How to make 3D paper ornaments | How About Orange

December 15, 2009

How to make 3D paper ornaments

Here's a Christmas ornament you can make with colored papers or magazine pages. I'm not sure what to call it. A funnel ball? The instructions:

1. Cut out 10 paper circles (any size, as long as they're all the same). Text weight paper will be easier to work with than cardstock.
2. Cut each circle along the radius.
3. Put a small piece of double-stick tape on each side of the cut near the edge of the paper.

4. Flip the circle over so the taped side is down; then pull each flap across the circle toward you and twist to form a cone. Press the taped ends down to secure. You should end up with two cones that look vaguely like a fortune cookie. Do this to each of your 10 circles.

5. String the double cones together with a needle and thread. Make sure they're gathered snugly in a ball and tie a knot. Use the trailing ends of the thread to make a loop for hanging.

Here's one made from magazine pages. If you like recycled crafts, give it a whirl. Or try a felt version!

53 comments:

Grandma G said...

Gee, a circle cutter would sure be handy for that project!

Jessica Jones said...

I know, but I don't want to dull my fabric cutter! So I traced around a glass with a pencil and cut out each one.

Grandma G said...

Oh, no! I thought sure you must've used it. What are you ever gonna make out of fabric circles??? :)

Jessica Jones said...

Maybe I will make some of these out of felt.

Grandma G said...

There ya go! You hafta try out that circle cutter... it's so fun! And you've only had it for almost a year. ;-)

danielle said...

This is such a great idea! I think I might use it this Friday. I have a few of my classes having Christmas crafts and this is a perfect project! Thanks. Also, stop being so darn awesome all the time. You make the rest of us look bad. ;)

Jessica Jones said...

Yes, that is my goal.

Melissa Blake said...

I love it...thanks for posting!

Unknown said...

Fantastic! I really like these artsy ideas. Thanks so much for sharing your creative flava with us! I think my Mom is going to love this funnel ball thing too. :)

Jessica @ Sunny Tuesday said...

These are cute! Not your typical paper ornament!

happileah said...

so great! I have a paper circle cutter that would be perfect for this...

Andrea said...

CUTE!!

Dana said...

Definitely going to have to give these a try

Wehaf said...

I love these! Is the double-sided tape sticky enough to hold up long term?

Also, if your circle cutter gets dulls, you should be able to sharpen it by cutting out some foil circles. Whenever my scissors get dulls, I cut up some foil and they're back to being sharp.

kelly said...

Ah! Love these! My first thought (after, "Awe-some!") was, "I bet these would be cute in felt." Be sure to post if you try that!

loving. living. small. said...

love this!

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog recently and love it. I think these would look cute made into flowers. Instead of making a perfect circle make it wavey and add a yellow pom pom to the middle or something. The possiblities are endless. I love crafts.

Unknown said...

These look fun. I've been lurking and hoping you'll post some cool Christmas designs I can transfer to plain towels and embroider. I am appalled at the store-bought Christmas towel options for a hip 20-something couple! :) How else is a girl supposed to decorate the kitchen for Christmas?! :)

SweetBeaker said...

Thanks for sharing, Jess!

Sheri Howard said...

Do you think all these cute ideas up yourself? What a great brain you have! So cute!

Bek said...

we had an ornament just like this growing up, only it was made of foil and pretty garish. My youngest brother loved and it would always put it on the tree, despite all our protests. This is much nicer, but I had to chuckle when I saw it.

Maybe I'll have to make him a few with nicer paper options.

thebookbaglady said...

Great idea! I'll have to give it a try!
Gretchen

kellybeth said...

i believe it's called kusudama.

kelly said...

Bek said...

we had an ornament just like this growing up, only it was made of foil and pretty garish.


I still have that ornament! I begged and begged my mom for it in the checkout line of the grocery store when I was about 6. She hated it, so I think she was glad when I moved out and took it with me. 30 years later, I still get it out every year! Hee!

(As an adult, I can appreciate how bad it is... perhaps I need to replace it with one of these?)

Peggy said...

These are great! I remember making them when I was pretty young but couldn't the pattern again!! Hmm, can I post these on my blog? For right now I am just going to post a link cause I think these are super cool and have many friends who are looking for inexpensive decoration ideas this year!!

