Sentimental, Repurposed Toy Christmas Ornaments
I love keeping sentimental things, but I hate the idea of tucking them into a box where you will never see them. Usually, it doesn’t make sense to display old toys around the house, but Christmas is the perfect time to bring those old toys back to life. Toys and Christmas go hand in hand! Get your old, sentimental toys out of boxes and turn them into repurposed toy Christmas ornaments!
It is so much fun to relive all those memories while decorating the tree. Especially since so many of those toys were past Christmas presents! Instead of them collecting dust somewhere, we get to reminisce every Christmas as we decorate the tree! Repurposed toy Christmas ornaments also make great stocking stuffers.
How to Make Repurposed Toy Christmas Ornaments
How you do this will depend on what kind of toy it is.
The easiest was my husband’s old, well-loved wooden train set. It already had a hook in it where the trains were supposed to hook to one another. So I just added some ribbon and it was done! The smile on my honey’s face when I showed him the ornament I made him was priceless.
I loved my husband’s old toy ornament so much, that I decided to make one for my Ladybug as well. When she was little, she was obsessed with Curious George. So one year, I threw her a Curious George birthday party and this little guy was the cake topper. After the party, he became a well-loved toy until she finally outgrew Curious George (sob!). So now at least I get to remember my little monkey-loving girl every Christmas when we decorate the tree. And the ornament has been a fun way for her to remember her birthday party. She better remember it! I worked so hard on it!
To make this one, I just drilled a little hole in Curious George’s head (don’t worry, he can’t feel it) and screwed an eye hook into it.
I also made some out of these vintage Playmobil Cowboy figures. These cute little guys were my husband’s when he was little and our kids later played with them. I love seeing them on our Christmas tree!
Turning Other Memories Into Christmas Ornaments
Toys aren’t the only things you can turn into ornaments, here are a few other ideas.
Old Clothes
Do you have some clothes of someone you love that you just can’t let go of? If any are old, wool sweaters did you know that you can turn them to felt? (Learn how to turn wool sweaters to felt) Once felted, you can make all kinds of cute ornaments out of them. You can also use old flannel shirts to make fabric ornaments from.
Old Brooch Ornaments
You can also hang a ribbon from the back of old brooches and hang them from the tree. These Christmas brooches are a favorite of mine. They belonged to my Great Aunt Louise and the only other member of what we liked to call the “Single Sisters Saturday Sewing Circle” that we formed while I was in college. I would get a break from the dorm and spend the night on Saturday so that we could watch old movies and crochet together. I love pulling them out every year because it reminds me of going through her jewelry box when I was a little girl.
Travel Souvenir Ornaments
Are you guilty of grabbing souvenirs from gift shops that just end up in a box somewhere? This is a great time to bring them out and relive some of those memories. Magnets can be placed on the top of Mason jar lids and pins can be hung from a ribbon. I have a little globe that my parents bought me when I was little that I can just tie a ribbon around.
