DIY New Year's toys without glue. Beautiful DIY Christmas tree decorations - a big toy for the city Christmas tree

Neither bright balls from the supermarket, nor lights flashing in different colors, nor expensive designer kits for decorating Christmas trees can compare with homemade decorations.

Of course, such decorations from the supermarket will make the evergreen guest bright and modernly decorated, but they are unlikely to be able to carry them so joyfully Christmas mood, like self-made toys.

Ways to do Christmas decorations there are a lot, but the simplest, most attractive and not time-consuming are paper toys. To create them, you may need very little, improvised materials that are stored in every housewife. Stock up on a little patience and wings for a creative flight of fancy.

New Year's balls

What is the most common decoration on a Christmas tree? Of course, balls! You can always buy glass and plastic ones in the store, but we will try to make them from thick paper. This includes colored cardboard, old postcards and covers of unnecessary magazines. Balls made of colored cardboard, plain, will add color to the Christmas tree or the room you want to decorate. uniform style, and multi-colored balloons will bring an atmosphere of celebration, magic and a winter fairy tale.

Before you sit down to do new toy, prepare:

• thick paper;
• use old magazines, cardboards or candy boxes with bright designs;
• glue, PVA is best;
• scissors;
• a compass or any other object that you can trace to get an even circle.

Take your cardboard and draw twenty-one identical circles on it, then cut them out with scissors. Each circle must be folded as follows: bend the circle in half twice, on one side and the other, then straighten it, this will mark the center of the circle.

Fold only one side of it again, so that the edge of the circle is exactly in the intended center. Fold the two sides again, so you get a triangle. Cut out this triangle in one of the twenty circles; it will serve as a kind of stencil for the rest of the circles. All that remains for you is to place the triangle on the remaining circles, trace it and bend the edges of the circles outward along the contour.

Take the first ten circles and glue them into stripes, alternating: five down - five up. Glue the resulting strip into a ring, this will serve as the basis for the toy.

Divide the remaining ten into fives and glue them into a circle. By gluing them together, you will get two lids.

The top and bottom covers will need to be glued to the base in the same way. Consider a loop to hang the toy from.

Children can easily help you make such a New Year's toy: you will need scissors, colored paper, and packing ribbons.

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A great idea for a Christmas tree decoration would be a miniature paper Christmas tree. You can make it from thick paper or old postcards, and you can hang your masterpiece on a regular thread.

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Large volumetric snowflake

Snow is obviously the most important attribute of winter, and a snowflake is the main decoration of the house for the New Year. A snowflake can be cut out of paper and glued to the window, as is often done. What about volumetric snowflakes? Making it is as easy as cutting it out. To create it you will only need scissors, a stapler and, of course, paper.

Cut out 6 squares of the same size, fold each square diagonally, and then in half. Make parallel cuts along the folds with scissors. Unfold the squares, wrap the inner strips and fasten them together. The resulting petals are connected to each other with a stapler, although you can also use glue. Such a large snowflake can be sprinkled with sparkles or put together as a garland. You can decorate it with a window, a wall, or hang it under a chandelier.

What could it be easier decoration than large, bulky paper candies? They are very simple to make, for example, from old foil or beautiful wallpaper left over from renovation. There will definitely be paper with a bright pattern. And to do this, you just need to measure out a small rectangle, twist it into a tube, and tie ribbons at the ends. If you are afraid that your toy will lose its shape, then by twisting it, you can put any unnecessary thing in the shape of a cylinder between the paper, for example, cardboard cylinder from toilet paper.

Toys with family photos

Some types of paper balls can be made using family photos. Such New Year's toys will be the most special, because the important and significant moments of the outgoing year will remain with you, and in the next New Year, the toy of memories will again remind you of pleasant moments. By the way, don’t forget about your pets, let them also remain on your memorable toy, because a dog, cat or even guinea pigs are also waiting for the New Year holidays!