Peggy said...

Oh, what kind of circle cutter do you have? I've been looking at getting one but just couldn't make up my mind. I make tons of stuff using paper, foil, or felt circles but never fabric.

What do you think of making these with fabric that has been stiffen w/ a fabric stiffener?

Kara said...

Verrrry awesome!

Becky said...

Love it! I'm thinking making 'em with foil paper would be festive. Or with a thin felt and glitter!

Thanks!

Doris said...

How cute! I remember these ornaments as a kid. My mother bought them from the drugstore after a post-Christmas sale. I'll have to add this to my To-Do Craft list ^_^

Bek said...

That's so funny, Kelly! My brother is only 19, so I'm not sure where the ornament even originated from, but its memory lives on forever.

Unknown said...

My mom had these on the christmas tree when I was little!

maria said...

Hi, my name is Maria and I write from Italy. Wow your blog is very beautiful and your ideas are fantastic!!! I have a blog, can I write about you? My blog is http://mariadn.splinder.com
Bye bye and many compliments!!

JessicaSews said...

I am intrigued! Love the look and your tutorial makes it seem quick and easy.
Thank you for sharing!

Happy Holidays!
~Jes

Kim S. said...

Great tutorial! I linked it on my blog! =]

Anna M. said...

Adding it to one of my craft lists. They just keep getting longer and longer.

Larissa Holland said...

you are so totally awesome. hey...what fabric circle cutter? what is it? where do you get it? I've been looking for something to cut circles from felt foreva.

Jessica Jones said...

I have this Olfa version right here.

Grandma G said...

Larissa, she didn't tell you where she REALLY got it. She got it from ME. :-) I got one for myself, too, and I LOVE it! It's how I cut all the interfacing circles for my storage bucket bottoms. Like, you cut a perfect circle in 2 seconds! It only goes up to 8", though, so I had to cut the 'fabric' bottoms with my regular rotary cutter... just for that extra half inch. Guess I should've adjusted my bucket dimensions. ;-)

Larissa Holland said...

Jessica and Grandma G., whoa. thanks. I'm totally gettin that thing. I wish I could find something to cut smaller perfect circles though, like 1 inch or less. My paper punches don't work, not with felt. I looked into getting leather punches but couldn't find any cheap ones.

Angie said...

Great idea! Here's an added hint... save those Christmas cards and use them next year for creating these ornaments.
Have a great holiday!

Thisismyname said...

I used my CriCut to cut the circles... so they were perfect!! Unfortunately, my gluing and sewing technique left much to be desired.... Mine looks awful!!!! But, it was fun to try anyway!!

Little Birdie Secrets said...

LOVE these!!

Anonymous said...

thats cool thankz

Anonymous said...

We used to make huge ones from the pointed cups for soda, and smaller ones from drinking water cups. Saves the cutting and pasting.

I {heart} Nap Time said...

Super cute!! I'd love for you to link these up at our holiday party!http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-christmas-crafter-link-up-w.html

Anonymous said...

Lovely idea and very versatile. I put mini cones inside the larger ones with a dab of glue. I think they would look lovely hanging from the gazebo or canopy at a BBQ.

Penny said...

I can't begin to thank you for sharing this! My Nannan showed me how to make them with coloured foil paper growing up and I forgot over the years how to do it. I have been desperately looked for something similar every Christmas season.

Jessica Jones said...

Sure thing! I found the directions in an ancient craft book from decades past.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the directions for these! They are so cute! I just gave them a try, but I can't seem to get the final knot tied close enough and tight enough to the center, so my ball flops around too much. Any tips on tying the final knot? Thank you!

Anonymous said...

this is so fun to make this

Anonymous said...

it is so fun to mak a paperball

Art. Of Grace said...

My Big Shot machine has circle dies with scalloped edges. Also, I have a clear circle die. It would make short work out of circle cutting for this lovely project for sure. Here we go again.

Sarah said...

Needed a last minute ornament craft and this was perfect! Came out really cute, but I have no idea how I was supposed to tie it off, so I twisted the thread around a bunch. I hope it holds!