Hot Glue Snowflake Ornament

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Since its so close to Christmas, I thought I'd do a couple more ornaments, I thought these were so cute and I wanted a few for my tree! I got the idea for these, from here. They were fun, simple and fairly quick to make. This might be a fun project to do with the older kids as the glue is hot and they tend to have a little more patients than younger kids.... I think just about everybody has a hot glue gun, so you could make some too! And if you don't have one they aren't that expensive to buy. 
The trick with these, I think, is you have to take your time, go slow and try to make it as smooth as possible. My first one didn't go so great, :( kinda turned out crappy alright, all thanks goes to the glitter that hid all the defects!  I think if the inner circle was a little smaller, I would have liked it more...I'll hang it on my tree anyway, but I like my second one the better.
Don't get confused if you see two different snowflake patterns, I took pictures of both for the tutorial. I wish I was a better photographer, but sadly I'm not  ツ  My picture taking doesn't do them justice! But on the other hand, it doesn't show all the flaws as well either! hehehe 
I did get my hubby ♥ to take a few with his camera, he's way better at taking pictures than I am, he took the ones of the snowflake up against the fern for me.

Anyways...


Here is what you need:

Hot Glue Gun
Glue Sticks
Any Dish Soap
Wax Paper
Snowflake Template (I made my own because my printer is out of ink because I am so good like that  ツ  )
Mod Podge or Glue (I used glue, because I didn't have mod podge)
Glitter - any color you chose (I used Iridescent)
String or thin Wire

My first template (that I added to it as I went, as you'll see)

I didn't use a cookie sheet to work on (or something similar) I just did it on the table, I regretted that because I needed to turn the paper as I worked and I couldn't turn the table lol... so find something flat to put it on that you can turn.

That being said, Plug in your glue gun and while your waiting for that to heat up, rip a sheet of wax paper off the roll and put your template beneath it (you might want to tape the corners as it does move around a little) First squirt a little soap on the wax paper, you don't need a lot, you can even add a tiny bit of water to thin it out a little, just make sure a thin coat covers your design. 

Squirt some soap on wax paper and spread over design

Once your glue is hot begin by tracing your template working slow, don't make the glue lines to thin or it will be to flimsy also try to make it as smooth as possible.

My second template..I like this one much better!

Trace template with glue

Once you have finished tracing your design, let the glue cool and get hard.
When the glue is hard, carefully peel the snowflake off of the wax paper. Run it under cold water, this helps harden the glue further and to rinse the soap off. Dry the snowflake and place on a plastic (disposable) plate and with a paint brush "paint" on your mod podge (or glue, in my case) I watered down my glue a little, to thin it out.

Work on a plastic plate 

Cover the snowflake with glitter....

I let mine dry and glittered the other side as well. :)

Once it was completely dry, on the back side, I glued the string on.

That's it! Just wait for it to dry... Hang it on your tree

My husband made a suggestion of incorporating the string right into the design, that way there is less chance of the string coming off later. That was a good suggestion, I thought...to late for me to use this time, but not for you! 

My second snowflake

This ones Blinging ;)

I don't have pictures of it on my tree because we haven't put it up yet, maybe this weekend...
I'll take some of the ornaments on the tree and post them later.

Can I make a request? Somebody needs to make glitter that isn't static-y!  If you work with glitter its gonna be all over you and your house lol ..That's okay everything is all sparkly (even my husbands backpack he took to work today..shhhh!) ¯\(°_o)/¯ Hehehe.....

Tips:
If you store your glue sticks in the freezer you wont get those little strings when you pull away. 
If you don't store them in the freezer you can add a little Vaseline to the tip and that should do the trick to not get strings.
If you don't do either of these then a hot blow dryer will get rid of the stray strings.

I hate the strings! It always feels like spiderwebs to me, and I hate spiders!!

Make your own snowflake template, (just make sure all the lines connect each other) and let me know how yours turned out.

Edit 12-13-12
I had a good idea for these, not only do they make nice ornaments for the tree, but they also would be really cute hanging with a suction cup in the window!! I would probably use some really thin fishing line for the string for the window ornaments.

Added new picture 12-25-12 with the lights on my tree..

Be Creative, && Have fun!