Lanterns from childhood

What about flashlights? You must remember from childhood how to make paper lanterns. With a little imagination, you can easily come up with a new design for a simple flashlight. To diversify completely simple craft, you can decorate it with sparkles, make it from colored paper or printed paper, paint it with paints, add new details. Everything is to your taste.

Paper angels for the Christmas tree

What about New Year's angels? You also remember how to make them, right? Angels can be made from gold paper or newspapers, painted or added glitter.

New Year's paper cones

What's a Christmas tree without pine cones? Can be decorated christmas tree ordinary cones from the forest, but you can make your own magic ones. There are several ways to make paper cones: it all depends on your preferences, availability of free time and patience. The simplest option is a cone made from old postcards.

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Lace garland

A magic lamp can be created from a simple glowing garland; all you need is paper and small scissors, with which you can easily cut out lace snowflakes. You can find patterns for snowflakes on the Internet or print them out so that you can cut out the figures around the office. You can put light bulbs from a garland into the holes cut out in the snowflakes; hanging such a garland on a window or on a Christmas tree will be very beautiful.

A little life hack: if you don’t have time to cut out lace snowflakes, or you can’t make them even and neat, buy lace napkins at the supermarket, this will reduce your work time, and store-bought napkins will look much neater. The garland will create a bright New Year's mood. Feel free to get to work!

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Cardboard Santa Claus

You can diversify the decoration of your home and Christmas tree with the help of snowflakes, flowers and lanterns, stars and balls, but what is the most important thing? New Year's miracle- Father Frost? Small cardboard Santas make a fun garland, especially if you add different facial expressions to the grandfathers.

To make the job easier, you can find stencils for making toys that you just need to cut and glue.

New Year's house on the Christmas tree

You can decorate the Christmas tree paper house. This toy looks especially cool if you put an electric candle or a garland light bulb inside. Then the windows of the house will glow, as if someone lives in it. Making paper houses is very simple; you can do without a template. You will need paper or old postcards, scissors and glue.

Stars

You can decorate the Christmas tree with paper stars. They are made very simply, even kids can cope with this task, but they look very original!

A New Year or Christmas wreath is usually decorated front door or hang it on the wall. But you can make a mini paper wreath that will look great on the Christmas tree as a toy.

The toys that you made for the holiday with your own hands are the key to a cozy holiday atmosphere. Happy New Year!

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The time has come to actively prepare for the New Year: while there is still a lot of time left before it, it is worth taking advantage of such a valuable resource and making New Year's toys with your own hands from paper and more. The editors of the site undertake to help you with this, as they are also preparing their houses and apartments for the New Year.

Let's start making New Year's paper toys with our own hands: options for holiday decorations

It’s amazing that a great variety of different decorations can be made from paper, in addition to the well-known lanterns, garlands and snowflakes. Let's understand the beauty of paper and try to make a New Year's toy with our own hands using photos from the master classes.

Beautiful figures of Santa Claus and Snow Maiden are made from paper, even as a symbol of the coming year they look great like a Christmas tree. We study manufacturing tips various decorations to the Christmas tree and try to put them into practice!

Cute Santa Claus

One of children's favorite hand-made New Year's toys will be the wonderful Santa Claus. This come to life fairy-tale character from a childhood dream will find the most prominent place on the Christmas tree.

Related article:

DIY origami for the New Year: postcards, classic and modular origami, Santa Claus and Snow Maiden, origami Christmas tree, snowflake, origami star, origami animals - in our publication..

Snowman without snow

The snowman is also a traditional winter symbol that children will enjoy making with their own hands. There are several ways to make a small beautiful snowman.

Angels in different ways

The cutest do-it-yourself Christmas tree toy is an angel. A Christmas tree decoration like this always lifts your spirits and will serve as decor for the coming Christmas.

Garlands - large-scale apartment decoration

You can make excellent New Year's toys with your own hands together with your children. The process of creating a garland would be such a suitable option.

