Symmetrical 3-D Christmas Ornaments + Advent Link-Up

The idea for these pretty Christmas ornaments came about when my Godly Play co-teacher, Melinda, brought me a similar egg-shaped ornament that was made for Easter. She suggested that we might be able to make some sort of Christmas ornament out of it for our upcoming Advent Club that we do with our local elementary school. 

You will need:

- Thick, beautiful paper. I used a type of extra thick construction paper, much like scrapbooking papers sold in the States.

- Glue

- Scissors

- Symmetrical patterns and patterns for Baby Jesus' head and body.

- Ribbon

- Hole puncher

- Wooden stars

Step 1:  Choose a symmetrical shape and make a pattern. Any symmetrical shape will work. I chose to use a Christmas tree pattern, a star, and an oval for a "manger".

Step 2: Trace and cut out four copies of your design.

Step 3: Fold each pattern in half and begin glueing them together. If you are making Baby Jesus, you should glue the oval shapes for the manger together first. Then, make two copies of Baby Jesus, glue the head and body together, and fold them in half as well. Then, Baby Jesus can be glued into two of the folded ovals. 

Step 4: Punch holes at the top and bottom of the design. 

Step 5: Tie ribbons at the top and bottom. 

Step 6: A wooden star can be glued to the ribbon at the bottom as decoration. Or they can be used in other places, such as for "ornaments" on the Christmas tree.

Here is some of the children's finished work. 

(Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of the Christmas trees!)

Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

and Kids Get Crafty at Red Ted's Art Blog

And now I'd like to invite you to share your wonderful Advent and Christmas ideas at this Link-Up party:

Please feel free to share all your ideas for Advent and Christmas with us! 

I'll be posting each week until New Year's. We all love to have a pool of ideas to gather from, so please share old or new posts. 

If you participate, please link back to Explore and Express. Feel free to grab the button above or in the side bar. 

By participating in the link party, you give me permission to share your photos in weekly highlights.

Please do not link giveaways or advertisements for commercial items. Thanks!