How to make honeycomb paper ornaments

How to make honeycomb ornaments out of paper, Honeycomb ornament DIY, how to make paper ornaments, honeycomb ornament pattern, handmade christmas decorations, christmas decor ideas, colorful christmas decor

To say that I am obsessed with these paper honeycomb ornaments would be an understatement….they carry some nostalgia (remembering opening up similar ones made from tissue paper at my grandmas each year to decorate the tree) but also the shapes and the colors are just making me fall in love! And truthfully, they are NOT that hard to make….especially using the new pointed tip nozzle nose on the Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue (like honestly, loads of precision that you can’t get from any other glue bottle I’ve found)! 🙂

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Cardstock in your fave colors (you will need 3-5 12×12 sheets per ornament OR 5-7 8.5×11 sheets per ornament)
A bottle of the pointed tip nozzle Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue
Some clotheslines for precision holding while drying
Some string/cord/ribbon of choice
Optional beads for the top and/or bottom
Sharp scissors, pencil , ruler and pen cap (pen cap for scoring) ORRRRR Your fave cutting machine with cutting blade and scoring tool

**Just a note on paper choice here – you 100% can use any paper that you want to make these ornaments. I chose to use cardstock so that the ornaments were more sturdy and would stand the test of my kids shoving them in and out of our Christmas boxes each year! ANNNND I wanted them to be substantial enough in visual weight to hold up against the wooden beads I used (again, an optional material). I guess what I’m trying to say is: PLEASE USE WHATEVER PAPER YOU WANT TO!!!! 🙂

There is no need to run to the store and buy scads of new supplies…..raid your supply drawers for patterned paper, computer paper, tissue and even use kid construction paper if you want to! 🙂 The thicker the paper (the heavier weight) the more substantial and sturdy the ornaments will be) 🙂

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut out your ornaments from paper!
You can either download the SVG file below (for your cutting machine) ORRRR the PDF’s that I’ve provided to either print off or trace and cut (choose your method….and truthfully I tried them all and all work wonderfully)! 🙂

note: With any of the methods that you choose, you will want 18-26 ornament shapes for each ornament to make them look full and happy so just keep that in mind when you size accordingly

TEMPLATE DOWNLOADS:

**If you are using a cutting machine, like a Cricut be sure to follow these steps with the SVG that I’ve provided:

1. Upload your image into your Cricut design space
2. Size your ornaments if you want them bigger or smaller (I made the circle about 3.5” and each the other 2 about 5” in height or width)
3. On the side bar (to the right) be sure to highlight the straight line for each ornament and one by one go up to the top menu bar and be sure to select “score” instead of cut….this will put the easily foldable score line down the exact middle of each ornament shape
4. Then highlight the score line and the shape of the ornament together on the right side bar and “attach” them together at the bottom of the sidebar. This makes sure that the score line and the shape are “together” instead of being cut/scored separately 🙂
5. You can copy and paste up to 9 shapes for one piece of 12×12 so that it cuts simple and smart on your Cricut 🙂

2. Fold your ornaments in half along the score line!

If you handout your ornament, you will want to use a ruler and a pen cap (something pointy, that won’t pierce, rip or tear the fabric) to make a score line along the exact center of the ornament from top to bottom.

3. Begin glueing together 🙂

Question: Wouldn’t it be easier to use hot glue for this project?
Answer: I am going to give a resounding NOOOO to that. Sure, the hot glue would dry more instantly (although this Aleene’s glue dries pretty darn fast)….not only would you have 9348397853 strings from your hot glue that you’d have to meticulously pull off when completed, BUUUUUT hot glue can easily get globby and 3D when dry which would alter the shape of your ornaments and leave unwanted texture between layers making each layer harder to line up with the previous.

SOOOO I *highly* HIGHLY recommend this Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue (with the pointed tip nozzle…..this is the game changer IMO)!

How to glue the Circle Honeycomb ornament:

Make sure all of your circles of one color are folded in half along the score line.

Then run a bead of glue from the middle score line towards the outside edge on ONE side of the folded circle. Be sure not to put the bead of glue close to the edge of the paper so that it doesn’t squirt out the sides (although if that does happen it’s not that big of a deal).

Fold the circles in 1/2 along the score line and repeat this bead of glue with ALL of your cut circles of one color.

