Christmas Activities & Crafts

DIY Eco-Friendly Christmas Ornament from Toilet Paper Rolls

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Our little town recently had a very festive gathering in the town square to come together, decorate and light up a large Christmas tree in the middle of the square. It was super chilly and snowy out, but great fun to be there with our friends, enjoying some freshly popped corn, hear the local school choir do some carolling, and bring our homemade ornaments for the tree.

One criteria on the event poster was that the ornaments be eco-friendly. My oldest and I had some fun thinking of ideas and discussing what “eco-friendly” meant, as we have made many ornaments over the years but I don’t think any of them were recycled or ok for the environment!

This easy and simple craft is what we came up with. All you need is string and toilet paper rolls. Everyone has these!

I like that it can be either completed and hung “as is”, or if desired, adding further embellishments or painting it! There are so many possibilities to have fun with this simple craft.

I hope you enjoy making this easy ornament for your Christmas tree or holiday garland!

For those who need a visual aid in making the Paper Roll Star, you might find this short video helpful!

How to Make A Paper Roll Christmas Ornament:

Supplies Needed:

Directions:

  1. Take a leftover toilet paper inner roll and make sure there is not any remains of white paper left on them. Then flatten firmly.

2. Cut with scissors into 1/2 inch strips across roll.

3. Using a hole punch, make a hole at the end, leaving about a 1/4 inch from the end.

4. Arrange Star with the amount of pieces you would like to use, with the hole punched ends in the middle.

5. Cut string about 10 inches in length, and thread through the middle holes, leaving equal lengths of string on either side.

6. Gather the pieces down and tie a double knot firmly.

7. Fan it back up and re-thread one of the strings back through only one of the cardboard pieces (2 holes).

8. Tie a double knot at the end and it’s ready to hang!

Made This Activity?

I’d LOVE to see your results!! Feel free to post to your social media account and tag Northbird using one of the links below or post in the comments!

Northbird’s Christmas Collection:

More Homeschooling Crafts & Activities to Check Out:

Hi, I’m Jessie!

I’m a Wife and Homeschooling Mom living in a remote town in Northern Ontario, Canada. I love making wholesome meals for my family from scratch, homeschooling our girls and learning more about natural living.

Read more about my story HERE.

Subscribe to Northbird’s email list to get weekly posts on: tasty recipes, activity ideas for kids, natural living tips, and some genuine mom thoughts and encouragement!

Recent posts from Northbird:

Eco Friendly Christmas Ornament: Paper Roll Star

  • Servings: 1 Christmas Ornament
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Looking for an easy Christmas ornament craft to do this holiday season? Are you interested in it being Eco-Friendly and made from recycled materials? Check out this easy craft to decorate your home with!



The Northbird Blog, 2024 http://www.thenorthbirdblog.com

Supplies Needed

  • String or twine
  • Toilet paper inner roll or paper towel inner roll
  • Scissors
  • Single hole punch


    • Directions

    1. Take a leftover toilet paper inner roll and make sure there is not any remains of white paper left on them. Then flatten firmly.
    2. Cut with scissors into 1/2 inch strips across roll.
    3. Using a hole punch, make a hole at the end, leaving about a 1/4 inch from the end. (see picture)
    4. Arrange Star with the amount of pieces you would like to use, with the hole punched ends in the middle.
    5. Cut string about 10 inches in length, and thread through the middle holes, leaving equal lengths of string on either side.
    6. Gather the pieces down and tie a double knot firmly.
    7. Fan it back up and re-thread one of the strings back through only one of the cardboard pieces (2 holes).
    8. Tie a double knot at the end and it’s ready to hang!

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    Salt Dough Baby Print Ornaments

    NorthbirdLeave a comment

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    This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read my full disclosure HERE.

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    With each baby that we’ve had, we have this lovely tradition to make a salt dough imprint of their tiny feet or hands every Christmas and turn it into a special ornament for our Christmas garland.

    I love having this precious memento to remind myself of our little girls when they were this tiny!

    It’s not always easy to try to get wriggling toes or tiny squirming fingers to cooperate for this craft, so I definitely suggest having someone help hold your little one still while you gently push their feet or hands into the rolled out and ready dough!

    These charming ornaments also make great gifts for grandparents, aunties, uncles (to my family members reading this: sorry for the spoiler this year!) and other special friends in your life.

