Upcycled Soup Spoon Christmas Ornaments

I recently dove into the silverware drawer to upcycle some spoons and turn them into handmade Christmas ornaments.

It's an easy DIY and one that's fun to do. Plus, it will decorate your home in charming homemade holiday style.

December days are unpredictable in my neck of the woods. Mother Nature keeps us on our toes.

In the last few days, we've dodged snowflakes, walked on a warm, sunny beach and dealt with some ugly wet weather.

That was yesterday. A total washout. High winds and rain.

Which made me very happy, since I was able to stay inside, put on a few old Christmas flicks and craft.

I worked on several different projects, but one was so adorable, I couldn't wait to share it.

So there I was, on a Sunday evening, typing away and super excited to share my latest...and dare I say greatest...Christmas craft?

I'll leave the judgement you.

But it's a good one.

You see several months ago, when we were out pumpkin picking in farm country, we stopped in a local Christmas shop.

They literally had thousands of unique ornaments on display, but one in particular caught my eye.

It was a painted spoon, so sweet.

Of course I bought it, with the intention of making my own, someday, if I happened to find cheap spoons.


Well, lo and behold, a few weeks later I was in a shop and found these spoons for .50 each.

They were soup spoons, solid stainless steel and had the perfect full and round shape to add some seasonal pictures.

That was it, I was all set.

How To Decoupage Spoons 

I have to say, this was another craft that was pure joy to make. I found myself humming while I cut, pasted and sealed. Very easy, very adorable and very adaptable to any season or celebration.

Think wind chimes or banners. 

Supplies:

Your napkin choices are important. You need tiny designs. I spent several weeks grabbing holiday paper goods, that I thought would fit on the spoon.

I had all the other supplies on hand.

The first thing you need to do, is decide if you're going to drill holes in your spoon handles to hang your ornaments or not. I did some that way with the help of my husband.

However, you don't need to do that. I hot glued ribbon to the back to hang several of mine. 

Once you decide how you plan to hang them on your tree, you can start decorating.

I began the process by painting the front and back of each spoon with a foam pouncer in an ivory colored chalk paint.


I used ivory so whatever napkin I used would have a neutral palette behind it.

While the paint was drying, I looked for parts of the napkins that would fit nicely on the spoons.


Then I cut out the designs I liked.

I didn't worry about perfect edges since I knew I could file away any part of the napkin that hung over the end of the spoons later. 


Next, I separated my napkins, making sure I removed all the layers.

Sometimes the third layer is hard to grab, but a small tear at the edges will often reveal it.


When the paint was completely dry, I opened my decoupage medium, you can use Mod Podge or whatever brand you like best.

I grabbed a brush and coated the entire spoon and handle with it.


Then I simply placed the napkins pieces down on the metal and smoothed out any wrinkles with my fingers that were tucked inside a plastic bag.


The handles of the spoons were also a blank canvas, so I used other parts of the napkins to cover them with a bit of holiday color, as well.

For the spoons with holes, I used a pin to poke through the wet napkin to expose the opening.


Once all my spoons were decorated, I sealed them with DecoArt Glass Varnish since I wanted them to shine.

When they were dry, I used a bit of fine sandpaper to remove any frayed pieces of the napkin. 


Lastly, I threaded some red ribbon or twine through the drilled holes.

Or glued it on the back of my spoons to place them on the tree.


Speaking of which, I kinda fell in love with this crafty process and made a lot of these flatware suckers.

I considered giving some of them away...and I will, since I have so many...using them the decorate packages with ribbons.
Or as hostess, teacher or family gifts on their own.

I still had so many more though, so I decided to make a kitchen spoon tree.

I have to say, it's just darling.

It looks so festive and quite charming in my cottage style Christmas kitchen. Decorated with my upcycled spoon ornaments.

This one embellished with the same snow I used on my Santa doorknob hanger.

A thematic ode to holidays, with snowmen and Santa Claus, hanging on my tree in a culinary fashion. 

And a fun one, to boot!

Can you see why I couldn't wait to share?

What do you think of my decorated spoons?

🥄

Merry Christmas Crafting, Friends!