy clean white newspaper (not glued) paper at a stationery store. Tissue paper and glass are not suitable! How to make papier-mâché:

1. The leaf is passed through a noodle cutter or finely cut with scissors.
2. Place the trimmings into a glass, crushing them tightly.
3. Pour boiling water over a full glass and leave for 3 hours. The absorbed boiling water must be immediately added to the top of the settled paper!
4. Pour the mixture from the glass into a bowl and knead until the dough or plasticine becomes thick, gradually adding PVA; It should take about 2 tbsp. spoons of glue.
5. The finished papier-mâché is placed in a jar with a tightly screwed lid; Shelf life in a jar of canned vegetables remains up to 6 months.

Old light bulbs

Burnt out incandescent light bulbs are an excellent basis for Christmas decorations. However, if you want to fill the flask with something (see figure) or cover it with a transparent varnish, the question arises: how to separate the flask from the base, open it and remove the stem with internal fittings?

The base is separated by boiling: place the bulbs in a saucepan with cold water, heat over low heat until low boiling, and boil for up to 10 minutes. The base that has fallen off will not fall to the bottom; it will hang on the wires. After the lamp has cooled, they are bitten off with side cutters, the tips of scissors or manicure tongs, inserting them deeper into the socket of the rod.

Next, place an emery block in a large bowl or small basin and add enough water to cover it. Then, with light pressure and smooth circular movements, erase the side of the flask until the stem falls out; takes up to 5 minutes for 1 lamp. The base, if needed, is glued back with superglue.

Note: When working with light bulbs, you need to wear cotton household gloves, such as are used, for example, when cutting fish. Glass is a hazardous material! The second thing that is important is that you can only disassemble incandescent lamps! There is mercury vapor in the light tubes of the housekeepers! An insignificant amount, but still - mercury is mercury, it is not excreted from the body.

Salty dough

You can make excellent Christmas tree decorations with your own hands from salt dough, see fig. From its thin layers, figures are cut out with cookie stamps (pos. 1, 2), cut out with a thin sharp knife by hand (pos. 3) or using templates (pos. 4, 5). Salt dough is inedible, but it perfectly accepts any painting and varnishing and will allow you to cut out very thin contours.

The composition and method of preparation are as follows:

• White wheat flour – 200 g.
• Fine table salt – 200 g.
• Refined sunflower oil – 3 tbsp. spoons.
• Water – 125 ml (a little more than half a glass).

Salt is mixed with flour, then butter is gradually added, stirring all the time. Next, water is added, also with continuous kneading until the consistency of clay or plasticine. Place the mixture in a plastic bag, place it in a jar with a tight lid and store it in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment for up to six months.

Roll out the dough into a layer 3-4 mm thick with a round rolling pin. The cut-out figures are placed on a baking sheet, a sheet of tin, galvanized iron, etc., and dried on a radiator. You can’t dry it quickly in the oven or just on the table without heating! Drying takes several days; completely dry figures are painted, painted with gel pens, and varnished. If stored carefully, they will last for more than one New Year; salt dough is a fairly durable material.

Note: You can learn more about Christmas tree toys made from dough from the video below:

Video: Christmas tree toys made from dough

Decoupage

Decoupage, simply known as decals, is widely used in New Year's decor. However, not everyone is suitable for Christmas tree decorations. Christmas tree decorations need to be decorated with plastic decoupage, which fits onto curved surfaces without wrinkles. It can be distinguished (sellers do not always know what they are selling) from the usual one by its protective coating: in this case it is not a film, but a porous napkin. It is moistened and removed before use. The picture is placed on the base, unlike flat transfers, in the center, and carefully, with smooth circular movements, smoothed out to the edges. The best base is a slightly rough layer of PVA applied with a foam pad, or the same layer of white nitro paint.

Note: Children decouple most carefully - their fingers have not yet become rough.

Popcorn

Small popcorn glued with PVA or superglue can replace papier-mâché in many cases. It, like the latter, before use, it is advisable to treat it with PVA in the same way as polystyrene foam, and for the same purpose.

Christmas tree decorations

Snowflakes

The first and simplest thing you can use to decorate both the Christmas tree and the whole house is snowflakes. Probably everyone knows how to cut them; Just in case, we provide a diagram (Fig. below) of how to cut out snowflakes with gaps in the rays.

However, in reality, water crystallizes in a hexagonal pattern, i.e. Real snowflakes have 6 rays. Cutting them out in the same way will not work: if the sheet is folded in three, it will not unfold into a snowflake, but if folded six times, it will turn out to be 12 rays. Therefore, if you don’t mind the effort of making real snowflakes, we provide a diagram of water crystallization, see Fig. on right. You can use it to create countless figures, and for inspiration, or as samples for templates, in Fig. Below are photographs under a microscope of real snowflakes from real snowfall. Is it true that human imagination is far from nature? Experts say that no two identical snowflakes have been spotted yet.

A word about boxes...

When preparing for the New Year in advance, do not throw away small warranty boxes that are no longer under warranty. They make excellent toys, see fig. And you can even do it with surprises. It’s interesting to then observe what kind of barter negotiations the “high contracting parties” then start when they discover that he got a baby doll, and she got a model car.

...about eggs...

Also excellent toys come from bird eggs, see fig. below. It is best to take goose or turkey eggs, they are large and strong. In the poles of the egg, holes are carefully turned with a gypsy needle or awl and the contents are blown into a cup or bowl; for omelet or scrambled eggs, in dough, cream, etc. it is quite suitable. And the shell is treated with PVA, like polystyrene foam, painted, varnished, sprinkled with glitter, rag fragments are glued on, etc. The pink “bump” in the center, for example, is covered with dyed popcorn.

...and about nuts

One of the oldest types of Christmas tree decorations is walnuts wrapped in foil. The thread of the pendant loop was threaded along the seam between the shells; Now you can just glue it on. Both are not a hindrance to eating. Especially for this purpose, they placed the Nutcracker under the tree, about which P. Tchaikovsky wrote ballet music, which was later used as an opera.

Balls

New Year's balls are a vast world in the vast world of New Year's decorations. And in the vast world of Christmas tree balls there is an immense world of paper balls, if we consider a ball to be a body of rotation in a smoothly curved surface and regular polyhedra. We will now deal with all this immensity within the immensity within the immensity, remembering: everything should be within the power of a child, and it should be possible to do it at home on the table.

From blanks

First, let's try to change the monotonous ready-made balls in our own way. The technique is simple, see figure:

1. We select cheaper plastic balls, with a dull matte surface;
2. Paint with white nitro paint;
3. Once completely dry, decouple;
4. So how? How much does this cost in the store? On New Year's Eve?

Note: and if you don’t mind spending money on a glue gun, and have nowhere to put old beads, glass beads, artificial pearls, then here’s another option in the picture:

Now let's get down to the foam. The options here are much more varied, see fig. below. Pos. 1 – you will need a figured hole punch from the same crafts store. If from the Internet, then order ahead of time; It is known how parcels arrive on New Year's Eve. Next - pins with beaded heads, pos. 2 and you're done. The hanging loop is secured with a piece of toothpick or a match and a drop of PVA.

Suddenly there is no figured stamp for paper, but there are pins and beads, you get a colored hedgehog ball, pos. 3. The beads are strung on pins, and the tip of each, to make it sit tighter, is dipped in PVA before inserting. A pos. 4? Guess what! Chupa-chups with chopsticks bitten obliquely (to make it easier to stick in). You can eat it straight from the tree if the adults don’t mind. Or quietly, from the other side.

