Vintage Baby’s 1st Christmas Ornament
You’ve seen them before.
Adorable “baby’s first Christmas” ornaments, often with the year of their birth written on them. The truly beautiful ones become family heirlooms. Truth is, you can easily make one that exudes that kind charm, and it too will be preserved and passed down through the generations.
Today’s fun, fast, and easy project uses a simple vintage baby shoe as the base and just a few other supplies to turn it into something unique and memorable.
It’s so sweet I can hardly stand it. Whether you plan to create one for yourself, for a loved one, or to sell in your vintage biz, you’re going to love this vintage baby shoe ornament!
Table of Contents
Materials
Step 1: Punch holes
Step 2: Attach baker’s twine
Step 3: Stuff the shoe
Step 4: Add Spanish moss
Step 5: Make a mini wreath
Step 6: Glue wreath to shoe
Examples
Variations
Where to find baby shoes
Selling baby shoe ornaments
Materials to Make Vintage Baby’s First Christmas Ornament
Materials
- Vintage baby shoe
- Paper towel or newspaper
- Spanish moss (not shown)
- Mini-wreath: garland, ribbon, tag
- 1/8″ hole punch
- Baker’s twine
- Hot glue gun
Step 1: Punch Holes for Hanging
Punch two small holes on the back of the shoe with a 1/8″ hole punch, down a bit from the top edge. NOTE: If you punch holes too close to the edge, it might not hang straight.
Step 2: Insert Baker’s Twine
Cut a piece of the baker’s twine (or gold cord or white string) about 8″ long. Fold it in half and then tie a knot about 2/3 of the way down from the top of the loop.
(1) Insert the loose ends of the strings into the holes (one into each) and pull it through until the knot is tight against the outside of the shoe (photo 1).
(2) Tie a knot with the two ends of the string on the inside of the shoe to secure the twine in place for hanging. Trim the ends as shown (photo 2).
Step 3: Stuff the Shoe
To give the shoe a good sturdy form, stuff newspaper or paper towels into it–all the way to the toes and back up to the opening.
Step 4: Add Spanish Moss
Tuck Spanish moss inside the shoe to cover the paper stuffing.
Step 5: Make Mini-Wreath
The finishing touch on the ornament is an easy-to-make mini wreath. I have a tutorial that gives all the details for making the wreaths along with links to the materials you need. There’s even a video!
To determine the correct size of your wreath (to match to the circumference of the top of the shoe), take your pine pipe cleaner and wrap it around the top and cut it to fit.
You can find these printable “baby’s first christmas” tags in the Member Library. (Get access when you SUBSCRIBE HERE).
Step 6: Glue Wreath to Shoe
After you’ve made the wreath, place a bead of hot glue around the top edge of the shoe and press the wreath into place and you’re done!
They are pretty adorable, right?
Examples
Guess what?!! You can use almost any sweet little baby or toddler shoe to make these Christmas ornaments. Even antique, black leather like these.
They turned out great and sold almost immediately.
Same with these darling saddle shoe type.
And this Mary Jane style is as cute-as-can-be.
Variations
When I came across this vintage leather shoe in a larger, toddler size, I realized they were probably too big for an ornament. Using it as the base for a mini-diorama though, worked out great.
I did something similar with this vintage ceramic shoe, and now I’m on the lookout for more shoes like this one.
Where to Find Vintage Baby Shoes
You can most easily find baby shoes at garage and estate sales. My favorite price point, especially if you plan to sell them as ornaments is $1-2/pair.
You can also find them on eBay, though they will typically cost quite a bit more. And I suppose some thrift stores carry them, but I’ve not come across them there.
Unfortunately, these darling little leather shoes are often quite worn out and I’m afraid they frequently get thrown away. So they can be difficult to find.
Selling Baby’s First Christmas Ornaments
My craft show customers have given their stamp of approval on this project, paying $10 each for these cuties.
The only trouble I have is finding enough shoes!
Final Thoughts
I do hope you enjoyed today’s project. If you did, would you save the pin below to “spread the word” and/or leave a comment? I would really appreciate that 🙂
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I’d love it if you’d pin this image to your fave board!
Too, too cute. You could even add the year. Wonder if I still have my kids’ first shoes–somewhere!
Glad you like the project Kathy! I hope you find your kids’ shoes so you can make some 🙂
I made a pair of Baby’s 1st Christmas shoes for my two infant great granddaughters, who are just a couple months apart. They were so cute. I added their name and year to each. I found the paper punch made too big of a hole, so I used an ice pick and just pushed the hanging string through in the back of each.
SO ADORABLE 🥰🥰👏🏼👍🏼♥️Thank You FOR SHARING 😊I LOVE Your Ideas , VERY COOL 😎 And Even BETTER if You Have YourOwn Kids shoes GREAT For GRANDBABY Etc . My Neice is Having Her FIRST Baby on 2 Week Of Dec👍🏼Thank You❗️G-d♥️Bless
Since my arthritis has worsened since my ’22 comment, I would tie the short ended knot inside the shoe first so I have plenty of free thread to manuever, then tie the knot above the shoe! Love this project! I use these pine garlands to make Christmas wreathes for my dollhouse people!