I love Christmas. Most of us do and while it comes with its own special blend of stress, overall, it’s probably my favorite holiday.
For me, nothing sparks a whole bunch of fond childhood memories like Christmas lights and a decorated Christmas tree. I still remember the feeling of excitement I’d get when I would go to my grandmother’s and find her little Christmas tree up in the corner of her living room.
It wasn’t overly fancy and it was probably less than four feet tall. But she had one ornament in particular that I’d look for every year – a little plastic Snow White. It was, hands down, my favorite.
And, looking back I realize it didn’t really have much relevance to Christmas – but it definitely added to the magic of the holiday. While my grandmother passed on long ago, there isn’t a Christmas, still, that I don’t think of that little ornament.
Creating Ornament Memories
One of my favorite parts of Christmas is making Christmas ornaments. This year, I decided to create a paper mache ice cream ornament. I’ve included the steps I took here in case you want to create your own.
I’m not particularly traditional when it comes to Christmas and I believe pink can be blended perfectly in with red and green. (I think pink can be worked into any scene 😜).
Full disclosure: I didn’t get as many photos as I originally planned while working on this project.
I started with the basic shape of ice cream and an ice cream cone using some wadded-up scrap paper and junk mail as well as a styrofoam cone that I happened to have on hand. I then merged those pieces together with masking tape and got it ready for a layer of paper mache. I used CelluClay from Activa as my paper mache. It was my first time using it, and I feel like it will be my paper mache “go-to” from now on. Clean-up was easy and it stayed on the form really well while drying.
The Activa Paper Mache Clay comes dry and, as you mix water with it, it turns into clay. The clay can then be mashed onto the form. Once I had the clay spread across the ice cream form, I let it dry for a couple of days. Before the ice cream form was fully dry, I added a little bit of wire to the top of the ice cream so I could hang it on the tree. I used some glue to reinforce this area. (Some additional photos would be nice here but I forgot to take them).
Once the form was dry, I painted the ice cream cone. And, once the paint was dry, I added some sparkly glitter (totally optional if you are anti-glitter).
Merry and Bright
I really like how it turned out and it is the perfect ornament to hang on my non-traditional tree. I tend to put up a few trees in my home and my dining room has become the hub of my love of non-traditional Christmas. My grandmother would be proud. Her little Snow White ornament would make a darling addition.
Are you more into traditional Christmas decor or are you a Christmas rule-breaker? I think I’m a little of both.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Get thousands of graphics in our VIP vault along with new graphics each month. Commercial license included so you can use the graphics for personal use or in your business.