For pos. 4 and 5 require a glue gun and a workpiece protected with dried PVA. Finishing materials – cord and glass beads or artificial pearls.

From light bulbs

Light bulbs, as mentioned above, preparations for New Year’s decorations are difficult, but rewarding, see fig. Low-power lamps with a narrow “minion” base and a matte embossed bulb, pos. 1; consider these as ready-made balls. “Candle” light bulbs are also not bad, but if you do not remove the stem, after painting/varnishing they should be immediately, before the paint/varnish has dried, thickly sprinkled with glitter, pos. 2. Burnt-out low-power housekeepers in double “cone” flasks were made especially for the New Year: all that remains is to decoupage, tie a loop on the base, cover it with papier-mâché, and you’re done (item 3).

You can also create a lot of New Year's creations using ordinary light bulbs. The easiest way to make penguins (pos. 4): here you don’t need to be able to draw at all. Barbosov-Shrekov can also be made without art education - the shades on the background are punched out with a small foam pad, and the line drawing is drawn out with gel pens. In the same way, they create toys that require, in addition to talent, sufficient skill, poses. 5 and 6. In general, it is a matter of taste and imagination.

Spider balls

Thread web balls are all the rage right now, and in this case she wasn't going crazy. There are several varieties of them. The first (item 1 in the figure) is an ordinary cheap ball, on which a plastic mesh is stretched, the kind in which garlic and other small items are packaged in supermarkets. Let's add a ribbon bow - that's something. Just like the same cheap balls, decorated with scraps of tulle or organza, pos. 2.

“Real” spider web balls are made from glued colored threads, pos. 3, 4. It is best to take threads for satin stitch embroidery, but simple ones will also work with additional decor. The technique is simple: the thread is pulled through PVA and immediately wound onto an inflatable template, lubricated with Vaseline. After the glue has dried, the template is blown off or simply pierced and removed.

For small Christmas tree balls-webs, the template can be inflated, perhaps, only from a medical fingertip: it has a roller that allows you to hold the blank to the lips while inflating; Without a roller nothing will work. Gel and latex balloons are not suitable: so that they do not sag under the thread, they need to be inflated to too large a size.

There are plenty of devices for pulling thread through glue; one of the simplest ones is shown in Fig. The glass allows you to use glue sparingly, and the tray does not let excess glue onto the table. The glass is pierced with a needle and thread, glue is poured, pulled, and wound. It is only necessary for an assistant to hold the “broach”, otherwise, if the thread gets caught, the glue may spill onto the table, lap or chair upholstery. An alternative to a helper is a piece of double-sided tape, which is used to attach the tray to the countertop. You need to wind it with dexterity, because... PVA-impregnated thread dries quickly.

More about balls of thread

Beautiful thread balls can be made not only using the “spider web” technique. The method of making one of the oldest Christmas tree decorations from threads - a pom-pom ball - is shown in Fig. To pos. 5: cut the thread along the rim with a sharp knife or safety razor blade. Pom-pom balls look especially impressive if the ends of the threads are tinted with silver, bronze or metallic paint in a contrasting color.

Paper balls and more

Let’s now move on to the immensity within the immensity—Christmas tree decorations made of paper. It's a whole big world; for example, masters of modular origami create creations from it that clearly confirm: paper is one of the most wonderful materials invented by man, see fig. But we will leave these difficulties for later, and let’s move on to what can be done, as they say, right off the bat, and which also looks impressive.

How to make a simple paper ball for a Christmas tree is shown in Fig. Material – thick colored paper, PVA. Painting, varnishing, sprinkling with glitter is not forbidden. If the ball is made of glitter (laminated paper, plastic), you need to glue it with “Moment” or superglue.

Openwork

Next in ease of manufacture, but not in appearance, are openwork paper balls; These, in addition to the Christmas tree, make for excellent room decor. The larger the openwork ball, the easier it is to make and the better it looks. The technique is simple, an example is shown in Fig. a very rough one was deliberately chosen to show how tolerant the openwork balls are to neglect of the material and flaws in the work:

1. Paper circles are quilted with thread or (even worse) stapled along the diameter. Their even or odd number is taken depending on the gluing scheme, see below;
2. They are glued together in pairs in a checkerboard pattern until the entire “book” is closed into a ball;
3. A loop is glued;
4. The ball is decorated.

And now about what can be achieved from an openwork ball if you do it carefully, patiently and with understanding. Firstly, the generating figure can be any body of revolution. The main thing is that the workpiece is bilateral, i.e. its right and left halves should be a mirror image of each other; quilt a stack of blanks along the axis of symmetry.

Secondly, the places of gluing need to be precisely marked on the “book” by scratching with pens along the edge of the foot. With pens - because the places of alternating gluing are marked with 2 different colors. And finally, you need to glue carefully, putting a drop of glue on each joint. Squeeze until it sets, not with paper clips, but with your fingers through plastic film. What can be achieved in this way can be seen in Fig. on right.

A little stereometry...

Regular polyhedrons are often taken as the basis for a Christmas ball: with skillful decoration, they look great, and gluing them together from paper is not difficult if you know how. The polyhedra themselves, suitable for the Christmas tree, without “admixtures” of other flat figures, are made up of equilateral triangles and pentagons. Since not everyone knows the basics of stereometry and planimetry, we provide their templates inscribed in circles, see Fig. The segments (wings) of the circumscribing circles are not cut off, but folded back and glued together. The balls are glued with their wings facing outward, and the lampshades of the lanterns are glued inward (see below, about garlands).

The simplest regular polyhedron is a tetrahedron, a trihedral pyramid. However, the ball, which is already a ball, is an octahedron: two 4-sided pyramids glued together at the bases without bottoms. How to assemble it can be seen above in Fig. Even more impressive are the regular 20-sided triangles, the icosahedron, and the regular 12-sided dodecahedron, made from 5-gons. Many methods for gluing icosahedral spheres have been described; For some reason dodecahedrons are ignored. However, if you have templates inscribed in circles and printed in the required size, it is easiest and most accurate to glue according to patterns, below in Fig. Coloring, decoration, of course - to your taste.

Note: from regular 3- and 5-gons you can create polyhedra with any number of sides, up to infinity.

... and topologies

Curved figures of complex shape are dealt with by another science - topology. It could not be done without applying it to Christmas tree toys. Most “topological” decorations, however, are quite difficult to make, so we give only 1, but very beautiful ball, which can be woven without special knowledge and experience. First, you will need to print out the pattern of the blanks on colored paper (see figure) and cut them out.

The next stage is the layout for gluing according to the template, see next. rice. It is better to draw the template yourself (radii - every 30 degrees), using a compass and protractor, and a larger size so that you can make balls of different sizes. The sidewall blanks are laid out so that their noses touch the center and the corresponding radius.

Then, on the center of the “octopus”, or more precisely, the twelve-legged one, carefully, so as not to disturb the layout, glue a circle, pos. 1 on next rice. Glue the second centipede in exactly the same way, turn it over, place the first one on it and intertwine the “tentacles”, pos. 2 and 3. The result is a ball like in pos. 4.

Note: if the “centipedes” are assembled not in one color, but from blanks of alternating colors, then the finished ball will turn out not from rhombuses, but from spiral stripes.

