Brighten up your Christmas tree or mantel by following this simple, step-by-step tutorial.

Well, the holiday season is reaching it’s pinnacle, and if you’re like me then you have a lot of handmade ornaments and decorations in your home. This year we added these Sparkling Ice Crystals from FamilyFun magazine to the collection. Here’s how to make them.

Sparkling Ice Crystal ornament project from FamilyFun magazine (photos by Jenny Yarbrough)

Supplies

• 12-inch white iridescent pipe cleaners
• Clear beads (regular or sunburst; I used regular beads because that’s all I could find)
• Fishing line or any kind of clear line
• Scissors

Instructions

Step 1: Take six pipe cleaners and use your scissors to cut them in half. Separate one of the pipe cleaners from the bunch and use it to bind the others together by twisting it around the bunch.

Step 2: Pull the ends apart to make a burst.

Step 3: Push about 5 or 6 beads onto a pipe cleaner, spacing them out slightly.

Step 4: Secure the end by bending the tip of the pipe cleaner down around the top bead and inserting it the bead below it, no sharp ends are exposed.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the entire thing is covered in beautiful, sparkly beads! Hang them with the clear fishing line. Hang them on the tree, on the mantle, or in a doorway. They are really gorgeous with the tree lights sparkling behind them.

You can make a smaller ice crystal by cutting the 12-inch pipe cleaners into thirds instead of halves, for a little bit of variation.

This is a great activity to do with young children (supervised). Putting the beads on the pipe cleaners helps them with small motor skills and will keep them busy for quite a while. They’ll love hanging the ornaments when they are done!

This step-by-step tutorial is on Pinterest too! Check it out here.