Related article:

DIY garlands for the New Year: photo. Christmas tree, paper circles, accordion, corrugated garland and origami, garland made of fabric or felt, pine cones and other material, LED garland decor - in our article.

Flower wreaths and more

Christmas wreaths immediately give a festive and solemn mood to anyone who glances at them. They make gorgeous wreaths out of paper too!

Related article:

: history and tradition of origin, master class on creation, what to make the base for the product from (newspaper, cardboard, pipe insulation), decorating a New Year's wreath with various materials - read in the publication.

Stars and snowflakes fall in the apartment directly from the ceiling and walls

The familiar appearance of snowflakes is still popular, but there are other options for making these traditional elements. We also suggest trying to make beautiful paper stars with your own hands. You can make a garland from them, hang them from ceiling beams, a chandelier, glue them to walls and doors, to windows or to a Christmas tree.

Related article:

: the art of quilling and the beauty of paper strips. Stencils for New Year's snowflakes, modular origami, geometric shape, fluffy snowflake, paper Christmas tree star - in our publication.

Making Christmas balls in different ways

What would we do without the usual Christmas tree balls? Paper also makes its own adjustments to the production of New Year's decor. Let's try to create beautiful balls?

Related article:

corrugated paper, kusudama, origami, paper flowers; New Year's ball felt and fabric, decor New Year's ball on the Christmas tree using different means - read the publication.

Lanterns for the Christmas tree and more

A flashlight is a universal toy, suitable even as a DIY decoration for a city Christmas tree. There is also always a place in the apartment where a New Year's lantern is clearly missing.

How to make your own New Year's toy from yarn, ribbons, beads, felt and pine cones

In addition to paper for making New Year's decor, you should try using various materials. Interesting and beautiful work are obtained from natural material, easy-to-handle felt, beautiful yarn. Acrylic paints, hot glue and PVA glue, glitter and any decorative elements help in the work.

DIY Christmas tree decorations: new life for grandma’s yarn

Any dense thread can be turned into voluminous or flat original jewelry for the holiday, which are so good that they keep their shape for many years.

Video: example of a thread toy for the New Year

Making a New Year's toy from ribbons, beads, sequins

A bag of sequins or beads is inexpensive. They decorate any surface or use them as decorative elements for finished products. Glue the decoration with hot glue or super-moment.

It’s easy to make even a large Christmas tree toy with your own hands from fabric, ribbons, and beads. They sell ready-made large-sized foam plastic blanks that just need to be decorated.

Felt toys for the New Year

Small and large New Year's toys can be easily made with your own hands from a material such as felt. This exciting process, which always has a positive result for both experienced masters and beginners.

You also don’t need to spend a lot of time learning the basics of working with felt: the material is easy to cut, it is not difficult to stitch it by hand or sew it on a machine. The edges are decorated with any types of seams.

More often than not, felt serves as the base on which the decor is placed. Decorative elements are also cut out from felt of a different color, or embroidered on it, and various beautiful decorations are glued on.

Article

28.11.2018

Despite the abundance of Christmas tree decorations on sale, there are more and more fans of creating their own unique Christmas tree. A forest beauty decorated with Christmas tree decorations made with your own hands from scrap materials for the New Year 2019 can bring a special unique aura and charm of magic.

In addition, this is a fascinating activity that can unite the whole family in a single creative impulse and increase mutual understanding between parents and children. We offer you a selection of Christmas tree decorations, very simple to make, but incredibly effective in result.

Photos of Christmas tree decorations made from scrap materials

Christmas ball pig

Prepare:

• Christmas ball;
• hot glue;
• acrylic paint, pale pink, black;
• acrylic lacquer;
• sponge;
• brush;
• polymer clay – pink and white.

Making a Christmas tree toy in the shape of a pig:

• WITH Christmas ball any size you choose, remove the loop.

• We paint the ball itself in a soft pink color using acrylic paint and a sponge, and let it dry. It’s very convenient to make several of these cute toys for a Christmas tree of different sizes at once.

