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Spiral Ornaments, a Simple Paper Craft, from Family Christmas OnlineTM
This page contains several files you can use to make traditional homemade, color-coordinated Christmas ornaments. These are especially useful for classroom projects.
Note about Printing - to print these patterns, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system - they're pdf files. That way you can print them on any kind of printer and get maximum resolution.Doubleclicking on any of the patterns below will give you a page-sized version that should print nicely on most color printers. Don't select the "shrink to fit" option, though.
Note about Margins - Most printers will leave a bit of white space on one one or more edges, so don't feel bad if yours does, too. That's one reason not to select the "print to fit" setting on your printer. I left enough margin that most printers won't cut off the stars anyway.
Note about Ink Usage - Depending on the kind of printer you have, a full-colored, saturated sheet will cost you between five and twenty-five cents to print. If you are "just" experimenting (or printing a bunch for a class project, consider using one of the patterns with a white background, which will cost you less to print. When you've decided exactly what you want to do, then go for the deep colors. Also, if you have light brown paper, using any of the "white background" papers should give you a primitive "hand-printed" look.
About Permissions - These are for your personal use. You can also print multiple copies for a children's or seniors project, say at home, school, Sunday school, or the Senior Citizens center. You may also link to any page on our site (as long as it isn't "framed" with your page. ) On the other hand, you may not sell these sheets themselves or publish these patterns in any form, on paper, or on the web. Please contact me if you have any questions about permissions or usage.
 Spiral Ornament Patterns
The spiral pattern goes back to the earliest days of civilization. In ancient cultures, it could represent ascension. The spiral pattern we are using in this craft was once used by the ancient mathematician Archimedes to study mathematical properties of other geometric figures. But don't let that scare you off - a spiral is a very easy craft to cut (providing someone else has already drawn the lines for you.) In addition, spiral ornaments respond to updrafts and drowndrafts that not even other paper ornaments respond to, so they often provide a gentle turning motion in what seems to be a still room.
The colored patterns on this page are color-coordinated with our Wrapping Paper, Droopysquares, Droopycircles, Japanese Lanterns crafts.
When you click on the blank pattern at the right or any of the colored-in patterns below, you'll get a full-sized pdf file with six spiral ornament patterns. (If you haven't done this a while, you might want to practice on the "blank" pattern version at the right.)
Note: As strange as it may seem at first, right-handed and left-handed people cut circles in opposite directions. So we have two versions of each craft page, the right-handed (counterclockwise) version and the left-handed (clockwise) version. If you think this is silly, try printing and cutting the opposite pattern. :-)
The instructions following the patterns will help you print and use the patterns.:
- Select the printer icon on the Adobe Acrobat Reader screen. You'll get a print menu that will allow you to tweak some options. Go to properties and set the printer to its maximum quality, then make certain that none of the "resize to fit" options are selected. Then print.
- If you wish to maximize to color effect, look for a matching or coordinated Microstar pattern from our Wrapping Paper page, and print that on the back of the pattern sheet. If you're not certain which way to put the sheet into your sheet feeder to get it to print on the second side, you can always experiment by putting a tiny mark on the edge of the "top side" of the sheet as you stick it in. That way, you can still use whatever prints out, but you can tell which way your pattern sheet should go back in to keep the Microstar wrapping pattern from printing over the pattern side.
- Cut out one circle to start.
- Cut along the spiral line, from the outside toward the center.
- You may attach a string to hang your spiral ornament by poking a hole in the very middle, running a string through it and tying a knot or taping the end of the string.
- An alternative to using our colored patterns would be to print the blank pattern on one side of a sheet and have the students color or paint on the other side before they cut out their spiral ornament. Be sure they hang the ornament so that the colored or painted side is on top.
We Need Your Feedback
If you have used this craft in the classroom or a senior organization, or anything like that, we'd love to have a digital photo or three of our work being put to good purpose. Also, the more positive feedback we get for these pages, the more time we can spend adding new patterns and colors next year. In addition, if you need a specific craft page or color combination, please contact
us - we may have it in the works already and be able to move it up in the queue.
 We have several other craft patterns and resources under development. So keep checking back. And contact
us with any questions or suggestions you have in the meantime. Especially contact us if you have any craft ideas you'd like to share with our readers.
Paul and Shelia Race
www.familychristmasonline.com
To return to the Family Christmas OnlineTM Home Page, click here.
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