Set these aside to dry with your clothespins holding folded as you go. (They really only need about 10 minutes and they are PERFECTLY dry…..so fast and amazing)!

Once they are dry, remove the clothes pins and you will begin glueing them ALL together. With the circles still folded (don’t open them), you will run 2 beads of glue along the top and bottom of the folded circle about 3/4” or less away from the top and bottom edge. Then layer another folded circle on top and repeat until all of the circles are glued together (I actually glued 1/2 the stack and then clothes-pinned them together…..and then repeated with the other 1/2 of the stack to be sure that the glue dried with everything smushed together).

Clothespin them ALL together in one big stack for 10-15 minutes or until they are all dry and ready to finish with steps 4 and 5 below!

How to glue the Teardrop Honeycomb ornament:

Make sure all of your teardrop shapes of one color are folded in half along the score line.

Then run a bead of glue from the middle score line outwards towards the outside edge on ONE side of the folded teardrop shape. Be sure not to put the bead of glue too close to the edge of the paper so that it doesn’t squirt out on the sides.

Fold the teardrop shapes in half along the score line and set them aside while making stacks of them to clothes pin together to hold as they dry. I made about 2-3 stacks per color and set them aside to dry.

Once they are dry, remove the clothes pins and begin gluing them ALL together. Do this by grabbing one of the folded teardrop shape and adding 2 beads of glue from the folded edge, outward – one bead about 1/2” from the top and the other about 1/2” from the bottom. Then layer another folded teardrop on top and repeat this until all of the teardrops of one color are glued together – clothespin them together OR put them under a heavy book to fully dry for about 10-15 minutes until you are ready to finish with steps 4 and 5 below!

How to glue the Tall Honeycomb ornament:

Make sure all of your tall shapes of one color are folded in half along the score line.

Then put a dot of glue at the top “circle” part along one edge of the inside fold and another bead of glue just under the 2nd bump from the top (near the top of the main, bigger bulb part….see pic if you’re having trouble understanding, ha! 🙂 Be sure not to put the glue too close to the edge that the glue seeps out. Then fold the tall ornament shapes in half and keep repeating this process, begin to clothespin them together to hold in stacks to dry.

Once they are dry, remove the clothespins and begin gluing them ALL together. Do this by grabbing one of the folded tall shapes and put one bead of glue near the top on the 2nd bump from top (glue from the crease outward). Then do another bead of glue almost vertically about 1 inch from the bottom point of the tall shape towards the bottom (REALLLLY be sure not to glue too close to the edge because if this one seeps out it glues multiple shapes together, ACK!) Again, see pic for the visual placement 🙂 Then layer another folded tall ornament shape onto and glue together – repeat this step as you keep clothespinning them together as needed into stacks until ALL of the tall shapes are glued into one big stack. Set aside to fully dry and finish your ornament in steps 4 and 5 🙂

4. Open carefully for the first time and repeat a few times! 🙂

Depending on how thick your paper is and how much glue you used, you will have to “work” your ornament open just a bit (sometimes those clothespins keep them so good and closed that they just need some love for the first time they are opened).

I SLOWLY and CAREFULLY opened and clothed each of the ornaments about 2-3 times before they completely came open easily! You will just basically want to work out the “un-glued” parts of the ornament so that they fully open. The more you do this, the better they are – you will want to be sure that you open them into a circle shape too not just an “accordion” – pretend that they are coming “out and around” like they would if they were 100% all glued into a circle already (which we will do in step 5)! 🙂

5. Add String and/or other embellishments 🙂

I chose to spray paint some wooden beads in gold/champagne color metallic paint and string these onto the string. (I folded the string in 1/2 and then put that through the bead and threaded the ends through the loop on the string to make the bottom of the bead stay).

I used a large dab of glue to run down the “spine” of the honeycomb ornament and placed a strand of my string along the glue. I pressed it in nicely and set aside to allow to dry. When it was dry, I gently pulled the ornament into a circle and then glued the 2 “ends” of the ornament together. I just held these closed for a few minutes but you could also put your clothes pins back into the open slots of the honeycomb to hold for a few minutes as well! 🙂

TAAA DAAA! Now your DIY honeycomb ornaments are ready to put onto your Christmas tree, wreath or strand of garland! YAYYYYYY! 🙂

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