• After drying, apply acrylic varnish to the ball to fix the paint and give the Christmas tree toy a smoother and shiny surface.

• After the ball has dried again, we insert the hanging loop that was removed at the beginning; you can thread a pre-prepared ribbon into it, tying it with a spectacular bow.
• We take any work surface on which we will create all the decorative elements for the Christmas tree decoration in the form of a symbol of the coming year.

• First, take a small piece of pink polymer clay, knead it and shape it into a round or oval patch; you can do both if you are making several Christmas tree decorations for the New Year 2019.

• We attach the resulting patch in the middle of the ball, with a sharp stick or a regular pencil we form two holes on the patch.

• From a piece of white clay, divided into two equal parts, we form eyes in the form of two flat droplets, attach them above the patch, close to each other.

• Next, take a small piece of white clay, divide it in half, and give the two pieces the shape of small identical triangles.
• From pink clay we make similar triangles of a smaller size, place them on white triangles, slightly bend the tops to make them look like pig ears, and attach them to the top of the ball.

• We make a sausage from a piece of pink clay, divide it into 4 parts, make a notch on one side of each part with any object, so we get hooves. We also attach the legs to the ball and check that it stands stable.

• Remove all the parts from the ball or several balls and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

• After removing from the oven, glue all the parts to the ball with hot glue. We draw the eyes with black paint.

You can also continue the decor by applying “freckles” to your cheeks in any way.

Photo: Christmas tree toy pig

Christmas ball made of paper

This DIY Christmas tree toy, made from scrap materials, will decorate the atmosphere for the New Year 2019!

Prepare:

• colored double-sided paper of different colors - 12–13 sheets;
• scissors;
• glue.

• Fold each sheet of paper in half and cut out two circles with a diameter of approximately 14 cm.
• We bend each circle in half, put all the halves in one stack, determine the middle on the rounded side and make a small notch with scissors.

• We glue each circle from the inside at the notch, dripping a little glue.
• From plain paper cut out exactly the same circle as all the others, bend it in half, then in half two more times. Unfold to the first fold, mark with a pencil the places of the last bend.

• We again collect all the bent semicircles from colored paper into a stack, attach a semicircle with notes, and make the same notes on the first colored semicircle.
• We remove the plain paper blank, align the stack in our hands and make notches with scissors in the places of the marks.

• Applying glue to the places of the notches, we glue all the colored semicircles together, placing them on top of each other one by one.

• After the glue has dried, unfold the resulting structure and glue the first and last halves of the circle.

We got a great bright ball for our Christmas tree - simple and effective!

You can thread a piece of Christmas tree tinsel into the central hole, making a knot at the bottom. We hang several of these balls, made from improvised materials with our own hands, on the Christmas tree.

Ribbon pig

A cute pig from improvised materials will decorate the Christmas tree for the New Year 2019. And you can make it together with your children using our photo master class.

Prepare:

• pink silk ribbon measuring 12 cm in width and 3.5 m in length, as well as two squares measuring 5 cm * 5 cm;
• pink felt, square size 7 cm * 7 cm;
• red or black beads – 2 pcs.;
• lace – 30 cm;
• small pieces of red and white felt or other dense fabric;
• needle and light thread;
• hot glue.

Manufacturing with step-by-step photos:

• We sew the entire satin ribbon, having previously treated the edges with a lighter, in the middle with a basting stitch, gathering it to a size of 26 cm, and secure the thread at the end with a knot.

• We cut out two circles from pink felt, a base with a diameter of 5 cm for the pig’s muzzle and a base for the snout, with a diameter of 2 cm.
• We make ears from small squares of satin ribbon, for which we bend each one diagonally, and then twice more. We seal the joint with a lighter, cut off the bottom at an angle, and process it again with a lighter.

• We give the blanks the shape of ears, apply glue to the very corner, press it to create a more natural look.

