Christmas Craft: Easy White Cookie-Cutter Clay Ornaments

It's been a whole week since I last posted...where has the time gone? Between wrapping presents, preparing for our holiday party this weekend and dealing with computer troubles, the time has flown by. 

...but I also managed to complete one last Christmas craft, an easy one that I hope you'll try in a spare 30 minutes: white, metallic-edged clay ornaments shaped from holiday cookie cutters. 

I temporarily banished most of our colorful ornaments from the tree this year, but I wanted to add a few handmade ornaments (a thing I've done for the past few years) and bright white ornaments felt like a nice touch.

I discovered an aisle of bake-in-the-oven clay at Michael's and, as quickly, I decided to make clay ornaments shaped from cookie cutters! For this project, I needed:

(cookie sheet / parchment paper / rolling pin / cookie cutters / skewer / oven-bake clay / metallic markers)

Having never worked with clay like this, I was a little intimidated but the steps were minimal (hallelujah!). 

I started by cutting a chunk of the white clay with a serrated knife and rolling it out on parchment paper until the clay was 1/4" thick (as the instructions on the clay package stated). 

 The assortment of holiday-themed cookie cutters were incredibly easy to use with the clay. I stamped out a few shapes in seconds flat.

 Each clay shape went on the cookie sheet and I used a bamboo skewer to create a hole for hanging. Into the oven they went at 375° for 15 minutes (as per the instructions).

After the clay ornaments cooled, I colored their edges with metallic markers (found on super-sale after the holidays last year) in gold and silver, which gave them a little more dimension.

 The last and final step: to attach a ribbon to hang the ornaments. Of course, you can also use a ornament hook, too. And that's that...easy, handmade ornaments that can be made in less than an hour. They'd also make great present tie-ons, dinner place cards or napkin rings.

Now, I'm off to go hang them all up!

 A special ornament, one shaped like my home state, has a place of honor on our Christmas tree.

(all via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

I hope you've enjoyed today's Christmas craft (and the others I've made this year)! It's always fun getting to add personalized, homemade elements to our holiday decor each December.

What do you think of my easy cookie-cutter clay ornaments? Would you try a craft with a new material (like this clay) this time of year? Are you working on any last-minute crafts as gifts or decor this week?

P.S. Thank you all so much for the kind comments on our holiday decorations! My computer has made it difficult to respond before now but I appreciate every last one of the comments.