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Classy paper ornaments to snazz up your home!

The darling little ornaments simple to make and look wonderfully classy and unique. Also, if you play Magic the Gathering or any other collectible card game, you're probably DROWNING in far more cards than you need. Here's how to use up some of those extra land cards and valueless commons.

Playing cards are the perfect size for this project, and for this tutorial I’ll be giving you instructions based on making ornaments out of Magic or other playing cards.

To follow these instructions with other papers, cut strips that are 3.5 inches high and .5 inches wide. You’ll need 14 to 16 of these strips for each ornament, depending on the paper and how exact your width measurements are. You can use the same paper all the way around, or use 2 or 3 different papers.

Posted by TallysTreasury from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada • Published See TallysTreasury's 7 projects »
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  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 1
    Step 1

    Take 3 playing cards and cut each one into five vertical strips that are each 1/2 inch wide.

    Or cut 14 to 16 strips of any card stock weight paper, each strip 3.5 inches high and .5 inches wide.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 2
    Step 2

    Lay the strips of the first card out in order, with large gaps between each piece.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 3
    Step 3

    Lay the strips of the second card next to these pieces. Lay the strips of the third card in the remaining spaces.

    Your layout should be a strip from card 1, a strip from card 2, a strip from card 3, then another strip from card 1, and so on.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 4
    Step 4

    Thread your needle with about a foot of thread/yarn/embroidery floss.

    Knot the end and trim off the extra.

    (Unless you want to tie a bead on the end, in which case do that now. Then knot the thread on either side of the bead.)

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 5
    Step 5

    Take the first card strip and pierce it with the needle at the bottom of the strip, on the front side. String it onto your thread.

    Repeat this with each card strip, in order.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 6
    Step 6

    When all the strips have been strung, your ornament should look like this.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 7
    Step 7

    Flip the strips over so you can see their back side, and tie a knot in your thread as closely as possible to the last strip of paper.

    There should now be a knot on either side of the stack of card strips.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 8
    Step 8

    Grab the strip that's on the bottom of the stack, and pierce it from back to front with the needle.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 9
    Step 9

    String the strip onto the embroidery floss, and push it down so it curves outward into a half circle shape.

    Repeat this process with each strip from the bottom of the stack to the top. Use one hand to keep the strung-on strips in their curved, half-circle shape while stringing on each new strip with the other hand. (If this is proving too tricky, you can always use a needle to poke a hole in the top and bottom of all the strips before stringing them.)

    You want the top end of each strip to be on top of the strip before it, not below or beside.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 10
    Step 10

    When all the strips have been strung on, you'll have a spherical ornament, with a spot on one side where the strips meet up that’s slightly open and uneven, like a seashell.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 11
    Step 11

    Push the top down as much or as little as you wish to create a flatter or a more oblong shape.

    Then, keeping the strips in place by pushing down with one hand, tie a knot in your thread as close to the top end of the ornament as you can.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 12
    Step 12

    Make a loop with your remaining thread and tie a knot in it, again close to the ornament. Trim any excess thread.

  • How to make a Christmas tree ornament. Spiraled Paper Ornaments - Step 13
    Step 13

    Decorate!

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Comments

Babsi's Bean Burgers
Babsi's Bean Burgers
From magic cards, adorkable Computer
I'll most definitely make them with a string light, thanks Love
Reply
buttercup303
buttercup303 · Moodbidri, Karnataka, IN · 94 projects
these are so adorable!!
Reply

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