• Now, in a small felt blank, mark two holes using black thread, making several stitches at a time.
• We bend the prepared cord, glue it to the felt base, and glue two ears next to it.

• Apply glue to the center of a large felt blank, glue one end of the assembled satin ribbon, then glue it in a circle, coating the base with glue.

• In the center we glue the blank for the snout and the eyes - beads, the Christmas tree toy in the shape of a pig is ready, it will certainly appreciate your efforts.

• If desired, you can also glue together a Santa Claus cap from red and white felt and glue it on top. You can make toys with or without a cap for variety.

Photo

Snowflakes made from glue

It couldn't be simpler! And what beauty from scrap materials!

Prepare:

• silicone glue (gun);
• white acrylic paint;
• any sparkles;
• polyethylene, foam;
• paper clips

Making a Christmas tree decoration step by step:

1. Samples of snowflakes can be printed from the Internet; select several types you like at once.
2. Secure the snowflakes with paper clips and polyethylene, place them on the work surface so that the polyethylene is on top.
3. Apply glue to each line of the snowflake, let it dry, and remove it from the polyethylene.
4. Apply white acrylic paint to the snowflake, sprinkle with glitter and dry.
5. Thread a beautiful lace or satin ribbon and decorate your magical New Year tree with snowflakes.

Photo: Snowflake made of glue

Flower garlands made from plastic bottles

You can make such a Christmas tree toy with your own hands from plastic bottles, which is quite easy and simple. The final craft for the New Year 2019 will be a decoration for the holiday.

Prepare:

• several plastic bottles with caps (depending on the size of the garland, but not less than 30–40);
• sharp knife;
• spray paints;
• scissors;
• electric garland.

Manufacturing with step-by-step photos:

• For everyone plastic bottles cut off the tops, divide the cut surface into several segments, draw the corresponding lines with a pencil.

• We cut the plastic tops along the lines with scissors, round the edges, giving the shape to stylized petals (the shape can be different, round or pointed).

• We paint all the petals with multi-colored paint, showing imagination and creativity, and leave to dry.
• While the petals are drying, we make cross-shaped cuts in each lid and insert light bulbs from the garland into the resulting holes.

Christmas tree decorations made from pasta for the New Year 2019

Prepare:

• pasta: spirals, wheels, horns, shells, bows;
• glue moment;
• PVA glue;
• gouache paint, titanium white;
• paint brush;
• any sparkles.

Manufacturing:

1. Prepare the work surface and lay out the pasta various types whimsical compositions, showing imagination.
2. Place the pasta tightly next to each other, seal the joints with instant glue, and let it dry.
3. Cover the pasta snowflakes with white gouache using a brush and leave to dry.
4. Apply PVA glue to the surface of the snowflakes with a brush, sprinkle with various prepared sparkles. Dry and decorate the tree by threading a hanging loop into any hole.

New Year's ball made of ribbons

Christmas tree decorations do not always have to be difficult to make; beautiful products with your own hands can be made from scrap materials quickly and easily!

Prepare:

• foam ball, ready-made or cut from a foam blank;
• satin ribbons of different colors;
• thin sewing needles with heads.

Manufacturing:

• You can make such balls in either mono or multi-colored colors. We cut several blanks of satin ribbon 2.5 cm wide and 7 cm long, as well as a square measuring 3 cm * 3 cm.

• We secure a square of satin ribbon of the color of your choice on one side of the ball with pins.
• We roll each piece so that we get a triangle and attach them on all four sides of the square.

• We lay the workpiece so that the top of the triangle falls in the middle of the square, secure the triangles with pins in the places where the tape bends at the bottom on both sides.

• We begin to attach the satin ribbon triangles to the second row, placing them in a checkerboard pattern.

• We fill the entire surface of the ball, close the remaining gap with a square of satin ribbon, and attach a bow from the same ribbon or a ribbon of a smaller width on top.

