Today’s Crafting with Kids craft project is one that has been around for many years! I remember making these with my daughter and now I’m making them again with my 6 1/2 year old grand daughter.

These craft stick ornaments only take a handful of basic supplies to make. They work up super quickly and in one afternoon you can make several. Once completed you can use them as Christmas tree ornaments, package toppers or glue a magnet on the back of each one to turn it into a holiday refrigerator magnet.

Note: Someone sent me an email to ask me what a Wooden Craft Stick was. It’s basically a wooden tongue depressor so grab some at your doctor’s office, otherwise they’re readily available at your craft supply store too!

Penguin Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornaments

Wooden Craft Sticks
Wooden Popsicle Sticks
Black Acrylic Paint
White Acrylic Paint
Orange Acrylic Paint
Scrap Ribbon, Yarn or Fleece
All-Purpose Craft Glue
Scissors
Paint Brush, Paper Towels and Water
Toothpicks
Hanging String

Cover your work surface with newspaper or an old plastic table cloth from the dollar discount store. You’ll need a plastic dish with water, a few paper towels and a plastic butter dish lid or plastic plate to serve as your painter’s palette.

Paint all sides of the wooden craft stick black and let it dry. Paint all sides of the wooden popsicle stick white and let it dry. Once both wooden sticks are dry…glue them together by placing the white popsicle stick on top of the black craft stick. Make sure you view the photo as you need to leave the top upper portion of the black craft stick exposed to serve as the penguin’s head.

You’ll want to paint a white oval shape for the penguin’s head on the black craft stick (the area you left exposed & not covered by the white popsicle stick). Next…dip the end of a round toothpick into black acrylic paint and dot on 3-4 dots on the white popsicle stick to serve as “coal” buttons. Dot on 2 slightly larger dots for the Penguin’s eyes. Let dry for 15-20 minutes.

Once dry…dip a new round toothpick into white acrylic paint and make tiny dots in the center of the black dots to finish the penguin’s eyes. Use a thin paint brush to paint on an orange triangular shaped beak.

You can use whatever scraps you have on hand to make his scarf. Yarn, ribbon and narrow fleece strips all work well.

If you are going to use them as package toppers or Christmas tree ornaments…cut a piece of thin ribbon or use embroidery floss to make the ornament hanger and glue it on the back of the penguin’s head. If you’re turning him into a refrigerator magnet…glue the magnet onto his back side and let him dry overnight.

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Back in early November I had my 6 year old grand daughter over for the weekend. Every time we get together…we always set aside some time for crafting. Just like her Nanny (me) She loves to sit down and be creative!

One of the projects we made were this adorable ribbon tree holiday ornaments. You only need a few supplies and if you are already a crafter, it’s a great way to use up your leftover scraps of ribbon. Here’s how we made them.

Kid’s Crafts – Ribbon Tree Christmas Ornaments

Skinny Straight Twigs 5″ to 6″ Long
Dark Brown Yarn
Scraps of 1/4″ to 1/2″ Wide Ribbon
All Purpose Craft Glue
Scissors
Decorative Buttons

You want to use thin but yet sturdy twigs that you’ve collected from outdoors. Make sure they are dry and bug-free. It’s easiest to work with ones that are straight and don’t have nubs. Cut a piece of dark brown yarn that is 4-6 times the length of your twig. Add a dot of glue onto your stick at one end and wrap the dark brown yarn around the entire length of the stick and once at the other end…secure with glue.

We used a wide variety of satin ribbons that I had leftover from other projects or from ribbons that I’ve collected from various packages. I always toss these ribbons into a special shoe box just for crafting.  You’ll need longer length ribbons for the bottom of your trees and shorter ones for the top. However, don’t worry about getting their length correct right now.

Leave 1 1/2″ of your stick bare with no ribbons which will serve as the tree trunk. Starting up from that point…tie ribbons around the stick and work your way up. You can use a wide variety of colors but we liked using mostly green and added in colors in-between. You want all of your knots facing one direction so that it gives everything a nice even look. Tie the ribbons around the entire stick until you reach the top.

Lay your ornament down onto the table and trim up all of your ribbons to form a triangular tree shape. Don’t worry, they don’t have to be perfect!

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To finish up…take a thin piece of ribbon and tie it into a loop, double knotting the end. Take a second piece of 1/4″ wide ribbon and tie it into a bow. Add a nice sized dot of glue at the top of your tree and add the hanging loop you just made. Add another smaller dot of glue on top of that and add your ribbon bow. If desired, add another dot of glue and add a decorative button.

As you can see from our two examples that we are featuring today, one tree has a decorative bow & button at the top and the second tree has just a plain bow. Use whatever you have on hand! That’s it!

We were able to make a dozen of these trees in less than 2 hours. We are going to attach them to packages this holiday season. Then the recipient can use the package toppers as Christmas tree ornaments! What a great craft project to do with the kids!