Easy Upcycled Ornaments - My Frugal Nature

I enjoy crafting. But, to be honest, I’m not exactly talented at it! So if I can make these easy upcycled ornaments, you surely can too!

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Years ago, we converted the kids’ play room to a craft room. Well, that’s what we call it. Since it’s in the unfinished basement, it’s more like craft material storage. It’s the first place I go when I want to make something crafty.

I feel strongly about trying to use materials I already have on hand. Not only do they cost nothing, but they are often reclaimed from recycling or other crafts, or purchased at a yard sale. It also means I don’t need to make an extra trip out in the car, so I save on gas, plus avoid potential exposure to COVID!

Find more DIY projects! DIY Fire Pit, Money Saving DIY Laundry Pre-Treat, and Easy DIY Chair Reupholstering.

Easy Upcycled Ornaments Materials

For this project, I started with old Ball jar rings. While jar rings are reusable, these were discolored and had rust spots–perfect for covering to make ornaments.

Keeping materials properly sorted in our craft area makes crafting so much easier and more enjoyable. Rooting through boxes of random items is a sure-fire inspiration killer!

Easy Upcycled Ornaments — These Ball jar rings are old but clean. The discolaration won’t show when we’re finished!

Instructions

Once you’ve chosen the ribbon, yarn or twine you want to use, you’ll need to estimate how much you’ll need. I’d love to tell you to cut so many inches, but it truly depends on what material you are using and how thick it is. I suggest doing a quick wrap of a Ball ring with your chosen material then adding an extra foot to be on the safe side.

After cutting your yarn or ribbon, wrap it once around the jar ring and knot in place. Make sure the knot is on the inside of the ring. As you begin wrapping your material over the ring, you will cover the knot. For ribbon, I like overlapping it. Yarn or twine wrapping doesn’t need to overlap, but you’ll want to use enough that you have no gaps for the ring to show through.

Start your ornament with your desired material and tie in a knot. The knot will be covered!

Finishing Your Easy Upcycled Ornaments

Now that your rings are covered and ends are glued in place, you can get fancy! There are no rules here. You can add buttons or beads, wrap with an accent color or use designs cut out of old cards! You can customize these decorations for any holiday or personalize them for a gift.

To add a loop for hanging your ornament, use your primary wrap material or an accent. You can knot it or glue in place. I did both to ensure it will hold! Use a longer loop to hang ornaments on door knobs.