Hedgehog and vice versa

A compass and protractor will also be needed to make a papillot ball. It is called that because its “horns” are similar to the paper curlers that were used to curl the styles of the past. In fact, this ball looks like a hedgehog. How to do it is shown in Fig:

• Cut out 10 circles and divide into 2 equal piles, 5 in each.
• The circles of each pile are cut into 8 radii at 45 degrees, pos. 1 in Fig: 1st half, last 5/6 of the radius; intermediate - gradually increasing the depth of the cut. You need to cut accurately, so it’s better to immediately draw smaller circles on the circles - markers.
• The petals are rolled into papillot cones and glued along the seam.
• Each pile is folded in order of increasing incision depth, with the “needles” shifted around the circumference, pos. 3, and pull it together with a thread in the center so that the “needles” puff up.
• The two halves of the “hedgehog” are folded with their bottoms and finally tied together with thread, pos. 4.
• The ball is painted, the ends of the needles are gilded, silvered, sprinkled with sparkles, etc.

Using the same principle, you can get good balls in a simpler way. To do this, roll up many curl-papers from circles separately; better - from silver or golden plastic film. The diameter of the blanks may vary. Then they are placed on the table and leveled in height, trimming the ends. The next step is gluing it to the base (large bead, foam ball or ping pong ball) with the points inward. It turns out to be an “inside-out hedgehog”, or an anti-papillote ball, see fig. on right. The paper one can still be decorated, but the shiny one is good enough.

More paper

The basis of the next series of Christmas tree decorations is an accordion or a paper fan. A small part of what can be done with them is shown in Fig:

The craft on the top row will need old buttons and a little help from an ordinary stationery hole punch, and for the one below, you will also need a ring of tape, etc. However, the ring can also be glued together from several layers of paper on a mandrel from a bottle, can, etc. In this case, the mandrel must first be wrapped in plastic film so that the ring does not stick. And to make it easier to remove, the paper tape needs to be wound onto the mandrel not tightly and closer to the bottom or neck.

Note: the ring with small additions and coloring will be used as jewelry on its own, see fig. on right:

You can also use paper to make Chinese lanterns for the Christmas tree and for the whole house. This theme is also an immensity within an immensity; For example, we give the simplest one, see fig. below. These look best when made from multi-colored glitter, which in this case is colored glossy paper or plastic film.

Cones, icicles, bells

It is often recommended to turn spruce and pine cones into Christmas tree decorations by painting and pendants, on the left in the figure:

But traditional New Year’s decorations made from pine cones look much more impressive: the edges of the scales are tinted with bronze or aluminum powder (silver) and a bow, beads or small balls are added, right there. Such decorations, in addition, according to all beliefs, are a complete replacement for the bells on the New Year's wreath, see below.

Good icicle toys are made from salted dough painted with silver. The blanks are cut from the seam straight or slightly swollen in the middle, with pointed ends, or in the form of an elongated spear tip. Then they are twisted into a spiral; hung to dry.

Bells, in addition to plastic cups, are made from small PET bottles, for example, ketchup bottles. In Fig. on the right is the original product, a blank for decoration from it, and how the tongue of the bell works. The “spindle” (satin thread) is pulled through the dispensing spout of the cork and secured with a standard cap. You can pierce it with a needle, but the cap is deliberately made to look like a face from papier-mâché. The entire body of the bell hangs freely on the top button. Of course, a bead would have been better for the beater, but I didn’t have one at hand.

Garlands and beads

The simplest of New Year's garlands is the so-called. English, see fig. It still requires the same paper accordion. The desired figure is drawn on it, with some protrusion beyond the edges. First, use a scalpel (better) or a mounting knife to cut out the internal holes. To tear the paper, holes are punched in their corners and, at some intervals, on the sides, and the jumpers are cut with a knife. Let's unfold the accordion - we get a ribbon like the one on the top right in Fig. Below it are several templates suitable for an English garland of stars.

The simplest of glued garlands is a chain of rings, above in Fig. on right. But glued garlands made of paper fans, two poses, look much more magnificent. under it, double (interception in the middle of the accordion) and single. It is better to make fan garlands from corrugated thin paper, and from thick paper - chain ones, two positions. at the bottom. It clearly shows that the blanks for them should be bilaterally symmetrical (bilateral). They are cut out from a sheet folded in half; this is like 1 element of an English garland.

Corrugated paper is also perfect for “shaggy” garlands. How to do them is clear from the poses. below: the roll is unwound, stretched (stretch), folded into an accordion stack (fold), then one side is cut with scissors along the corrugation almost to half (cut halfway through fold), turned over and the other side is cut in the same way (flip + cut halfway on the other side). Then the accordion is unfolded and rolled into a spiral. In order for the “corkscrew” to hold, you can, after securing its ends, sprinkle a little, literally just a little, with water from a perfume spray bottle. Once it dries, it stays that way. But if you give it water, it will spread.

There are also stringed garlands. One of the simplest ones can be assembled from small booklet balls like openwork ones, only without gluing the sheets together. How is clear from Fig.

A strung garland in the quilling style is also simple and effective, see next. rice.:

Christmas tree garlands, as you know, can also be luminous. Modern microbulbs allow you to equip yourself with lampshades. The simplest ones are made from ping-pong balls: holes are turned with the tip of a knife and light bulbs are inserted inside. Fix by inserting a sliver or piece of toothpick between the wires. This work is quite safe, unless the garlands are homemade for 220 V. Then let the master manufacturer refine it.

Very beautiful lampshades are made from polygonal balls, but glued with wings inside. For what? And from the wings, fancy shadows will fall on the sides of the lampshade from the inside. Finally, lampshades for a glowing garland can also be made using the classic origami technique. By the way, many Japanese do not recognize modular origami with gluing elements, considering it an invention of armless Euro-Americans. Real origami, they say, should only be folded from paper. How to make origami lampshades is shown in Fig. below.

Translation of explanations:

• Repeat on the opposite side – repeat on the opposite side.
• Repeat on the other 3 corners – repeat on the remaining 3 corners.
• Repeat steps 11-13 on remaining 3 flaps – repeat steps 11-13 on 3 flaps where required.
• Blow in the opening to inflate - inflate into the hole to inflate.

Beads for the Christmas tree, which look just like the factory ones (on the left in the picture), can be made from aluminum foil, salt dough and painted plastic tubes.

First, the foil is cut into squares from 10x10 to 20x20 cm, depending on the desired size of the beads. The bead blanks are rolled into balls between the palms, on the right in Fig. Next, cut out circles from the salt dough with a diameter slightly larger than the size of the beads, stick them around the workpieces and smooth them out. The beads are dried on newspaper and painted with bronze or silver, or colored metallic. All that remains is to string it mixed with tubes, and you’re done.

Rain and tinsel

The old Testament silvery rain on the Christmas tree can be made using the same manual noodle cutter as glitter, but you no longer need to cut the “noodles” with scissors. The rain will be less tangled and will last longer if it is covered not with a baking sleeve, but with silver or golden, or simply colored, shiny plastic.

But the “shaggy” homemade tinsel is made from an aluminum baking sleeve, like a garland of corrugated paper. Then the tapes twisted into a spiral will not unfold on their own. As for the “sausage” tinsel, it’s still better to buy it. Without special equipment you can’t make long pieces; thin strips interlock and stick together. You can make short sections for the branches of a tabletop Christmas tree, but this is another vast thing in the vast.

Wreath

The New Year and Christmas wreath are older than the New Year holiday and older than any of the current calendars. His ancestry is lost in Druidic antiquity; it is only known that the ancestor was made from mistletoe and holly branches with red berries, and the meaning of the Druid wreath was such that it would not be said by night.