Photo: This is beauty from improvised means

Christmas balls from disposable alcohol cups

Prepare:

• foam balls 7 cm in diameter;
• small disposable cups – 17 pcs. (for one ball);
• various acrylic paints;
• brush;
• hot glue;
• PVA glue;
• any sparkles.

Manufacturing:

1. We paint all the cups acrylic paint from the inside using a brush, dry.
2. We paint the rim on the outside and inside with white paint and dry it.
3. Apply glue to the white rim on the outside and inside and sprinkle with glitter.
4. We attach the prepared cups to a foam ball with a bottom greased with hot glue, placing them as close to each other as possible.
5. We make a small hole in a free space on the foam ball with a sharp object and insert the end of a loop prepared from any thread, lubricate it with glue.
6. Similarly, you can make Christmas balls by gluing multi-colored cones painted with paint, as well as fluffy pom-poms from knitting threads, to a foam ball.

Christmas tree made of satin ribbons

Prepare:

• blanks from multi-colored satin ribbons sizes: 2.5 * 5 cm, 4 * 7 cm, 5 * 9 cm – 15 pcs.;
• hot glue;
• small base pin;
• lighter;
• a loop from any Christmas tree decoration;
• scissors;
• beads or rhinestones, as well as one shiny element to decorate the bottom of the Christmas tree.

Manufacturing with video step by step:

1. We fold each piece in half twice, and treat the bottom with fire from a lighter.
2. We stack the resulting blanks of three different sizes one on top of the other in descending order of size.
3. We fold the resulting structure in half, cut off the bottom at an angle and treat it with fire. So we prepare all the elements, giving them the shape of a stylized petal.
4. Glue the petals together in groups of 5, smearing the sides and pressing them tightly to each other. We will have three tiers for the Christmas tree decoration.
5. We string all the blanks onto the prepared pin, coating the joints with the blanks with glue.
6. On top of the stylized Christmas tree we attach a loop from a Christmas tree decoration using glue.
7. At the bottom of the Christmas tree we glue a prepared shiny element or a large bead in the center.
8. To the central inner corner We glue a bead or rhinestones on each leaf, and an incredibly stylish and elegant Christmas tree toy is ready.

Video of making a beautiful Christmas tree toy:

Felt Christmas toys

Felt Christmas tree decorations amaze with their variety, they are easy to make and are an excellent decoration for a cozy home Christmas tree.

Prepare:

• felt multi-colored pieces;
• multi-colored knitting threads;
• needle with a large eye;
• beads, rhinestones, sequins, buttons and other similar decorative elements;
• padding polyester or cotton wool;
• paper;
• pencil;
• scissors.

Patterns for felt Christmas tree decorations (photo gallery):

Manufacturing step by step:

1. We put animal figures or other objects on paper and cut out patterns.
2. We place the patterns on the prepared pieces of felt. If we are making a toy from thick felt, then we cut out one part of each pattern.
3. If we make three-dimensional toys from thin felt, then we cut out two parts for each figure.
4. We sew the parts either from the inside, then turn them inside out, or we sew them with a decorative seam using multi-colored knitting threads on the front side of the toy.
5. We fill the workpiece with padding polyester or cotton wool, giving it the required volume, and process the open area.
6. We sew the corresponding decorative elements onto the toys, showing imagination. You can also actively use embroidery, as well as decorative colored stitching, to decorate felt toys.
7. If we are making a toy in the form of an animal, then we attach all the necessary details from scrap materials: eyes, nose, mouth.
8. We sew loops onto the resulting bright and varied felt Christmas tree decorations and decorate the tree for the New Year 2019.

Christmas tree decorations made from multi-colored paper napkins for the New Year 2019

Prepare:

• paper napkins of different colors;
• scotch;
• stapler;
• scissors;
• PVA glue.

