DIY Equestrian Christmas Decorations: Part 2
What to do with all those horse show ribbons? Turn them into ornaments!
By: Brittany Bevis
Because we received such a great response from our DIY Equestrian Christmas Decorations: Part 1, we decided to share Part 2 that has even more fun ideas to infuse a bit of equestrian flair into your holiday decorations.
We have two takes on creating keepsake ribbon ornaments that are perfect for commemorating your most memorable wins of the show season.
Keepsake Ribbon Ornaments:
Rosette Globe
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty Level- 0
The first type of keepsake ribbon ornament is perfect for those special ribbons that you’d like to keep intact. For this simple project, you will need a snap-together ball ornament.
To make the Rosette Globe begin with a snap-together ornament
These are available at any craft store in many different sizes and have a plastic tab at the top for easy hanging. We found one at Michael’s Craft Store.
Open the ornament and place the rosette from your ribbon inside. You can either curl the tails of the ribbon up underneath and secure with a rubber band or cut them off the ribbon entirely. Feel free to add some ribbon curls, confetti, or glitter before snapping the ornament back together. Then, use a fine tipped paint marker to write the name and date of the horse show on the outside of the globe in script. You’re done!
To make the Ribbon Ball start with a plain globe ornament.
Ribbon Ball
Time: 2/ 1/2 hours
Difficulty Level: 3
Another take on this idea involves cutting a ribbon into strips, so be sure to use those with less sentimental value. To begin, disassemble your ribbon. Most are held together with hot glue, so they should come apart easily. Depending on the type of ribbon you have, it will consist of a few pieces: a decorative rosette, ribbon tails, medallion, and likely fringe tassle.
Disassemble your ribbon.
Cut the plain ribbon tails, that don’t have text, into thin strips and glue vertically from the base to the top of a plain globe ornament. The strips don’t have to go straight up and down; try a diagonal design. More than likely, they will have to overlap at some point. Continue the process until the entire globe is covered. Hot glue could work for this project, but we used super strong E-6000 glue that can be found at Walmart. It provides a bit of extra drying time, which allows for slight adjustment of the ribbon pieces after placement.
Once that’s complete, take the part of the ribbon with text and cut out words you’d like to use. For this example, we chose the title received, “First Place,” and class it was won in, “Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle.” Glue those onto the face and/or back of the globe.
Ta da!
You could stop here, but to add a bit of pop to our blue ribbon ball, we cut very thin strips of yellow and red ribbon to add as well. The pleated part of the rosette that surrounds the medallion makes a perfect ornament topper! Just glue it in place. We added the fringed tassle on top as well. Hang the completed ornament on your tree with pride or give as a gift.
Looking for more ideas? Create a Carrot Wreath for your horse by attaching bunches of full size carrots (with green tops still attached) to a live wreath for some snacking fun and not to mention a great photo opportunity. Just don’t leave your horse unattended in case he decides to snack on the evergreen branches once the carrots are gone!
An elegant Equestrian themed Door Knocker is simple to create by using a spare English stirrup and a few holiday accessories like a red bow, spring of holly, assorted greenery, and silver bells. Use a bit of crafting wire to attach everything together and then hang on your front door with one of 3M Command Damage-Free Picture Hanging Strips. Add some equestrian flair to a Holiday Wreath by adding an old bit, spare reins, and few rusty horse shoes with craft wire.
