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Creativity Can Help Us Feel Good
Creativity is healing and helps us feel good. However, the holiday season can bring intense feelings and stress that don’t make us feel good. It can trigger, depression, anxiety, suicidal thought, and CPTSD/PTSD.
These might be hard things to talk about, but the more we talk about them the less hard they get. In this small supportive project, we want to help you or someone you know that is struggling to bring them some joy and peace by making something handmade, nature-based and soulful.
Creativity can soothe and we hope you will enjoy this project. Also, if you do this project please feel free to join our Facebook group to share.
This project was inspired by a fellow creative, the founder Kayti Welsh Stewart of the “78 Tarot Project” who shared this blog post from “Little Piner Learners” and this is our adapted version of the project. If you have kids, please stop by their blog, they have some amazing stuff!
Adults or kids can do this project, it is versatile for most ages. Also, you can hang these on your tree, in a window, or other place to decorate. And, you can keep them up year round! So, let’s jump in and create something together.
Supplies
Thicker Ornate/Decorative Paper
Scissors or X-acto Knife
Pencil or Pen
Bowl, Cup or Shape
Mod Podge
Double Sided Tape
Artist Tape
Clear Contact Paper
Nature Elements (Leaves, Flowers, Twigs, etc.)
Tassles
Book Pages (Ripped Up)
Ornament Step 1
In this first step, we are going to take out decorative paper and draw out our shapes. You can use any shape you want. I am using a hexagon bowl to add a little more uniqueness to the shape. However, circles, squares, etc. are great. You just want to make sure it is not a majorly complicated shape like a star that would make it very complicated to cut out the center.
- Place your guide (bowl, cup, stencil) on the back of the paper and trace around the edges.
- Then create a secondary line around the outside following the same line from your original drawing. It does not need to be perfect – take your time.
- Now cut out your shape. This will be your guide for the second piece. Each piece will be one side of the ornament.
Ornament Step 2
Next you will be cutting out the contact paper. You will need 2 pieces, just like you have two ornate pieces of paper. We will be using the contact paper and pressing it together with our elements in between them. So let’s get the contact paper ready for the best part – adding the fun elements
- Take your cut out ornate paper shape and use that as your guide. Tape it down to the back of the contact paper (the paper side).
- Now trace the inside of the paper shape.
- Next, cut around the drawn guide a little father away from the original tracing line. Give it space to overlap but not bigger than the decorative paper.
Ornament Step 3
Next you will be adding all your decorative items to your contact paper. This is the best part!
- Peel off the paper from one piece of yur contact paper and lay it sticky side up.
- Next, lay down your pieces of books, nature, feathers, glitter, and anything you wish.
- Once you are done, peel off the other layer of paper from the contact paper and put that over top of what you just did. So, you’ll have two pieces of sticky contact paper facing each other to seal the decorative elements in between.
- Next you’re going to use tape or Mod Podge to adhere the contact paper to the back of your decorative paper. You can also use two sided tape. I prefer to use two-sided tape because it also works when adding the final piece of decorative paper to the other side.
- Now add your final piece of decorative paper to the other side.
Ornament Step 4
In this step, we are going to add a tassel and a hanger so that you can hang it on your tree, window, or anywhere you would like. You can use cord, ribbon, or anything you would like as the hanger for your ornament.
- First, take your tassel and cut off some of the long string at the top. You want to make sure that when you tape it down to the decorative paper that it doesn’t go over top of your clear contact paper and show through. Adhear that with tape or two-sided tape
- Next, you’re going to take whatever you chose as a hanger and you’re going to attach it with tape or two-sided tape.
- And the final step is taking Mod Podge or two-sided tape to put your two decorative pieces together where you are sandwiching your contact paper with decorative items in between. Make sure to push down all the edges evenly.
- In the last step you may have some overlap so take your scissors or X-acto knife and cut around the edge to make your edges more even.
That’s It!
Now you have created your first ornament. Remember, you can use the simple guide to make various types of ornaments using various types of paper, different types of hanging things like feathers or tassels or beads as well as what you use between the contact paper is endless. If you enjoyed this, you might also like to Make Ethically Sourced Confetti Project.
If you enjoyed this project, feel free to leave a comment below as well as share an image of your project in the Create For Healing Facebook Group. We’d love to see what you did with the project.