DIY Wedding Invitation Ornaments

Today I want to share a super quick and easy craft you can make as a wedding gift: wedding invitation ornaments!

On our first Christmas after JM and I were married, we realized we didn’t have any ornaments for our tree! It was an easy problem to solve, but when we got wedding invites for a couple weddings this fall, I decided that I could do something to prevent that problem for those couples.

One of the very first things I ever pinned after joining Pinterest (way before I even started this blog!) was a gorgeous picture of a glass ornament filled with paper curls, and it’s where I got the idea for these ornaments.

I really love the invitations we had printed for our wedding, and I’m sure other couples (or at least the brides!) feel the same way. So these ornaments are the perfect way to make a keepsake out of those invitations while also providing a couple with an ornament for their first Christmas tree!

And they’re ridiculously easy to make!

Wedding Invitation Ornaments

Here’s what you need:

• empty glass ball ornament (can be found at most craft stores)
• ribbon
• wedding invitation (or other paper for filling)
• scissors
• a pen or pencil

Start by cutting the invitation into thin strips. If you can, try to cut along the lines of text to preserve the important words. I love being able to find my first name and my husband’s name in the ornament I made for us!

Depending on the size of your glass ornament, you might not have enough room for all of your strips, so choose your favorites and start with them! Grab a strip of paper and wrap it tightly around a pen, pencil, or similarly-shaped object (I had some caramel apple sticks left over from making caramel apples, so I used one of those).

Once it’s wound tight, let go and the coil of paper will come off the stick. It will be pretty tightly coiled, but I found it works better if you “fluff” it out a bit and expand the coil. It will fill the space in the ornament better.

Open up the top of your ornament and stick the coil inside. Then start making your next coil. Continue until the ball is full!

As I made this, I set aside the “important” strips (the ones with the couples’ names, the date, the location, etc.) and put them into the ornament near the end. That way I could try to position them so that they were visible from the outside, rather than hidden in the middle.

Once the ball is full, put the top back on, thread some ribbon through the hole at the top, and tie a knot.

And you’re done! Now you have a fun personalized wedding invitation ornament! They make a great wedding gift (just make sure you get the important details off of the invite before you go cutting it up!) Or just find some fun colored or patterned scrapbook paper and use that instead; that way you can customize it for any occasion!

The pink and black ornament is made from our wedding invitation, the black one is from JM’s younger brother’s, and the green and orange one is from our college roommates’.

For all you married people, do you still have any of your extra invitations? What other DIY Christmas ornament ideas have you seen recently? It is almost that time, I need to get on making a few others for our tree this year!

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Jessi Wohlwend

Hi! I'm Jessi, the blogger behind Practically Functional, a blog about simple and practical ways to love your home, no matter where you live! We love every single square foot of our little home, and you can love yours too! Make sure you follow along by RSS or subscribe by email so you don't miss anything!

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