In Russia, the New Year is celebrated relatively recently. Before Peter the Great, years were counted “from the creation of the world” (now according to the Orthodox Slavic calendar it is 7524 years old, there is also the Orthodox Byzantine calendar; according to the Jewish calendar it is 5775. Anyway); the beginning of the new year fell on March 1 and this day did not stand out in any way. For the first time, according to Peter’s decree, “with great noise and revelry” and “decorations from branches and trees of pine, spruce and juniper,” the year 1700 from the Nativity of Christ was celebrated on January 1.

The Christmas wreath came into Russian holiday usage just a few years ago. None of the world religions attach sacred significance to the branches of coniferous trees; all beliefs associated with the New Year's wreath are pure folk art. In general, it is believed that the wreath should contain small red balls (a hint of holly berries), and it should be crowned with a bow with bells, see fig. higher. 2 bells - for the family, 1 - for bachelors and unmarried people (who, nevertheless, can celebrate the New Year by no means alone); a pair of different sizes - for divorced and single mothers.

All this, of course, is pure convention. What New Year's wreaths are not made from, see fig. below. It is not forbidden to use a wreath in the most frivolous way, see fig. on the left above, and the goblins with the kikimors of the swamp against actions do not seem to be happy.

As for a real wreath-amulet and talisman, it’s not difficult to make it with your own hands: spruce branches, natural or artificial, pine cones, wire frame, balls, bells, bow, and - go ahead, see the picture:

Learn more about how to make a wreath from fir branches in the video below:

Video: DIY wreath of pine cones and fir branches

If the wreath is large, with many symbols of abundance and happiness, then a light frame may not be enough, and a more substantial piece is needed. In such a case, see the video:

Video: preparations for New Year's wreaths

An original and popular craft for the New Year is a wreath made of pine cones. It’s also easy to make, see next. rice. The tinted cones are provided with loops, pos. 1. Special kits are also sold for this, pos. 2, but you can get by with paper clips bitten off by side cutters. The holes under their legs are pricked with an awl, and after inserting a loop, superglue is dripped under them. All that remains is to string it on a cord or wire, pos. 3, roll the thread into a ring, pos. 4 and decorate the wreath with a bow, pos. 5.

About Christmas tree styles

Designers, of course, do not pass by a decorated Christmas tree. But the stylistics are a complete mess. Obviously, everyone calls the same style in their own way, or exactly different ones call them by the same name. However, there is still something in common; especially for small artificial trees on a conical base. They are very dense, so they are decorated in a minimalist style: 3-4 types of toys of approximately the same size. The canons of style do not concern decorations; they can be as pretentious as you like. There are 2 trends in Christmas tree minimalism: “warm”, in Fig. on the left, and “cold”, in the same place on the right. The choice of one or the other is determined by the overall design style of the room; finally, simply the taste of the owner or customer.

When, before the New Year, all family members find time and get together to make decorations for the Christmas tree and the room, it’s wonderful. In the old days, when Christmas tree decorations were expensive, many had no choice but to make Christmas tree decorations with their own hands from scrap materials: pine cones, acorns, rags. Those days are long gone, but the tradition remains. In addition, the choice of materials has expanded significantly, many interesting ideas have emerged based on handicrafts from different countries, which made the process of making Christmas tree toys even more exciting.

Fold and glue from paper

Paper is an affordable and pliable material from which you can make many different decorations. All its varieties are used to make toys: regular white, which is used for office equipment; colored, familiar to us from handicraft lessons at school, thin cigarette paper, corrugated cardboard, decorative cardboard.

Let's make flat figures of Santa Claus from the most ordinary colored paper.

	You will need a square sheet of paper. The example uses a square with sides of 10x10 cm. But the size of the square can be taken as desired. You need a two-color square: red on one side, white on the other. If necessary, you can glue two sheets of paper with double-sided tape.
	Fold the square diagonally.
	Smooth the fold with your finger. Lay it out. The result is a diagonal marking.
	Fold the top corner towards the center point. We bend it. We see that we have a horizontal line.
	Fold the corner back up to the edge. We bend it back.
	We bend a small corner to the formed line.
	Now we can completely wrap the lapel together with the corner. The top part is ready.
	Let's start working with the bottom part. Fold the bottom corner to the opposite edge.
	We make a lapel back to the bottom point.
	We turn the workpiece from left to right and work with the back part.
	We wrap the sides. We make a narrow strip. We wrap the strip on one side, and exactly the same on the other.
	We wrap both sides completely towards the middle line.
	Now we wrap the lower corners, as shown in the photo, along the border of red and white.
	We turn the lower part up, again along the border of white and red.
	We repeat the same on the other side.
	We turn the workpiece over to the other side, draw eyes and a nose.

For working with children, it is worth recommending something simpler, since a preschooler is unlikely to master folding origami Santa Claus. But even a child can make a paper daisy. Have scissors, glue, thread, and colored paper on hand.

	Take 8 strips of paper. The width of the blanks is any, but the thickness of the decoration itself depends on this.
	Fold the strips together and then in half. From the edge, which is the middle of the strips, cut off the corners.
	Lay it out. Tie in the middle with thread.
	Coat the edge of each “petal” with glue and bend it towards the middle without smoothing the fold.
	Decorate each “petal” in this way.
	Thread a thread through one of the “petals” and tie a knot.

Round decorations are made from colored paper folded like an accordion. To make them, you can take paper of the same color or different colors, then in the second case the circle will consist of 3-4 multi-colored sectors.

	Beautiful decorations made from accordion-folded paper.
	Take three or four squares of colored paper. If the square is large, then you will need 3 pieces, if it is small - 4.
	Fold the square in half first. Expand.
	Fold the edge to the resulting fold. Expand.
	Then fold the last segment in half.
	You now have a marked side.
	Repeat on the other side.
	Fold the sheet of paper along the folds like an accordion.
	Bend the accordion in half.
	Glue the inner joint.
	Assemble a toy from the “fans”.

In general, a variety of Christmas tree decorations, such as balls, are assembled from paper or cardboard folded like an accordion. The technology is somewhat reminiscent of what was just described in the previous master class. These Christmas tree decorations are made from rectangular sheets of decorative cardboard. They look very much like balls.

Pseudo-volume is achieved by gluing identical parts, as shown in the photo. These crafts are also easy to make. The thread is glued between the parts.

Chinese paper balls look very decorative. It is not easy to understand the technology of their manufacture from photos, so we are including a detailed video master class.

Video: three-dimensional paper Christmas tree ball

We also offer to make a Christmas tree using the origami technique.

Video: origami tree

Who remembers, candies used to be often hung on the Christmas tree. Why not hang large homemade candies on the Christmas tree today too? You will need:

• toilet paper tube;
• White paper;
• glue;
• red paint;
• cellophane as for decorating bouquets;
• cotton wool or padding polyester.

By the way, instead of cotton wool or padding polyester, you can put real sweets inside.

	We coat the tube with glue and apply white paper.
	Glue the edge.
	We cut the free edges into strips, bend the strips inward.
	Take some not very sticky tape (you will need to remove it) and cover the tube.
	Paint the gaps with red paint.
	Remove the tape after the workpiece has dried.
	Fill the inside of the candy with padding polyester or cotton wool.
	Wrap the workpiece in film.
	Secure the ends with braid or tape.

Popsicle sticks - let's start "construction"

Everything is clear with paper, but there are materials at hand, which are also used to make New Year’s toys for the Christmas tree. Surprisingly, Popsicle sticks also work for this purpose. Although it is not even this that is impressive, but how original the decorations are. Let's find out how to make a Christmas tree house and decorate it.

