Turn clear, plastic Christmas balls into year-round Flower Drop Garden Ornaments that you can hang on a deck, patio or balcony when the weather warms up.
We’ve made a lot of garden ornaments here in my daycare, because they make great Mother’s Day gifts, and this one is my newest favourite.
We used clear plastic ornaments that we normally use to make Christmas ornaments, and we’ve filled them with artificial flowers so they can be displayed all year round.
I got the inspiration for these Flower Drop ornaments the other day when I was at my Mom’s.
She had some gorgeous hand-blown, glass ornaments hanging in her garden, and the minute I saw them I knew we needed to make something similar here in my daycare. Ours would have to be non-breakable of course, and inexpensive, and totally do-able for toddlers and preschoolers.
I came home, and rifled through the cupboards, and found exactly what we needed!
Clear, plastic ornaments!
They were perfect!
We’ve made some gorgeous Christmas ornaments with them in the past, but you know what? They make spectacular patio ornaments to hang in your outdoor sitting space or from the branches of a tree in your yard.
To make our Flower Drop Garden Ornaments, we used:
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Supplies:
- clear, plastic ornaments with removable lids
- colourful pony beads
- aquarium stones
- artificial flowers
- fishing line
Easy enough for a toddler to make!
Making these ornaments couldn’t be any easier!
- Take the top off your ornament, and have your child drop in a handful of beads or stones. Little ones love dropping things into things, so filling the ornaments will be a hit with young children.
- Next, push your flowers through the opening, and shake the ornament a little until you’re happy with the positioning of the contents.
- When you’re happy with the way your ornament looks, pop the lid back on and loop some fishing line through the wire hanger.
Here’s a very simple but stunning ornament that required just one large bloom. We didn’t add anything else because it was so lovely in its simplicity.
Note: Take care not to over-fill your ornament. You want it to be light enough that the lid doesn’t pop off under the weight of the contents when you hang it up.
Aren’t these gorgeous?
I can’t get enough of them!
I just love it when we take a few basic craft supplies out of the cupboard and make something this beautiful!
Where to hang your flower drop garden ornaments:
- in a sunny window
- on a patio or deck
- in a tree
- clustered together
- spaced out and staggered in height
- You can also pull these out at Christmas time, and hang them on your tree!
One thing’s for sure!
No matter where you display your flower drop garden ornaments, they’ll look amazing.
More easy garden ornaments for kids to make:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Catherine @craftykaki
These are so pretty. You know what would be a fun idea too? Fill them with some small stones, artificial plants and some plastic fish/animals/insects and make tiny hanging wildlife terrariums!
Now I want to try both ideas! Can you get those ornaments this time of year?
Cherie Hazell
i LOVE THESE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT BALLS. I WAS WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM?
I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA (SYDNEY) AND HAVEN’T SEEN THEM HERE. MY DAUGHTER IS GETTING MARRIED (2 YEARS WHICH WILL GO QUICK) AND I AM STARTING TO WORK ON IDEAS.
happyhooligans
I’m not sure where you get them in Australia, Cherie, but here, we get them at the major craft stores like Michael’s Crafts, Hobby Lobby and even at the Dollar Stores. They might only stock them around Christmastime though. I would ask at your local craft store if they can order them for you. Otherwise, you might have to do some googling to see if you can order them online. I know Amazon carries them, but I’m not sure if they ship to you.
nuria
I did something similar in the fall 3 years ago. Wind blew the balls and the wire and cap were lost. Later I replaced the caps with plastic caps with tread from soda bottles. They still look great. For Easter I fill the with colored artificial grass and they look spectacular.
Crystal
Great idea. And I can see these as a great mothers day gift from her kidos. They could also add a pastel or other decorative bow to make it special.