Holiday Decorating with K&Company

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Reported By: Colleen Schaan

With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, who has time to make their own hand-made ornaments? Well, I do... and you can to with K&Company Paper Ornaments Pad.

I actually saw a similar product last year and was intrigued, but way to busy to check it out. This year, I stumbled across the ornament pad while shopping for some cute seasonal decorations and decided to pick it up.

The Details...
The Cardstock Holiday Ornaments Paper Pad contains 52 double-sided, pre-scored, die-cut shapes that can be folded and molded into a variety of different ornaments.

My Experiences...
I was initially pretty happy with the variety of shapes, sizes, and colors of each ornament, until I realized that since they were double-sided I would need to pick which side I would use. Of course, my favorite colors and patterns were back-to-back which eliminated half of my favorites and left me with a number of patterns I didn't care for. (Although I really did like the color scheme as it was sort of vintage with muted colors.)

Once I had my ornaments picked out, it was just a matter of punching them from the pack and putting them together. They punched out easily and left fairly smooth edges. Each ornament is pre-scored nicely, so I just folded them and ran my bone folder over each score for a nice crisp fold. I didn't have any problems with crooked folds at all!


Once everything was punched and folded, I added adhesive to the tabs and assembled each shape. Some were MUCH easier than others. Once the shape was complete, I was able to decorate with stamped images, photos, ribbon, beads, flowers...whatever I wanted.

Tips and Suggestions...
* Make sure you use a good adhesive. I used a snail glue runner (because it was easy), and by the next day all my ornaments had fallen apart. I would suggest a liquid glue, but then you need to make sure to take the time to hold the connection point while the glue dries. The K&Company website suggests using products in their Wacky Tac line...but I can't give any feedback on those since I have never used any of them.

* Many of the ornaments have die-cut designs on them that can be punched out. Since they are fairly small, I suggest using a paper piercer or a large needle to poke the pieces out.

* If you are going to add embellishments to your ornament, decide whether you need to apply them to the individual panels BEFORE assembling the ornament or whether you can add them once the ornaments are assembled. I added all of my embellishments after the ornaments were assembled and found it difficult to attach some things without squishing the ornament.

* Take your time aligning the edges. When the ornaments were aligned correctly, they looked amazing, but when the edges were not perfect...they looked just awful!

* If you are going to be hanging the ornaments, make sure to attach a ribbon or string BEFORE completely assembling the ornament as it most often goes through a hole in one of the panels.

* If you are new to this type of paper crafting, start with the ornaments in the beginning and work your way to the back of the pad. The first few ornaments are pretty easy folds while the last few are quite complicated. There are only general instructions on the back of the pad...not individual ones for each shape.

* Make sure you read the tips next to each die-cut shape. There are some cool suggestions for embellishing and decorating each ornament.

* Think outside the box...don't just use the finished ornaments as ornaments...tie one to a package instead of a bow, pile a bunch into a crystal bowl and set on a table, string some together to create a garland for a window or stairwell, or even use them to create something totally different. I flipped this triangle hanging ornament upside down, glued a trunk to the bottom, and stuck it in a painted ribbon holder to create a holiday tree ready to be all decked out!


Overall...I really had fun playing with these ornaments. They took a bit more time and effort than I expected, but I was pleased with the results and will be adorning all of my holiday presents with fun little ornaments this year.

Happy Holidays and Warm Wishes!