To make a house you will need: glue, a napkin, a toothpick for applying glue, paints - white and blue, a brush, decorations: beads, half-beads, sparkles, lace.

	The first thing we need to do is color the sticks blue.
	After we have painted the sticks, we dip a wad of napkin into white paint and draw snow. We paint 8 sticks blue, 4 sticks gray.
	After the sticks have dried, lay them out in the shape of a house and glue them together. We cut one of the gray sticks in half and lay it out in the shape of a fence.
	We glue everything together. We are waiting for the house to dry.
	We make “curtains” from lace and glue them to the back of the house.
	We also glue lace onto the fence and turn the edges back.
	We also glue a loop.
	We decorate the house with half beads and sparkles.

They made the house. You can also glue a sled from sticks and paint it any color you like. In principle, ice cream sticks are the kind of material from which anything can be assembled, the main thing is to use your imagination.

	Take: ice cream sticks - 7 pcs; glue; paint; thin cardboard; braid.
	Glue four sticks together.
	Cover a piece of cardboard with hot glue and glue it to the sticks.
	Glue two more sticks like sled runners.
	Trim the edges of the last stick and glue a jumper for which we will hang the sleigh on the tree.
	Take red paint and a sponge. Paint the sled.
	We tie a loop to the dried sled.

The rich we are, the happier we are: natural materials

Natural materials have never failed. They always look very organic on the Christmas tree, be it pine cones, nuts, cinnamon sticks or orange slices. It’s enough to bring a few cones from a walk, look for acorns in the park or buy a few walnuts and you can already create.

	Take some walnuts. Carefully empty them of their contents, being careful not to damage the shell halves. Although you can leave the nuts whole if you want.
	If you are using empty nuts, glue the halves together using a heat gun.
	Paint future toys with silver spray paint.
	Glue on the bow.
	Don't forget the loop to hang the nut on the tree.

If you combine different materials, the creative possibilities will expand even more. Let's make, for example, a man out of felt, a pine cone and an acorn without a hat.

	We will prepare all the materials.
	Take a triangular piece of felt and try it on the acorn. From this piece we will sew a pointed hat.
	Sew the sides of the triangle over the edge.
	Trying the hat on the acorn.
	Cut out small mittens from blue felt.
	Then the legs are made of red felt.
	Cut a small piece of twine. From it we will make hands for a man.
	Cut a narrow strip of red felt to create a scarf.
	Turn the pine cone over with the pointed side facing up.
	Glue a piece of twine and an acorn.
	Apply glue from a heat gun to the tip of the twine and press the mitten to the twine and to the pine cone at the same time. Glue the second mitten on the other side.
	Glue on the hat.
	Then the legs, straight to the bump, from below.
	If you make two people, you can connect them together. Glue the twine to the backs of the people's heads.
	So that you can throw the toys over the branch.
	Tie a scarf around your neck. Make a fringe.

Wooden log houses can be purchased at a handicraft store. Although, if they put up a natural Christmas tree, sometimes they cut down some part of the trunk. This piece can be used.

	Saw it diagonally into several pieces.
	Drill holes in the workpieces.
	Paint the surface of the frame with acrylic paint in any color.
	Write a wish, an inspirational phrase, or the names of family members.
	Pass a loop through the hole, pass the ends of the cord through it, and tie a knot.

Crafts from ribbons

Ribbons of different colors will transform your Christmas tree. In Europe, the Christmas tree is traditionally decorated with red bows, they are hung or tied to the branches or the top of the head. How to tie beautiful bows, see this article. You can stop there, or you can go further and make something more interesting, for example, lanterns from ribbons.

	You will need: yellow ribbon 4 cm wide, 8 cm long - 9 pcs., golden ribbon 2.5 cm wide, 8 cm long - 9 pcs., lilac ribbon 2.5 cm wide, 5 cm long - 3 pcs., golden ribbon 2.5 cm wide, 5 cm long - 3 pcs. A pin with two beads, a “bell” for securing a loop.
	Take two ribbons 8 cm long. Place one on top of the other. We melt the ends with a flame from a lighter.
	Fold the edges towards the middle.
	Fold in half.
	Cut the wide ribbon on one side.
	We melt it.
	Connect the top corner to the bottom.
	We bend one corner up. We fuse the corner so that it holds.
	Apply glue to the recess of the petal.
	We press.
	Fold the sides of the petal slightly.
	In the same way we make petals from short pieces of ribbon. But we apply the golden ribbon not in the middle, but with an offset.
	We cut off the excess part of the golden ribbon.
	We overlap three petals with yellow tape.
	Add one lilac petal.
	We repeat the steps of gluing the petals together.
	We put the loop inside, as well as a pin with beads. Apply glue.
	Glue the third blank for the flashlight. We put on the bell.
	We hang toys on the Christmas tree.

Such lanterns will sparkle and shimmer in the reflections of an electric garland.

Video: Christmas tree pendant made from ribbon

Video: how to make a bell and a lantern

We use fabric: we make lace hearts, Christmas trees

You have already seen how varied Christmas tree decorations can be. A practical material for jewelry is fabric: regular cotton, linen, burlap, knitwear, lace. In order for the toys to be neat, symmetrical, and even, you must first make a template out of paper, and use it to cut out fabric blanks.

	You need a cardboard blank in the shape of a heart, a piece of lace, a jute cord, and glue for gluing the lace.
	And also beads and rhinestones, acrylic paints, brushes and scissors, also braid for a loop and glue for gluing rhinestones and beads.
	We will glue the lace onto a cardboard blank. Once the glue dries, the ends will be easy to trim. Don't skimp on the glue; when it dries, it will become invisible.
	The lace is stuck. We cover the workpiece with black acrylic paint. We cover thoroughly, avoiding unpainted areas. Leave the workpiece to dry. Painted on both sides.
	Let's select the lace. To do this you will need white paint and a hard brush. Take a little white paint on the brush and remove the excess. We apply it to the workpiece, highlighting the lace ribs. Let it dry.
	The workpiece took on a completely different look.
	Next we need a jute cord. We will use it to make decorations that will be placed on the workpiece. Take a jute cord, tie a knot, and cut off the end. Roll up the jute cord. We try on the size to the workpiece. Secure the coils with drops of glue.
	We make several jute blanks.
	We place them on the heart. Glue it.
	Decorate with beads and rhinestones.
	The edges of the heart can be painted with gold or silver paint.

Maybe we can sew another plump toy Christmas tree? In this master class, light-colored polka dot fabric was used, so the toy turned out to be especially cute and delicate. But any scraps of fabric, any color or pattern are suitable for sewing.

	Let's make a Christmas tree filled with padding polyester together.
	You will need fabric, a template, decorations, padding polyester, scissors, threads, a needle, a ribbon bow, and braid.
	We outline the template, making two pieces of fabric.
	We cut out the blanks.
	We chop off the parts, connecting them right sides together.
	Sew to the top. We put a loop of ribbon inside. We continue to sew the details further. We leave a small hole at the bottom.
	We turn the part inside out.
	We stuff it with padding polyester and sew up the hole.
	We decorate the lower part of the Christmas tree with braid. We sew it on.
	We distribute beads over the entire surface, glue or sew them.

Complex decor from simple threads

It’s even easier to make a Christmas tree toy from threads. The needle and thread are used minimally here. Typically, thread decor is mounted on glue, but often some kind of base is required.