Manufacturing:

1. First, we prepare a ball of small diameter from newspapers, squeezing them into a tight lump, such a ball will be very light. Having achieved the required diameter, we secure the paper with threads or tape, then wrap it in white paper and coat it with glue.
2. We make blanks from paper napkins, why fold them in four if the napkins are ordinary. We first cut large holiday napkins into large squares along the creases, and then into three strips, which we also divide into squares.
3. We put the resulting squares in a stack, take 8 pieces each and connect them with a stapler in the center. You can round the squares and get circles for a greater variety of options for such crafts.
4. We lift each square upward and thoroughly compress it, then we fluff all the layers a little and get a nice stylized flower.
5. Glue a loop from a Christmas tree toy onto the ball using hot glue.
6. Apply glue to the base of each flower and glue them onto the ball tightly to each other, filling the entire surface of the ball with flowers.

If desired, you can glue various shiny decorative elements in some places, the incredibly beautiful, fluffy and light Christmas tree toy is ready.

Christmas tree toy made from a wooden blank

Experienced crafters will appreciate this Christmas tree toy!

Prepare:

• round wooden blank for needlework;
• acrylic paint of any color;
• white acrylic paint;
• sponge;
• brush;
• glue;
• decorative elements.

Manufacturing:

1. We generously paint the wooden blank with acrylic paint in the color of your choice and dry it.
2. We paint the end part of the workpiece with white acrylic paint using a sponge.
3. We glue the prepared decorative elements onto both sides of the Christmas tree decoration, showing our imagination.

If the blank you purchased has an eyelet for a rope, then use it and thread a ribbon or cord, securing an elegant bow made of satin ribbon at the base of the eyelet, securing it with glue.

CURRENT

New Year– 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 unique 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 originality from your purchase; somewhere the same thing is still on sale. So I want something from my own hands and with a piece of my soul.

This article contains a part, however quite extensive, of the endless sea: how to make and decorate 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 craftswomen and their little helpers: decorating the room, festive table, homemade Christmas tree, and much more. Making a lush and fragrant Christmas tree on your own, 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 are homemade. 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 do the following new Year decoration, you will need scissors, an awl, a sharp knife with a thin blade (scalpel or mounting 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 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

Excellent Christmas tree decorations can be made 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; salty dough– the material is quite durable.

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. Best Foundation– a slightly rough layer of PVA applied with a foam rubber swab, 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 2 identical snowflakes not noticed 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 great 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 Christmas 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 us now proceed to the immensity in the immensity - Christmas tree decorations from paper. This is a whole Big world; for example, masters modular origami they 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 from openwork ball can be achieved if done 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 them 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, except from plastic cups, are obtained from small PET bottles, for example, ketchup. 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- 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 size 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 from 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

New Year and Christmas wreath older than the holiday New Year 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 Orthodox Slavic calendar 7524 g.s.m., there is also Orthodox Byzantine; in Hebrew - 5775. Like.); 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: 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 - 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 ones artificial Christmas 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.

DIY outdoor Christmas toys

If the space of your home allows, you can make a variety of outdoor Christmas toys with your own hands. For example, make a snowman out of plastic glasses, as shown in the photo, and put an LED garland inside. If there are children in the house, they will be truly surprised by finding candy in the cavity of the cups.

You can also design cone-shaped floor Christmas toys with your own hands. You need to make a cone base from thick cardboard, and then decorate it in the form of a Christmas tree, a gnome, Santa Claus and other figures. Use colored paper. Cut out decorations from it and glue them to the base. You can also use foamiran, felt and other materials. You can make a cone-shaped frame from bendable strong wire, wrap it with green thread, and attach an LED garland in the middle - you will get a Christmas tree.

Making Christmas toys with your own hands in large and small sizes

Making New Year's toys with your own hands using the most ordinary materials allows you to create the most unusual products, which sometimes amaze not only with their originality, but also with their size.

DIY mini Christmas toys

To decorate a small Christmas tree or a bouquet of fir branches, we recommend making mini Christmas toys with your own hands. The easiest way to make such decorations is from salt dough. Take 250 g of water, a glass of salt and 2 glasses of flour, knead the dough and start modeling. You can form three-dimensional figures or flat ones by first rolling out the dough in a thin layer. Sculpt whatever you want.