    After baking them in the oven and cooling completely, use some acrylic paint to either paint the print so you can see it better, or paint the whole thing however you like!

    After the paint has dried, a nice layer of mod podge will seal it and give it a nice shine to enjoy on your Christmas tree for many years to come.

    I hope you enjoy making this simple and inexpensive yet precious keepsake of this time in your baby’s life!

    If you are a visual learner like I am, this video might be helpful to see the whole process!

    How to Make Salt Dough Baby Foot/Handprint Ornaments:

    Supplies Needed:

    Ingredients:

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit.
    2. Mix flour and salt together in medium size bowl. (Add any additional sparkles or cinnamon if you want at this point, but keep in mind if you want to paint later on it may not matter too much!)
    3. Add just enough water to make it into a soft dough.

    4. Knead for 2-3 minutes so dough is a smooth ball.

    5. Divide into 2 balls and roll out to 1/4” thick (or about 1/2 centimeter). *You can try putting a flattened ball between two sheets of parchment paper with flour and rolling it this way, or just flour up a surface and roll out, adding flour as you go. (Try not to add too much flour, just enough so that it doesn’t stick to the parchment or pin!)

    6. While baby is held overtop of dough area by one person, another can gently take the hand or foot and press firmly into the soft dough. Make sure to poke each finger and toe so that you get the full imprint! (If you have a really wriggly baby, feet are definitely much easier to do than hands!)

    7. If the print is not very deep, it will be harder to see, especially after baking. Use your finger or gently use a utensil to deepen the baby’s print to make it more visible.

    8. Use dull knife or large cookie cutter to cut out baby’s print. Gently place on a parchment covered baking sheet, spaced out evenly with other baby prints.

    9. Poke a hole above the print for the ribbon, leaving at least 1/2 inch of dough before the edge.

    10. Bake on middle rack for about 1.5-2 hours (90-120 minutes). The timing will largely depend on the thickness of the baby prints, so I recommend checking it after 1 hour, and every 20 minutes after that. When done it will be mostly hard yet slightly soft on top (not squish-able!) and slightly golden on bottom. Turn the oven off at this point and just let them continue to dry out in the oven for another hour (or longer if you want, just make sure not to forget about them for the next time you use the oven!)

    11. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling racks.

    12. When fully cooled (or the next day!) you can use acrylic paint if desired to paint the baby’s imprint area so it can be seen better, and decorate however you like. I also painted the backs once the front side had dried.

    13. Seal with mod podge or other craft sealer to help it stay dry and preserved.

    14. Don’t forget to write your baby’s name and age with a permanent marker so you don’t forget this precious moment in your baby’s life.

    15. Tie with a ribbon and wrap up carefully when not in use. Keep in mind that it may still break if dropped (it is salt dough after all!).

    Additional Notes:

    1. This recipe makes enough for about 10 handprint or footprint infant ornaments.

    2. I had some ornaments puff up while being baked several years ago, using other recipes. So after tweaking it and having many great results, I have learned that puffing up usually happens from these three avoidable things:

    • Having the oven too hot
    • The dough hasn’t been rolled out thin enough
    • The dough has mini air pockets in it

    Made This Recipe?

    I’d LOVE to see your results!! Feel free to post to your social media account and tag Northbird using one of these links:

    Northbird’s Christmas Collection:

    More Homeschooling Crafts & Activities to Check Out:

    Hi, I’m Jessie!

    I’m a Wife and Homeschooling Mom living in a remote town in Northern Ontario, Canada. I love making wholesome meals for my family from scratch, homeschooling our girls and learning more about natural living.

    Read more about my story HERE.

    Subscribe to Northbird’s email list to get weekly posts on: tasty recipes, activity ideas for kids, natural living tips, and some genuine mom thoughts and encouragement!

    Recent posts from Northbird:

    Salt Dough Baby Footprint Ornaments

    • Servings: 10
    • Difficulty: Easy
    • Print

    Make a salt dough imprint of your baby's hands or feet and turn it into a beautiful ornament or precious gift for your loved ones this Christmas!



    This recipe makes enough for about 10 handprint or footprint infant ornaments.

