Appropriate age group(s):
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School

Estimated time to make this gift:
mere minutes; a bit more in prep. work

Materials:
Bright plastic jar lids: peanut butter jars, instant tea jars, clean, with cardboard liners removed.

Old holiday cards.

Ice pick (Caution!)

Narrow satin ribbon

Instructions:
This begins with saving the cards and the lids. If you have none, ask around, or start saving for next year.

Prep the lids when no children are awake to watch! Our ice pick has a wooden handle; if yours does not, you may need a better way.

Heat the pick carefully on a stove burner, until warm enough to pierce 2 holes in the rim of the jar lid, about 1/4 inch apart. Then lock up the ice pick. Put the lids in a box until you are ready to use them.

Trace the lids with a pencil, or show the kids how to do so. If the lids are all the same sort/size, a clear cool whip lid can be cut into a slightly smaller template. You can see the design you are trying to include within the circle, which avoids Santa's elves having lopped off body parts, etc. The circle is ideally just a skosh smaller than the lid's interior, so it will lay flat in there and not resist being pushed inside.

Older kids can use rubber cement for adhering the card circle inside the jar lid. Younger ones will be better off with white glue. Make sure Santa's head, or whatever, is right side up. The 2 holes in the rim of the lid are your Top and Center reference point.

Cut some ribbon about 6-18 inches long. Thread it thru the two holes in the rim of the ornament, with the ends coming thru the top. Tie a knot near the base of the rim to secure the ribbon. Leave the rest for tying on the tree.

Other comments or suggestions to consider:
Other holidays can be featured. Milk lids can be used for mini-ornaments for small trees for all seasons (the painted branch type in the plaster of paris bucket variety, too). Young children need something larger to hold and work with.