Reels are round, colorful, they have small holes for hanging, they can be decorated...we couldn't ask for a better starting point to make a Christmas tree ornament!

I have great ideas for both our film reels as well as the vintage View-Master reels you all probably have stuffed away. Once you have them completed just get some ornament hooks (from your nearby craft store or even bending paperclips works), slide it in the convenient slot up top, and hang it on your tree!

View-Master Reel Crafts

These are great because they are made of paper and have a ton of white space to decorate.

The first idea is to make them into snowflakes. Here I used hole punches (I only had a line and a circle, but I know there are so many more creative punches out there) to make cut outs. On some I even used scissors and cut fancy edges. Just be careful not to cut too close to the photo as it can fall out. You could even hang the snowflakes on windows or glass doors with suction cup hooks.
Reel Snowflakes

Next, make ornaments out of them!

You can add details like pipe cleaners:
Reel Ornaments with Pipe Cleaners

Make cool cutouts:
Reel Ornament Cut Outs

Or you could even add glitter like the snowflakes or color them with markers!

Film Reel Crafts

For this project I created different reels with different Christmas themes:
snowflake reel ornament

santa reel ornament

bell reel ornament

You could always do this, or even have photos of your family, past Christmas events, pets, the ideas are endless! Plus, you wouldn't necessarily have to spruce them up for the tree, you could just add an ornament hook for now and when your done put it back away with your viewer. Or you could even make the reel as a gift and hang it on the tree and then have the recipient try to find their gift "under the tree!" How fun!

Demo Video

Watch the video and see how I made some of these crafts!