How to Make Vintage Crafts

Creating art and crafting with your children is a wonderful family bonding activity and has been for many years. Bring out those vintage craft ideas that you created as a child and teach your children the joy of simpler and less expensive past times. Many vintage crafts are inexpensive to make and require ordinary household supplies and ingredients. Create an old fashioned Christmas tree this year, by making these easy papier-mâché and salt dough ornaments.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring cups
• Water
• Flour, 2 1/4 cups
• Medium mixing bowl and spoon
• Newspaper
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Small round balloon or water balloon
• Yarn
• Clothes hanger
• Needle
• Craft glue
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brush
• 1/4 inch wide ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Salt, 1/2 cup
• Wax paper
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Drinking straw
• Cookie sheet
• Oven

Instructions

Vintage Papier-Mâché Ornaments

1. Mix 2 cups of warm tap water with a ¼ cup flour for the papier-mâché glue. Note: It will still have lumps. Cut strips of newspaper ½-inch wide by 4 inches long. Inflate a small round balloon or a water balloon to about the size of a tennis ball. Knot the end to secure.

2. Dip a cut newspaper strip in the papier-mâché glue mixture. As you pull it out, pull it between two lightly held together fingers to remove the drippy excess. Lay the strip on the balloon and and smooth it down. Repeat with additional strips to cover the balloon. Lay the strips in varying directions. Do not cover the knot on the balloon.

3. Apply three additional layer of papier-mâché strips, for a total of four layers. Cut a 12-inch piece of yarn. Tie one end of the yarn around the balloon knot. Tie the other end around a clothes hanger and hang the ornament to dry. This could take up to 24 hours to dry, depending on the weather and the thickness of the layers.

4. Insert a needle next to the knot of the balloon to deflate. Gently remove the balloon through the hole left by the knot. If needed, enlarge the hole using scissors. Cut a 1 inch square of newspaper and glue it over the hole using craft glue. Allow the glue to dry.

5. Paint the papier-mâché ornament using acrylic paints. Allow the paint to dry. Cut an 8 inch piece of ¼-inch wide ribbon. Bring the cut ends together and tie in an overhand knot and create a hanging loop. Apply hot glue to the folded end of the loop and attach to the top of the ornament.

Vintage Salt Dough Ornaments

1. Mix ½ cup of salt with ¾ cup of hot tap water in a medium size mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of flour to the salt water and stir. When the mixture becomes dough, place it on your work surface and knead. If the dough feels sticky, add one spoonful of flour at a time until it can be kneaded without sticking to your hands or work surface.

2. Roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness, on a sheet of wax paper, using a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut the desired shape of your ornaments. Poke a drinking straw through the ornament shape, 1/2 inch from the top for the ornament hanger. Place the ornaments on a cookie sheet and bake in a 325 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. The ornaments may brown slightly, like sugar cookies. Allow the ornaments to cool thoroughly.

3. Paint the ornaments using acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry. Cut an 8 inch piece of ¼-inch wide ribbon. Thread the ribbon through the hanger hole. Bring the ends together and tie in an overhand knot.