How to Make Pet Christmas Ornaments

Create a festive Christmas ornament for your pet.

Pet lovers know that incorporating their special animal into holiday traditions is important. However you choose to celebrate Christmas, it's likely your cat will be romping in the tissue paper and your dog will be waiting for turkey scraps under the table. Create a Christmas ornament for your companion that you can hang on the tree in his honor and save as a keepsake for years to come. As thoughtful holiday gifts, make ornaments for your friends' pets, too.

Things You'll Need

• White bread, 5 slices
• Food processor or blender
• Glue
• Mixing bowl
• Cookie cutter (optional)
• Toothpick
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Ribbon
• Plastic foam ball, 2 or 3-inch diameter
• Decoupage glue or clear-drying craft glue
• Photos of your pet
• Scissors
• Paint brush
• Ribbon, 5 inches

Instructions

Doggie Dough Ornaments

1. Cut the crusts off the bread and use a food processor to turn them into crumbs. Mix the crumbs and about 1 tablespoon of glue in a bowl using your fingers. White craft glue works best for this.

2. Knead the mixture until it feels like dough, about five minutes. Sculpt the dough into the shape of your pet or roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter of a cat, dog or bird. You can also use an outline of a photo to trace around to get the shape you want.

3. Poke a toothpick through the dough to make a hole for it to hang from, and leave it there while the dough dries for several hours.

4. Paint the ornament with the same colors as your pet or paint your pet's name on it. Thread a ribbon through the hole you made with the toothpick and tie it to make a loop. Hang it on your tree.

Decoupage Ornament

1. Gather photos of your pet and cut him out neatly until you have enough pictures to cover the plastic foam ball you chose.

2. Brush the clear glue onto part of the ball and adhere a photo. Repeat until the whole ball is covered. This looks best when no particular order is used and photos overlap in the style of a collage. Allow the ball to dry.

3. Brush a thin layer of glue over half of the pictures on the ball, taking care to make it smooth and eliminate any bumps. Press one end of the ribbon onto the ball near where you want the top to be, while the glue is still wet. Set the ball on the dry side until the glued side is dry. Then repeat on the other side, gluing the photos smoothly and pressing the other end of the ribbon onto the ball. Allow it to dry.

References

• Kaboose: Bread Dough Clay Ornaments
• Craft Town: Christmas Card Balls