    Supplies Needed

  • Mixing bowl
  • Spoon
  • Measuring cups
  • Parchment paper
  • Rolling pin
  • Baking sheets x2
  • Cooling rack
  • Pencil or straw (for poking ribbon holes)
  • Dull knife or a large cookie cutter (if you want perfectly round ones!)


    • Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling out)
  • 1/2 cup iodized fine salt
  • 3/4 cups water (more or less)
  • Additional ideas if not painting:


    • Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit.
    2. Mix flour and salt together in medium size bowl. (Add any additional sparkles or cinnamon if you want at this point, but keep in mind if you want to paint later on it may not matter too much!)
    3. Add just enough water to make it into a soft dough.
    4. Knead for 2-3 minutes so dough is a smooth ball.
    5. Divide into 2 balls and roll out to 1/4” thick (or about 1/2 centimeter). *You can try putting a flattened ball between two sheets of parchment paper with flour and rolling it this way, or just flour up a surface and roll out, adding flour as you go. (Try not to add too much flour, just enough so that it doesn’t stick to the parchment or pin!)
    6. While baby is held overtop of dough area by one person, another can gently take the hand or foot and press firmly into the soft dough. Make sure to poke each finger and toe so that you get the full imprint! (If you have a really wriggly baby, feet are definitely much easier to do than hands!)
    7. If the print is not very deep, it will be harder to see, especially after baking. Use your finger or gently use a utensil to deepen the baby’s print to make it more visible.
    8. Use dull knife or large cookie cutter to cut out baby’s print. Gently place on a parchment covered baking sheet, spaced out evenly with other baby prints.
    9. Poke a hole above the print for the ribbon, leaving at least 1/2 inch of dough before the edge.
    10. Bake on middle rack for about 1.5-2 hours (90-120 minutes). The timing will largely depend on the thickness of the baby prints, so I recommend checking it after 1 hour, and every 20 minutes after that. When done it will be mostly hard yet slightly soft on top (not squish-able!) and slightly golden on bottom. Turn the oven off at this point and just let them continue to dry out in the oven for another hour (or longer if you want, just make sure not to forget about them for the next time you use the oven!)
    11. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling racks.
    12. When fully cooled (or the next day!) you can use acrylic paint if desired to paint the baby’s imprint area so it can be seen better, and decorate however you like. I also painted the backs once the front side had dried.
    13. Seal with mod podge or other craft sealer to help it stay dry and preserved.
    14. Don’t forget to write your baby’s name and age with a permanent marker so you don’t forget this precious moment in your baby’s life.
    15. Tie with a ribbon and wrap up carefully when not in use. Keep in mind that it may still break if dropped (it is salt dough after all!).

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    Easy Pipe Cleaner Christmas Ornament

    NorthbirdLeave a comment

    Find Northbird on social media:

    This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read my full disclosure HERE.

    Return to Christmas Activities

    Jump to Printable Craft Directions

    It’s FINALLY December?!

    Up here in Northern Ontario we’ve had snow for several weeks now and our local Moose River has finally begun to freeze over. But it’s honestly felt like this year had the longest November that I can remember, and December seemed to take forever to come!

    Our friendly neighbourhood has now started hanging up Christmas decorations, and the local schools have begun hosting Christmas bazaars every weekend leading up to the holidays.

    “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when it’s mighty founder was a child Himself.” -Charles Dickens

    The kids are getting so excited for Christmas (especially our oldest), not only with decorating our home and having lots of community parties, but also the chance to hop on the train south to visit our families.

    Every year I have tried to organize an ornament craft for our oldest to make and give to her Daddy, grandparents, and other relations and friends. This always gives her a sense of pride and accomplishment to see something that she has made and worked hard on to end up on our relation’s Christmas trees, and hung on garland throughout our family’s living room.

    Usually I look for ideas on Pinterest or Google that are somewhat flat and could travel well by mail, as many of our relatives live far away from us and we are not able to see everyone in the short time we travel south at Christmas.

    The other day I looked around the house at what we had to work with and ended up creating this easy and customizable picture ornament with my oldest daughter.

    I hope this simple gift idea inspires you and your kids with fun and joy this season!

    You can download the FREE pre-measured circle template HERE.

