Preschooler-Easy Glittery Ornaments

First off - I love making these ornaments!  I remember making these 30+ years ago with my mom and siblings.  My preschooler is now old enough to sit still for 30 minutes and has some fine motor skills to write some letters.

The camera doesn't do the glitter justice.  It's so pretty and my 4 year old did 90% of this himself.

Age: 2 & up.  For what it's worth, I did try this craft with my 19 month old -- but it ended in a glittery mess and her off to naptime.  However, can glitter ever be messy?  It just looks like Tinkerbell visited my kitchen.
Time: 30 minutes - 1 hour
Mess/Cleanup:  The glitter and glue can get a little messy.  But it really takes less than 5 minutes to clean up.  The kids stayed relatively clean.  I just needed some baby wipes to wipe down their hands.
What You Need: 

• Styrofoam (my grocery store still uses styrofoam to package veggies)
• Paper plates (2 plates per child, plus 1 for the glue plate)
• Glue (I used Tacky Glue and it works really well)
• Paint brushes
• Glitter (I love Martha Stewart's tinsel glitter)
• Scissors
• Ribbon
• Hole punch

Substitutions:

• Craft foam for styrofoam.  I'm also thinking this will work really nicely with salt dough.
• Scrap paper instead of paper plates
• Any embellishment in lieu of glitter. But I do love glitter.
• Dental floss, flishing line, or just a tree hook to attach ornament to the tree
• Pencil to punch hole through stryfoam instread of a hole punch

Why I Like this Craft:
For me it all about the memories and I get some more glittery ornaments for my tree!

Step 1:
Trace and cut out shapes on styrofoam.  I just used the lid of a sippy cup for the circles.  When I was little, my mom used to trace cookie cutters.

Step 2:
Punch a hole about .25 inch from the edge.  This will be used to string the ribbon hanger later.

Step 3:
Squirt some glue on a paper plate and arm your smock-covered little ones with paint brushes. Notice my toddler is smockless.  It just wasn't worth the battle.  Let them cover one side of the styrofoam with glue. The paint brush will help with a nice even coat.  After this glue step is over, switch paper plates.  Have a "gluing" plate and a "glitter" plate.  This will make it easier to sift the excess glitter back into the bottles.

Step 4:
Have your little ones choose their favorite color glitter and sprinkle the ornament to cover.  Shake off excess glitter.
I would recommend removing the glue and brushes from the table before this step.  I would also recommend having a well-rested toddler if you have a very little one participating.  Our glitterstorm was triggered when I attempted to take away the glitter shaker.



Our meltdown occurred shortly after this picture was taken.



Step 5:
Have mom (or dad) transfer the remaining glitter back into the glitter tubes. Let dry for a minute or two.

Step 6:
Paint a stripe or letter (my son painted his initial) with glue over the glitter. Stencils could also be used.

Step 7:
Sprinkle a high contrasting color over the glue.  Shake off excess glitter and transfer the remaining glitter back into the tubes.

Step 8:
Same steps, other side.

Step 9:
Thread ribbon through hole.  Hang to display.

Variations:
I think you can really do a lot with this craft.  You can really make this a craft for adults, as you can get pretty intricate in your design. 

• Edging: You could punch holes around the edge of your shape. After all of the glitter detail is complete, whipstitch the edges with a little ribbon.  You could also roll the edges in glue and cover with a contrasting glitter or a little ribbon.
• Garland: You can cut out a bunch a little circles or stars and punch a hole in the center or on top.  Once all of the individual pieces are covered in glitter, thread the pieces with ribbon (I think I might try this next).
• Accents:  If you have any plastic stencils, like these, after you do the base layer of glitter place the stencil on top of the shape and paint the glue over the stencil.  Lift stencil and sprinkle the contrasting glitter over the glue.  (This is also on my to-do list). 

have fun!
-Rose @-}---