	Let's make a house pendant wrapped with jute cord.
	We will need a template, cardboard, jute cord, thread with a needle, scissors, glue, pencil, a bow made of narrow ribbon, a pendant, a bead and a piece of ribbon or lace for the loop.
	We trace the template on cardboard. Cut it out.
	Glue the loop.
	Lubricate the area of ​​the house with glue.
	We wind the jute cord tightly until the point shown in the photo. Then we make several tight rows up to the roof.
	Then we change the winding direction.
	Let's move on to the design of the roof.
	Sew on the pendant, glue the bow and bead.

If you have unwanted lace doilies lying around the house, use them to make large Christmas tree decorations. You can specially crochet napkins by making them smaller or larger.

	You will need two napkins.
	Sew them together with matching thread.
	Soak in a bowl of water.
	Pull in different directions.
	Place the ball into the hole.
	Inflate it so that the napkins are stretched over the balloon.
	Apply PVA glue and hang to dry.
	When the ball dries, it will become hard. Poke the balloon and remove it.

And here is an angel, which can be easily constructed from the remains of white knitting threads.

Prepare:

• white knitting threads;
• felt;
• cardboard;
• glue.

	We will make such an angel.
	We wind threads onto a piece of cardboard until it seems enough.
	Take a piece of thread and thread it under the wound threads.
	Cut the threads from the bottom.
	We tie it exactly at the top of the head. Make a loop for hanging.
	We form the head, arms and waist.
	Making a template for the wings. Cut out the wings from felt.
	Glue the wings to the angel.

Felt New Year symbol and other toys

Well, where would we be without felt? Recently, Christmas tree decorations made from it have become a fashion trend; not a single New Year can do without them. Fortunately, there are many patterns and images of ready-made toys in the public domain, from which you can make your own jewelry.

We propose to make a not quite ordinary toy. Here felt is used not as the main material, but as a base.

	You will need a circle template, a piece of thick white felt, beads, thread and needle, scissors, pencil, and ribbon.
	We outline the template.
	Cut out a circle from felt.
	Sew or glue a ribbon loop.
	We embroider the felt tightly with beads.
	Let's make a bow. We trim the edges figuratively.
	The charming Christmas tree decoration is ready.

As you know, next year will pass under the sign of the Dog, so you should definitely make a toy in the shape of a dog. Felt is just the material that is convenient and quick to work with.

	A cute felt dog will be an excellent gift or Christmas tree toy.
	You will need soft felt in brown, beige and black, hard felt in white, red and pink, matching threads except red, cord, braid or ribbon, filler, disappearing marker, needles, scissors, pattern.
	We cut out from brown felt: body - 2 parts, front legs - 2 parts, ears - 2 parts, From flesh-colored felt: muzzle - 2 parts, small muzzle part - 1 pc., hind paw parts - 2 pcs., front paw parts - 2 pcs. Made of black felt: nose - 1 pc. Made of pink felt: tongue - 1 pc., heels - 2 pcs., red cap - 1 pc. Made of white felt: beard - 1 piece, cap edge - 1 piece, pompom - 2 parts.
	We lay out all the parts in the right order to make sure that everything is in place.
	Fold the ear in half. Sew the lower part of the upper body to the top layer. We repeat the same with the second ear. We fasten the thread.
	Now, using a “forward needle” seam, we sew the bodily parts of the paws to another part of the body. The ends of the threads can be hidden inside the felt.
	Then we sew the muzzle with an “over the edge” seam.
	We sew on the heels with several stitches and embroider the pads of the toes with a chain stitch.
	The next step is embroidering the eyes. First, draw them with a disappearing marker. Then we embroider with a chain stitch using one thread.
	We outline the mouth and mustache on the muzzle.
	Sew the nose with the seam forward with the needle.
	In place of the whisker dots, we make French knots. We embroider the mouth with a chain stitch.
	Sew the pink tongue to the top layer of the inside of the muzzle.
	Then we sew the muzzle with a buttonhole stitch. We stuff a little filler inside and sew the parts together until the end.
	Using a chain stitch, we embroider a tail on the back part of the body using flesh threads.
	We sew the flesh parts of the paws to the front paws using a “forward needle” seam.
	Then we put the two parts of the front legs together and sew them with a buttonhole stitch.
	Lightly fill the parts with filler.
	We sew the paws to the upper part of the body with a seam over the edge.
	We sew the beard to the same part with a seam over the edge, and then sew on the muzzle, capturing only its lower part.
	We put the body parts together and sew them together with a buttonhole stitch. When we reach the top of the head, we sew in a loop. We tie a knot on the lace and sew a loop to the back of the body.
	We fill the toy with filler. Sew the parts together until the end.
	The toy is almost ready.
	We sew the pompom parts together through the tip of the cap. We sew a white edge to the red part of the cap.
	Now we sew the cap to the toy. We make a seam under the white stripe.
	We embroider the claws on the paws.

The fox belongs to the canine family. She will make an excellent pair for a felt dog. Make a girl fox like this. The kids will be delighted with it.

Here are all the necessary materials.

And this is a pattern.

Well, if you want to make a simpler toy, start making a Christmas tree.

	An easy to make felt Christmas tree.
	You will need: scissors, glue, felt in two shades of green, beads or half-beads, a Christmas tree template, decorative tape, a pencil or marker.
	We cut out a Christmas tree from green felt using templates.
	We reduce the template by 0.5 cm on each side.
	Cut out a Christmas tree from light green felt.
	Glue the ribbon loop using hot glue. Using Moment-Crystal glue, glue the light green Christmas tree to the green one. You can decorate with half beads, rhinestones or buttons.

You can combine felt with fabric.

Below, see a few more patterns and instructions for making felt Christmas tree decorations.

Video: felt puppy

Video: boots and mittens for the Christmas tree

Festive balls made from old toys, foam, plastic

It's hard to imagine a more ordinary Christmas tree decoration than a New Year's ball. But the most ordinary ball or blank with the help of a pair of hands turns into a product that demonstrates your creativity.

We invite you to look at three interesting instructions for transforming simple Christmas tree balls.

Ball "Minnie Mouse"

	Take a red Christmas ball. Use black acrylic paint to paint the top of the ball.
	Add large polka dots with white paint. Let dry.
	Draw the ears on black cardstock. Cut and bend the ends.
	Paint the top of the ball with glitter nail polish. Cover your ears with it.
	Glue the ears to the ball.
	Tie the red ribbon into a bow. Glue to the base of the ball. Mickey Mouse is ready.

Plastic blanks

For the next two master classes you will need plastic balls consisting of two separable halves. Balloon blanks are sold in a craft store.

	Write a New Year's phrase on a plastic ball with a black marker.
	Separate the halves. Place the crumpled tape inside.
	Make a bow from ribbon or cut ribbon from fabric and tie it into a bow. Glue the bow to the ball.
	Let's draw a New Year's silhouette on the same plastic blank. Pour cocoa inside and put marshmallows.
	Close the ball. The halves of the ball are well fastened to each other.
	We thread the thread and glue a bow made of red silk ribbon. All. Can be hung on the Christmas tree.

From foam plastic

Foam blanks are widely used in the manufacture of Christmas tree balls. Although for the next master class you can also use ordinary glass balls. You probably have several Christmas tree decorations that would be a pity to throw away, and that have already lost their appearance. Let's transform them.

You will need:

• red knitting threads;
• foam ball;
• clip;
• PVA glue;
• wire cutters;
• lace;
• glue Moment-Crystal.