    How to make this Easy Pipe Cleaner Christmas Ornament:

    Supplies Needed:

    • Hot glue gun
    • Glue stick
    • Pen or marker
    • Scissors
    • Pipe cleaners (10-15, depending on how long they are and how thick you wrap the cardboard)
    • Cardboard
    • Print the free template to trace the circles HERE
    • Round plastic containers to trace, different sizes (If you aren’t able to print the template)
    • Picture
    • White card stock paper
    • Items to decorate with (glue or stick on)

    Directions:

    1. Trace cardboard circles, using two different sizes of round cups or plastic containers. The outer circle is approximately 5 inches (12.5cm) in diameter, and the inner one is 3 inches (8cm) in diameter. Disregard this if you are able to print the template, and simply follow the template directions.

    2. Cut out the centre of the cardboard circle.

    3. Begin wrapping the pipe cleaners around the cardboard frame, tucking in the end pieces when you start a new pipe cleaner. Tuck the final piece in.

    4. Make a loop out of a pipe cleaner and attach and tuck it through a few strands, twisting it so it doesn’t come undone.

    5. Trace around another round plastic container and cut out circles of your chosen picture and a piece of white card-stock paper. I used a circle size that was middle in size comparison to the other two circles, approximately 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) in diameter. The free printable template includes this too.

    6. Write a personal message if desired, or instead cut out another picture to insert, so that there is a picture to see on both sides of your ornament.

    7. Use your glue stick to glue the backs of the two circles together.

    8. Take your hot glue gun (I recommend that adults handle this part!), and put glue around the edge of the picture front, then place the pipe cleaner frame on top of the picture and hold in place firmly while the glue dries (its fast!)

    9. Add any desired decorations to the front and back. For this, we hot glued jewelled snowflakes to both sides and also glued a sparkly pipe cleaner to the back ring to hide the paper edge.

    10. Enjoy! I’d love to hear from you and see how yours turned out!

    Download and print the Free Circle Templates HERE.

    More Homeschooling Crafts & Activities to Check Out:

    Hi, I’m Jessie!

    I’m a Wife and Homeschooling Mom living in a remote town in Northern Ontario, Canada. I love making wholesome meals for my family from scratch, homeschooling our girls and learning more about natural living.

    Read more about my story HERE.

    Subscribe to Northbird’s email list to get weekly posts on: tasty recipes, activity ideas for kids, natural living tips, and some genuine mom thoughts and encouragement!

    Recent posts from Northbird:

    Pipe Cleaner Christmas Ornament

    • Servings: 1 Ornament
    • Difficulty: Easy
    • Print

    Here's an Easy Christmas Ornament Craft to do with your child this season!

    Supplies Needed:

  • Hot glue gun
  • Glue stick
  • Pen or marker
  • Scissors
  • Pipe cleaners (10-15, depending on how long they are and how thick you wrap the cardboard)
  • Cardboard
  • Print the free template to trace the circles HERE
  • Round plastic containers to trace, different sizes (If you aren’t able to print the template)
  • Picture
  • White card stock paper
  • Items to decorate with (glue or stick on)


    • Directions:

    1. Trace cardboard circles, using two different sizes of round cups or plastic containers. The outer circle is approximately 5 inches (12.5cm) in diameter, and the inner one is 3 inches (8cm) in diameter. Disregard this if you are able to print the template, and simply follow the template directions.
    2. Cut out the centre of the cardboard circle.
    3. Begin wrapping the pipe cleaners around the cardboard frame, tucking in the end pieces when you start a new pipe cleaner. Tuck the final piece in.
    4. Make a loop out of a pipe cleaner and attach and tuck it through a few strands, twisting it so it doesn’t come undone.
    5. Trace around another round plastic container and cut out circles of your chosen picture and a piece of white card-stock paper. I used a circle size that was middle in size comparison to the other two circles, approximately 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) in diameter. The free printable template includes this too.
    6. Write a personal message if desired, or instead cut out another picture to insert, so that there is a picture to see on both sides of your ornament.
    7. Use your glue stick to glue the backs of the two circles together.
    8. Take your hot glue gun (I recommend that adults handle this part!), and put glue around the edge of the picture front, then place the pipe cleaner frame on top of the picture and hold in place firmly while the glue dries (its fast!)
    9. Add any desired decorations to the front and back. For this, we hot glued jewelled snowflakes to both sides and also glued a sparkly pipe cleaner to the back ring to hide the paper edge.
    10. Enjoy! I’d love to hear from you and see how yours turned out!

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