Sequin Christmas Ornaments: Tutorials and Tips

It’s hard to believe that Christmas will soon be here! Are you getting excited? I love Christmas, but I love Christmas crafts even more. Handmade cards, garlands, wreaths, and more are great, but my absolute favorite is making Christmas ornaments. I make many different kinds of ornaments, but the ones closest to my heart are sequin Christmas ornaments.

Being crafty is in my genetics, at least for a couple generations back. My great-grandmother, who was also an amazing ceramic artist, made intricate and detailed sequin Christmas ornaments as one of her holiday crafts. I don’t think I’ll ever have the patience to put as many details into mine as she did in hers, but it’s still something that I adore doing.

For this article, I’ve made 3 different sequin Christmas ornaments, and I’m going to walk you through them. We’ll cover the materials, the prep, and tips to making sure your ornaments last a long time. Hopefully at least as long as my great-grandmother’s have – I still hang a couple of her ornaments on my tree every year!

What Are Sequin Ornaments?

Sequins, as we know them today, are small, shiny disks used for decorating clothing and accessories, and are usually made out of plastic. However, sequins have been made from many different materials in the past.

Sequins were originally small metal disks with holes in the middle, often used to decorate the clothes of the wealthy and privileged. There is no known date of the first sequin, but they date at least as far back as 1323 B.C., when King Tut (notably one of the more well-known Egyptian royals of the time period) died. When his tomb was discovered in 1922, gold discs – similar to sequins – were found sewn into his clothing, assumedly to prepare him for a financially well-off afterlife. In the 1930’s, a process using electroplated gelatin was created for making sequins, but it had one big downfall: durability was incredibly low. If the gelatin sequins got wet or hot, they’d melt right off your clothes. Obviously, this process didn’t last long. Sequins were then made out of acetate, a brittle but shiny plastic. This made them incredibly beautiful, but durability was still an issue because they cracked and broke so easily. Acetate made way for a mylar-acetate combination, which was discarded for what we use today: vinyl plastic. It’s durable and cost effective, though not as shiny as metal or mylar.

Sequin ornaments, then, are just that – ornaments with sequins on them. Usually made with a foam base, sequins (and sometimes beads) are attached to the ornament with straight pins & glue and used to make fun patterns or designs. The possibilities really are endless, because foam is an easy material to shape and is cost effective.

What Supplies Do I Need?

To make the three ornaments that I’ll be detailing below, you’ll need:

• Round foam ornaments: For two of these, I used satin covered foam ball ornaments, which you can find online. The other ornament is just a foam ball with an ornament hanger attached.
• Glue (Elmer’s school glue or the generic works just fine)
• Straight pins
• Sequins of various colors & sizes (I use cup sequins, not flat sequins, so they curve to the shape of the ornament).
• Ribbon, of your choice
• Glass seed beads (I used gray for the blue ornament, but you can use any color you want.)

Ornament #1: Red & Ribbon

For this ornament, I’m using:

• A red satin covered foam ornament (about 3 inches)
• White ribbon, 5/8^th inches wide
• Silver sequins (About 5mm in size)
• School glue
• Straight pins

Directions:

• Remove the plastic ornament hanger from the top of your ornament and set aside. We’ll put this back in later, but to get our ribbon on properly, we need it out of the way.
• Measure around the circumference of the ornament and cut two lengths of ribbon the same size.
• Place a silver sequin on a straight pin and repeat; it’s easier to have your pins loaded ahead of time, and you’ll always use more than you think. (I’d suggest waiting until you have about 50 before you start)
• Starting at the top, dip the end of one of your pin & sequins into school glue and push it into the foam ball on either side of the ribbon. We want to make two lines going down on the ribbon, essentially outlining the ribbon. Once you have three or more pins on each side of the ribbon at the top, skip about halfway down the ornament. Make sure to hold the ribbon in place, and then add a couple pins and sequins here as well. Continue to do this around the ball. We’ll go back later to fill in the empty spots.
• Using the next length of ribbon, do the same but on the opposite side of the ball, so the ribbons are forming an X design when you look at it from the top. After you have this ribbon in place and secure, go ahead and fill in your lines where you skipped sequins.
• Cut two more lengths of ribbon, about two or two and a half inches long. Fold the end of the ribbon on itself about halfway; this will give you a loop and a tail. Tack into place with a straight pin dipped in glue. Layer the other length of ribbon, folded the same way, over it, and tack in place. Add a couple more pins to achieve the decorative look (as seen in the picture above).
• Trim the ribbon at the top of the ornament so you can place the ornament hanger back in. Make sure to dip the end of the hanger in glue before adding it, to make it more secure. Let ornament dry for 24 hours before hanging.