These can be snowflakes, Christmas trees, balls, snowmen. It wouldn’t hurt to make a small puppy - a symbol of the coming year. All these “semi-finished products” must be dried in the oven (5 - 6 hours on low heat) or for 2 - 3 days. fresh air. You can decorate such New Year's toys with your own hands, sprinkle them with glitter, cover them with tinsel and other decorative elements.

Huge DIY New Year's toys

They are often used to decorate a private home. spectacular decorations, differing in their scale. These can be large garlands and huge DIY New Year's toys: New Year's creatures, balls, bells. Such decorations can also be found at city festive events and fairs. A large DIY New Year's toy ball can be made from an ordinary gymnastic ball; you just need to decorate it and beautifully decorate the loop, disguising the handle with a satin ribbon with a bow.

A huge DIY New Year's toy “clock” can decorate not only the exterior of the house, but also the interior of a spacious room, if you install a flat structure against the wall. They can be an excellent element of a corner for a photo shoot, and the arrows will remind you of the upcoming holiday. Such a watch can be made from plywood, and the mechanism may be missing altogether, or you can get it along with an old watch at a flea market. Like all DIY New Year's toys, the clock should also be decorated. This can be done with multi-colored tinsel, an image of Santa Claus on the dial, or artificial snow.

How to make New Year's toys with your own hands in different stylistic directions

The design has become quite fashionable New Year's interior in compliance with one or another stylistic direction, on which the design of New Year's toys with your own hands largely depends. Let's look at some options.

DIY New Year's toys in Provence style

Provence is the style of an old French village, characterized by comfort, warmth, natural materials, textiles and floral prints. To make New Year's toys in Provence style with your own hands, take old ball toys, wrap them in a bag made of natural patterned fabric, make lace bows on top and decorate with beads. An excellent solution would also be a variety of toys made of felt or decorated using the decoupage technique with images of small flowers.

DIY New Year's eco toys

Eco style has become more and more popular over the years, as humanity has appreciated the priority of natural materials. You can make your own New Year's eco-friendly toys from wood, pine cones, branches and other natural materials. For example, having collected acorn caps in an oak grove, you can paste them over a simple New Year's ball. To make such a toy look impressive, treat each hat with varnish, dip it in gold glitter and glue it on. The addition will be a loop of gold braid.

Vintage DIY Christmas toys in retro style

You can make interesting New Year's toys with your own hands if you decorate them in an antique style. To decorate your Christmas toys with your own hands in an antique style, you can use the decoupage technique. Paint the ball initially not with white, but with light brown paint to create an antique effect. You can choose napkins with images of angels, since decorating a Christmas tree was previously considered a purely Christian tradition. Apply it with PVA glue and, after drying, open it with varnish. The toy can be decorated with a satin ribbon bow, beads or pebbles.

You can make antique New Year's toys with your own hands from salt dough according to the recipe that we discussed earlier in the article. When decorating them, you should not use bright unnatural colors, but rather choose muted ones. Scuff marks on toys would be an ideal complement.

DIY New Year's toys in modern minimalism

The minimalist trend in its purest form presupposes the absence of unnecessary non-functional decorations, but during the New Year holidays some exception can be made. When decorating your New Year's toys with your own hands in this style, you should choose one or two primary colors that will be present in the interior. It can be white with blue or yellow with red, etc.

The shapes of toys should also not be full of variety. Make neat bows from satin ribbons, paint the balls one color and hang it all on the tree in a checkerboard pattern. You will see that even such a seemingly modest design will have a rather impressive look.

Exists a large number of There are a variety of ways to make New Year’s toys with your own hands, and in our article we tried to outline some ideas for their design, and it’s up to you to decide which technique to use. In any case, you will get an exclusive and original decoration.