diy yarn ornaments for kids

I am loving Christmas in blogland.  

If I thought it was remotely possible to over-celebrate Christmas, which I don't, I would be guilty.

Very merrily guilty.

So guilty, in fact, I'm certain all the neighbors blame us for the power outage that occurred when we turned on our gazillion outdoor Christmas lights and had just plugged the final switch in for our tree.  I am convinced it was our fault because we are, after all, the only house on the block with Christmas lights up!  It was like a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  

This week, Exemplify is hosting a Christmas event on the traditions we have for celebrating Christmas in  our homes.  While power outages are certainly not a tradition  (we hope!),  we have filled our home with many other Christmas traditions.  We often refer to it as Jesus' Birthday and the gifts received are from him, and the gifts given are for him.  We look for ways to bless His heart during this special season and we want to teach our children to notice opportunities to give.  Now that Thaddeus is nearing an age where he understands so much more about the world around him, this is the perfect year for us to make lasting traditions and among those I want the focus to be on giving to others because that is truly the best way to give to Jesus.  I'm excited about making a list with Thad this year on what we can do to give to those in need and to love on our Savior.

Some of our other fun traditions are Christmas crafts.  We get crazily crafty over here.  Last year we made cookie ornaments and a styrofoam nativity scene.  This year I definitely want to continue those fun traditions.  Making a nativity scene was a great way to visually share the Christmas story with my Little Man and he loved it.  We already made some yarn ornaments to hang in our windows and I thought I would post the how-to.

How to make yarn ornaments  

(our very messy version!)

You will need:

Balloons

Colorful yarn

White glue

Leftover ribbons

First, prepare your craft area with newspaper or a vinyl tablecloth.  Then you will need a bowl to fill with equal parts white glue and water.  Blow up the balloons to the size you would like.  The dip the end of your yarn in the glue and placed a heavy metal object over it to keep in place as you pull the yarn through the glue (daddy's ingenious idea).  Then tie the yarn onto the knotted end of the balloon and begin to wrap the yarn around the ballon until you are satisfied with how it looks.  Side note:  Don't overwrap it--make sure there are spaces at least an inch to an inch and a half wide.

Hang the balloon outside to dry (if you must tie it up indoors be careful where you place it because the glue will drip!)  Allow it to dry for at least 24 hours.  Then pop the ballon and use a small pair of scissors to carefully cut the balloon out of the ornament.  Tie some decorative ribbon around it, maybe even dust it in some glitter, and hang it up in your window to enjoy!