Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Ornaments

The good thing about sending Matthew to preschool this year is that he has made lots of new friends.

The bad thing about sending Matthew to preschool this year is that he begins to pick up the preferences of his new friends.

One of these is his new obsession with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since the new Ninja Turtle movie came out, those creepy, green, genetic marvels are everywhere. Matthew came home talking about how much he loved them without really understanding who they are and what they do. I was clued into this when he began drawing pictures of ninja turtles "swimming in the ocean." He's a bit confused.

I have been trying to make a special ornament with the kids each year during Advent. Last year's was a little involved - drying clay, waiting for paint to dry, and glazing the finished ornament. With how sluggish and tired I have been feeling with this pregnancy (I know...more whining about that!), I wanted to make a super simple ornament. Then, I saw a facebook post circulating about making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ornaments simply by gluing ribbon and googly eyes onto green ornaments. It looked easy and inexpensive!

We gathered all the materials we needed from the local craft store and then attempted to make our ornaments right after lunch. It was a little annoying getting the ribbon to wrap and adhere just right to the ornament. This was probably mostly my fault because I hate working with a glue gun so much. It stems from a childhood fear of the heated glue because I burnt my finger once while making a felt doll. Even with the minor difficulties and frustrations associated with the glue gun, we had a set of six Ninja Turtle ornaments in less than 30 minutes. We are giving the extra Michelangelo and Leonardo ornaments to a friend. I think our Ninja Turtles will blend perfectly with my Notre Dame, cat, and snowflake ornaments - don't you think?

Matthew was certainly excited about making them! He has been proudly telling everyone about them - and playing with them secretly in his room. Now we just have to get our tree sometime in the next couple weeks before he breaks them.

I like the reflection of Matthew's smiling face in the ornament. A little bit creepy.