Ornament #2: Blue & Beaded

For this ornament, I’m using:

• 1 blue satin covered foam ornament
• Large, blue sequins (about 8mm in size)
• Grayish silver glass seed beads
• School glue
• Straight pins

Directions:

• As before, remove the plastic ornament hanger from the ball and set aside. We’ll add it back later.
• Prepare your pins; on each pin, place a glass seed bead, followed by a sequin. Set aside, and make sure to have plenty of them ready before you start. It’s easier, and it’ll make your project go faster.
• Starting at the top, dip the tip of a pin loaded with a sequin and bead in glue and push into the foam ball. You’ll want to get the spots around the ornament hanger first, so you don’t have sequins overlapping where the hanger goes.
• Continue to add pins with sequins and beads to cover the rest of the ornament. It’s okay if your sequins overlap a little bit – that’s to be expected, especially working with a ball shape. There’s no right or wrong way to place them.
• Once you’ve covered the ball in sequins, take the ornament hanger and dip the tip of it in glue before placing it back at the top of the foam ball. Let ornament dry for 24 hours before hanging.

Ornament #3: Wavy Stripes and Colors

For this ornament, I’m using:

• 1 foam ball ornament with hanger
• 5mm sequins in three colors (blue, pink, purple)
• School glue
• Straight pins

Directions:

• Preload your pins with sequins, placing one sequin on each pin. Make sure you have some of each color so your project will go faster.
• Remove the ornament hanger from the ball and set aside. We’ll add it back in later.
• Picking your first color (any of the colors are fine) and starting at the top, push your pins into the foam ornament in a wavy line going down to the bottom of the ornament. Repeat with the other two colors, alternating colors as you go. I went with pink, purple and blue – in that order – but you can use any order you want, or even change the colors entirely.
• Continue making wavy lines in alternating colors around the entirety of the ball. This will take more sequins that you think – when I did one similar to this a few years ago, I actually had the patience to count the pins as I used them, and an ornament this size, completely covered in pins, will take at least 300 pins depending on how well you space the sequins. Again, it’s okay if your colors overlap – it’s not meant to be perfect.
• Once the ball is covered with sequins, dip the tip of the ornament hanger in glue and insert back into the top of the ornament. Let dry for 24 hours before hanging.

Tips For Making Ornaments

Are you planning on making a sequin Christmas ornament this year? Here are my top 5 tips to make your project successful:

1. Make sure to have all of your supplies laid out in front of you and organized. It’s easier to grab what you need if you know where it’s at!
2. Pre-load your pins whenever possible. Sure, it feels a bit tedious, but it really does make your project go faster to have the pins already prepared.
3. Don’t be afraid of the glue! Make sure to get a decent amount on the pin when you dip it, even going as far as to dip about halfway up the tip. You want to make sure your pins are secure, so they last for years to come.
4. Be patient. It’s harder than it sounds, I know, but covering an ornament with 300+ pins and sequins is going to take time. Make sure to block out plenty of time for this project.
5. Have fun! Because making these ornaments is a little tedious, I like to watch Christmas movies while I’m working on them and have a mug of hot cocoa on the side (far away from my supplies, though. We don’t want any spills!).

What do you think? Would you like to try to make one? Let me know in the comments!