	The ball will look like this.
	Cut off the eye of the paperclip.
	Insert into the ball. We take it out. Cover the ends of the paper clips with hot glue and insert them into the marked holes.
	Cover the top of the ball with PVA glue and tie a thread to a paper clip.
	Gradually wrap the glue-covered ball with threads. We press the threads as we work. When the ball is dry, decorate it with white lace. Glue with Moment-Crystal glue. Make a loop from the chiffon ribbon.

Look for even more options for New Year's balls.

All the many ideas are difficult to somehow structure. Some craftswomen use combined materials or materials that are not intended for needlework at all.

Let's make a star from beads on a wire.

	This is how it will turn out.
	You will need a star drawn on paper, wire, beads, pliers, scissors, thread, a needle, ribbon for a loop and for a bow.
	We string several beads onto the wire. Using pliers, we form the outline of the star.
	We attach the wire with beads to the template and align the base.
	We string a lot of beads onto the wire at once.
	Forming a star.
	Bend the end of the wire into a loop.
	We pass the other end through it and bend it.
	Sew on the loop and bow.
	The star for the Christmas tree is ready.

Have you ever thought that you can make fun Christmas tree decorations out of light bulbs that are no longer usable and usually go in the trash?

	Here they are.
	It’s good if the light bulbs are white; if not, they can be covered with white paint. Use a marker to draw eyes, nose and mouth.
	Use red paint to paint dots on the sides.
	Wrap the base in green colored paper, placing it on double-sided tape.
	Glue a paper bow.

We hope you found some interesting ideas for yourself. Have fun decorating your Christmas tree. We wish you a creative mood.

The New Year is very close, it's time to make festive toys for the New Year tree. What could be better than handmade toys? After all, you put a piece of your soul into them! If you have a rich imagination and a great desire to decorate your home in an original way for the holiday, then these ideas are just for you!

Fill the clear balls with decorative sprinkles or beads.

You can make hearts like this. These particular ones are made from polymer clay with the addition of cinnamon and apple flavors. So you can’t eat them, but they smell – that’s what you need!

And these are already quite edible ginger cookies

You can decorate transparent balls with fragments from an old disk. You will get a kind of Christmas tree disco ball.

A shiny mustache is the hit of the season.

You can draw a reindeer with just one thumbprint.

Yarn toys look very warm and cozy.

You can also make such cute decorations using yarn and pine cones.

Tangerines can decorate not only the festive table, but also the beautiful Christmas tree.

Tree branches can be turned into original and cozy New Year's tree decorations that look quite simple, but at the same time stylish.

A very original decoration in the form of an eco-friendly terrarium ball.

Toys can also be made from paper - just look for suitable origami instructions.

And if, instead of simple paper, you take, say, an old map, you will get more “global” toys.

You can make cute New Year's toys from small beads.

Make a New Year's cucumber for the Christmas tree! Looks very "refreshing".

You can make unusual Christmas tree decorations from copper buttons and foam balls.

We consider painted acorn caps, inside which you can put a ball of bright fabric or a ball of felted wool, one of the cutest ideas for DIY Christmas tree decorations.

Ball using decoupage technique

Christmas decorations made of wire and rope

You will need just a little skill and a little imagination to turn ordinary wire and twine into elements of holiday decor or an original New Year's toy.

Make great decorations using salt dough and stamps.

Balls can even be made from old rugs.

From polymer clay you can make these cute plates with bright stamped patterns.

Melt colored pencils inside transparent balls to achieve this streaky effect.

Does your child have a lot of plastic toys he no longer needs? Paint them and give them a second life as Christmas decorations.

Well, if this tiny sweater doesn't convince you that it's time to learn to knit, then nothing will.

Mini mittens to go with the sweater.

You can make names out of wire and tie them with beautiful threads.

There is a special paint that, when dry, allows you to write on it with chalk, like on a blackboard. An excellent option for Christmas tree decorations, because you can write anything you want.

Do you love Harry Potter? Make yourself a golden snitch!

Or a LEGO Death Star toy if you're a Star Wars fan.

You can also make prints like this on polymer clay using a napkin. The results will be very soft and airy toys.

Birds love New Year too. Make them a cute feeder.

And from felt you can make cute flat balls with a variety of patterns.

Hi all! The approach of the New Year requires, so to speak, pleasant chores and preparations. In this article you will find many ideas for DIY toys (balls, snowflakes, snowmen and many others)

This master class inspired me to create. It turned out that even ordinary cardboard from a box can be made into such beauty:

Unfortunately, I don’t know what they sprinkle on the photo on the right, but I can recommend dry wallpaper glue and glitter. In the article about You can also read about sparkles (where to find them and what they look like).

I really like the idea of ​​sock snowman toys. You can put these under the Christmas tree or make a craft in the kindergarten. This is not new, but they look great... and do not require special skills or material costs!

They won me over :)

Watch a video on how to make these snowmen on our channel.

They turned out so cute!

The simplest toys for the New Year are felt toys. Felt is an affordable material, and patterns do not need to process sections.

My sister has been able to do hand stitches since she was 6 years old. I think it won’t be difficult for any girl to sew such felt toys under the supervision of her mother!

There are bright colors on sale that will make interesting decorations that will look great on the green needles of the Christmas tree and are also safe for the child. I remember the eldest, when he was still small, climbed onto the back of the sofa and tore a glass toy “icicle” from the Christmas tree...... and took a bite... Fortunately, it only cracked and he didn’t swallow anything. Good thing I was there. But I was convinced that I had secured the toys high. This year we will hang safe toys on the lower tier and secure the tree more tightly, otherwise the youngest one will be a hurricane!

Light bulbs + imagination + some drawing skills =

All children love to draw! So give them free rein for their creative imagination!

Balls, balls, balls...the most popular New Year's toys:

I suggest you look at an interesting technique for decorating a ball:

I found these photos as an example. After all, if you think about it, there are a lot of ideas for decorating balloons, just change the color of the ribbons, fabric, paper, glitter and paints... Go ahead and create, friends!

Where can I get a blank for a New Year’s ball if I can’t buy it? Do it yourself! The video shows in great detail how to make a high-quality blank for the ball.

And this video will tell you how to make a papier mache base:

Originally, yes, from bottle openers. I wonder if the author collected from friends or if he drank so much soda!

Well, anyone who knows how to weave from newspaper tubes will not have any difficulty in weaving such a ball:

A voluminous ball of kusudama paper is perfect for decorating a Christmas tree if you sprinkle it with a little glitter.

How to make a kusudama ball:

Very cute mobiles:

You can make such a lantern from two components from hanging flower pots and a garland. Especially relevant for terraces and verandas of private houses.

Colorful bells are made from coffee machine capsules:

Dinoyogurt cups are also suitable for this purpose!

Napkins come in handy too:

The New Year is getting closer, and for those who know how to do DIY Christmas toys, the time for fruitful work is coming. Making toys is a tradition that arose at a time when mass production of Christmas tree decorations had not yet been established. Today, there are plenty of factory-made toys in stores, but the tradition of making them yourself has not disappeared. This is explained simply - handmade jewelry and toys give off a special warmth; they look homely and cozy. A nice bonus is that you can be proud that the toy you made yourself exists in a single copy.

How to make New Year's toys with your own hands?

New Year's outfits for the green beauty have undergone changes many times during the existence of the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree. In stores you can still buy standard decorations - glass balls of various colors and sizes, stars reminiscent of the Soviet past, glass cones, fruits and other traditional products. You can also add an element of creativity to the Christmas and New Year holidays and try to make New Year's toys for 2017 with your own hands.

