Art for Littles: Ornaments For Young Ones (That Look Nice!)

Prints! One of the first ornaments I made with the boys were hand or foot prints on cork coasters. You will need a set of cork coasters from a craft store, paint in any color you like and a brush, a hole punch, printing ink (I used white), a brayer, a surface to roll your ink on (I like to use an ikea tray to do the whole project on and keep things contained), some ribbon, and a clear sealant.
-Paint your cork tiles one solid color. You might need to coats, I just used some acrylic craft paint.
-Use your hole punch to put a hole where you want the ornament to hang. Make sure not to put the hole really close to the edge.
-Using your ink, spread some out with your brayer on your tray. Have your child make a hand print! I like to keep a washcloth nearby for cleanup before their hand goes into their mouth.
-Let the ink dry.
-Coat with a clear spray paint or sealant.

Keep in mind that hand prints are not always perfect, especially when very little babies are making them. They often curl their fingers. You can try to gently hold their fingers extended and guide their hand onto the ornament. If they are very little (younger then six months) I recommend footprints. Our older son was about nine months when he did his and he did a pretty good job, but we made a bunch extra too.

Felt! Felt can make some really nice looking ornaments with very little cost. Here are some little trees we did with felt and sequins. You will need felt, scissors, sequins, glue, q-tips, and some ribbon.
-Make a pattern to cut your felt shapes.

-Mix up some glue with just a little water (1 part glue to 1/2 part water).

-Have your kid(s) use a q-tip to apply a dot of glue and then place a sequin. If there is extra glue, don't worry, it will dry clear.
-Attach a ribbon to the back with some glue to hang. You can also punch a hole in the felt for the ribbon or stitch on a string.

Here is the example I made on the left and Owen's (three years old) on the right.

Watercolors! We use watercolors for everything! They look really nice painted onto premade wooden ornaments you can get at a craft store. You will need a wooden ornament, tray of watercolor paints (Crayola works great), a paintbrush, some ribbon, and a clear sealant.

-Using a sponge squeeze a little water into each color of your watercolor tray.

-Let your kid(s) go crazy painting!
-Seal dry ornaments with a clear coat.
-Attach a ribbon to hang.
Here is one that Beckett (one year old) made.

Here are several that Owen did a couple years ago when he was about a year old as well. He still loves making these.