DIY New Year's toys from scrap materials

The choice for work is almost limitless - any available material can be used. Christmas tree decorations are sometimes made from the most unexpected materials. New Year’s creativity also has its own “leaders” - materials that are used most often:

• Wood, plywood;
• Paper;
• Beads;
• Felt;
• Textile;
• Beads;
• Natural materials - branches, vines, cones, etc.

Christmas tree toys made from salt dough

You can even make DIY New Year's toys for the New Year 2017 from flour. One of the simplest and most inexpensive materials for making New Year's toys is salt dough. There is flour in every home, the process is interesting (especially for children), and the result is a completely worthy replacement for ceramic and glass toys.

To work you will need:

• Wheat flour;
• Water;
• Salt (fine);
• Paints;
• Varnish (optional);
• Leg-split;
• Oil;
• PVA glue.

Important! To make the dough more flexible, you can add a little baby oil (can be replaced with vegetable oil or olive oil).

Dissolve salt in warm water, add flour, knead the dough. To get a variety of figures, you can use dough molds. The lack of shapes is not a problem; figures from salt dough can be sculpted by hand. To add texture, you can use anything - pencils, plastic bottle caps, lace. While the dough is still wet, you need to make holes for the rope holder.

After drying (1-3 days, depending on the thickness of the product), the toy can be painted, a pattern applied, small photos pasted and coated with acrylic varnish.

Christmas decorations made from branches

DIY New Year's toys are often made from scrap materials. A simple but effective way to decorate a Christmas tree or home for the New Year is to make toys from natural materials - for example, from branches. To make a stylish toy “Ball in eco-style” you will need wire and branches.

Lifehack! It is better to collect branches in October or November, when they still contain a sufficient amount of moisture. Later collected vines and branches may be brittle and unsuitable for making toys.

Make several (5-6) circles from the wire. Form a ball “skeleton” from them, fasten the circles together with hot glue or wire. Carefully twist small diameter branches or vines over the base. To keep the branches tightly, they can also be secured with hot glue. It is easy to thread a ring of twine or ribbon into the finished ball. The stylish eco-ball is ready!

New Year toys made of beads

You can also make spectacular New Year's toys from beads. It will not be easy for beginners to make jewelry that is massive or has a complex shape. But without any problems you can make hearts, Christmas trees, and stars. To make such a toy you will need wire and beads. First you need to string the beads onto the wire, and then form the desired shape, tightly securing the ends of the wire. You can use ribbons for hanging.

New Year's toys made from light bulbs

For those who are still puzzling over the question “How to make New Year’s toys with your own hands?” An option using items that previously had a utilitarian function is perfect. New Year is coming soon, so don’t rush to throw away burnt out light bulbs. They make charming Christmas tree decorations. A little imagination, and you won’t have to settle for the usual glass balls.

Attention! For the first (background) layer, it is better to use spray paint. It is easier to apply, and this paint goes on evenly. It is much more difficult to create an even coating with a brush or sponge.

DIY New Year's toys made of paper

Paper is a universal material, and Christmas tree toys and decorations made from it are cheap, practical and simple. To begin with, you can choose flat (not voluminous) jewelry. These can be snowflakes, Christmas trees, and other themed figures.

Important! You should not take too thick paper or high-density cardboard: when cutting, the edges of these materials become “shaggy” and the product does not look neat.

Another accessible method is to use paper to decorate ready-made toys - for example, balls. An ordinary glass ball will look much more original if you stick decorations cut out of paper on it. Or, for example, a small collage of photos.

A more complex way is to make toys using the origami technique. Using separate paper blocks, you can assemble a variety of decorations - for example, a Christmas tree.

Even children can make New Year's toys out of paper with their own hands. Most of the diagrams and patterns are simple; it will not be difficult for a child to cut out a snowflake, a Christmas tree or the silhouette of a bird. And from individual paper figures and silhouettes you can make a New Year's garland to decorate a Christmas tree or room. To do this, you can use a ready-made diagram from the Internet or come up with a design yourself. Christmas garlands can be decorated with snowmen, balls, patterns, Christmas trees, and animals.

From felt

Felt is a soft, fairly dense felt. This material is perfect for making New Year's toys. It’s easy to work with – you don’t need to process the edges; you can buy felt in almost any color and shade in the store. To make a stylish New Year's toy, only two or three colors of felt are enough. For example, a combination of red and white - classic New Year's colors - is perfect for creating simple decorations. It is not necessary to choose complex patterns; it is enough to cut out simplified silhouettes from paper. For example, these:

You can transfer the pattern to felt using chalk or a bar of soap. Then each type of figurine must be cut out in duplicate. Large DIY New Year's toys can also be made from felt, as it is sold in sheets of different formats.

Attention! Felt lends itself well to cutting, but you need to choose sharp scissors for the job. It is better to secure the pattern on the fabric with pins to get a neat silhouette.

In the photo: DIY felt Christmas toys:

It is better to sew felt parts with contrasting threads - if the toy is red, then you can use white or beige threads. If the toy is white, the decoration with red, green, and brown threads will look harmonious.

And don't forget the buttons!

Small felt toys can be used both to decorate the Christmas tree and to make interior garlands. Bright ribbons, regular white clothesline, and twine can be used as a base.

Christmas trees, hearts and houses are traditional details of New Year's design. Recently, toys in the form of animals with which the New Year is associated - deer and elk - have become increasingly popular.

DIY felt Christmas toys look bright and festive without any additional decor. If desired, you can give them additional flavor by decorating them with buttons, sequins, ribbons, or, for example, embroidery.

The advantage of a homemade garland is that it can be made taking into account the size and color scheme of the room that needs to be decorated. To make a garland you do not need a sewing machine - the felt parts are sewn by hand.

Thanks to the pliability and softness of the material, making toys takes very little time - about half an hour for each. If there is a need to make the toy voluminous, it is stuffed with cotton wool or holofiber.

Important! For stuffing, you can use either cotton wool or holofiber, but you need to take into account that when washed, the cotton wool inside the toy gets knocked down and the product loses its shape. If you are going to use toys in the future, it is advisable to use holofiber for stuffing - it tolerates moisture well and the product does not lose its shape.

From fabric

To make a New Year's toy from fabric with your own hands, it is not at all necessary to have sewing skills. For example, such a ball can be made using scraps of fabric. An ordinary Christmas ball or a foam blank is used as a base.

The fabric can be tightly wrapped around the base or glued. To work with fabric, you can use any glue available, but:

Important! When drying, PVA can leave a yellowish mark on light-colored fabric. The craft glue will hold the fabric to the backing, but since it is not designed to work with textiles, the product may not last long. Hot melt adhesive is a good option for working with fabric, but it must be applied in as thin a layer as possible.

DIY New Year's toy Cockerel

The coming 2017 is the year of the Fire Rooster, so toys in the shape of birds will be especially relevant. A DIY rooster Christmas tree toy is easy to make - just draw or copy your favorite sketch from the Internet.

The easiest way is to make a rooster out of felt or paper. To do this you will need a piece of felt, a pattern, threads, and scissors. The toy can be flat or voluminous. From thick felt you can make parts for a garland, or toys - pendants.

You can use beads for decoration, and suede or waxed cord or twine to make a pendant.

There are many manufacturing options, and the approach of the New Year is the best way to inspire creativity. It is advisable to start preparing for this holiday in a good mood - toys made with a positive attitude emit special warmth.