DIY Network

Glitzy Geodesic Ornaments From "Carol Duvall Show" episode CDS-1463F

By Carol Duvall

Figure A

This segment actually started out as a Shoebox feature and grew into two full fledged segments.

Viewer Shirley Thompson of Hornbrook, Calif., started things off when she sent in a small, sparkly, red ornament (figure A) that quite fascinated me. It wasn’t until after much examination that I realized it was simply a smaller, more glittery version of the old Christmas card ball ornament that many crafters have been making for years. And it took me even longer to realize that it was VERY similar in construction to the geodesic photo ornament that I also have been making for years! So, because Shirley’s ornament was a different take on an old favorite it seemed a good enough reason to "Play it again, Sam," and we did.

	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

The Basics
The ball ornament regardless of size, is made from 20 circles each of which is then folded to form an equilateral triangle. The two side flaps of five triangles are glued to each other to form the top of the ball (figure B). Five more are glued together to form the bottom. The remaining ten triangles are glued together to form a straight line (figure C).

The bottom flaps of the triangles forming the top are glued to one edge of the straight line of triangles and the top flaps of the triangles forming the bottom are glued to the bottom edge of the straight line (figure D). The flaps are all glued so they are on the outside of the ornament. Sounds complicated. It isn’t.

	Figure E
	Figure F

Forming The Triangle
I cut a paper circle the size of the circles I will be using and fold it in half and then in thirds. Unfold. Make a dot along the outside edge of the circle at every other crease. You will have three dots. Draw straight lines between the adjacent dots to form the triangle (figure E) and fold along these lines (figure F).

Place the pattern on top of each of the 20 circles you draw and mark matching dots (figure G). Be sure to score along the fold lines before folding (figure H). Do this on the back side of the circle.

	Figure G
	Figure H

Figure I

Shirley's Ornaments
As mentioned, the ornaments are most often made from circles three, four or more inches in diameter and cut from greeting cards. Shirley made hers from lightweight sparkly paper glued to index cards or sheets of lightweight card stock. The 1-1/4-inch circles were made by tracing around a pill jar lid, and the notches in the jar lid were used as markers for the triangle (figure I). There are six notches so by marking every other one you have your three triangle points.

	Figure J
	Figure K

Before gluing the three sections of the ornament together Shirley cut a short length of wire and formed a small circle about the diameter of a pencil at one end (figure J). The other end of the wire was threaded from the inside of the ornament top up thru the center, another circle was formed and the straight end of the wire was threaded back down into the inside where another circle was formed at the other end of the wire. These inside circles were taped to the inside of the ornament top (figure K) and the outside circle was used as the hanger.

	Figure L
	Figure M

Carol's Photo Ornaments (figure L)
These look very different from the paper or greeting card ornaments but the basic construction is very similar. Perhaps the main reason they look so different is that the flaps are folded back and glued so they are INSIDE the ornament instead of on the outside. In this case I cut triangles (figure M) and folded back the edges instead of cutting circles and folding up the edges. The basic ornament also uses 20 triangles as does the circle ball ornament although 8, 10 or 12 can also be used. I started making these back in the 1980s before color copy machines were available so I always used the original photographs which I still prefer. If you use photocopies, they should be glued to lightweight card stock before cutting and folding.

Figure N

While the basic sequence for joining the triangles is the same (five on top, five on the bottom and 10 in the middle) because you are using photos be sure that you have 10 triangles where the point is at the top of the picture and 10 where the point is at the bottom of the picture. This will keep all the photographs right side up (figure N).

	Figure O
	Figure P
	Figure Q

Selecting and Cutting The Photos
1. Decide on the size of the triangles you want. Two-inch equilateral triangles are a good size and shape to start with.

2. Cut a piece of acetate to this size and draw around the outside edges with a permanent ink marker to make them more visible.

3. Place the acetate over your photos and score along the outside edges of the acetate on the photo (figure O).

4. Cut out the photo 1/4" beyond the scored line (figure P). Cut a "V" at each point so that when the flaps are folded back the corners will not overlap (figure Q).

Figure R

5. Line up the photos in the order you want them to be--five on top with the point at the top of the picture, five for the bottom with the point at the bottom of the picture, and five more of each for the center section alternating photos with the point at the top and the point at the bottom (figure R).

Figure S

6. Glue the flaps together to join the pictures (figure S). If using photocopies a white glue will be fine. If using original photos you will need to either use a super glue or 1/4-inch wide red line double sided tape (industrial strength). You can use white glue if you prefer but you will need to rough up the surface with an emery board or fine sandpaper first.

7. Don’t forget to add a hanging cord through the top before joining all the pieces!

8. Use a metallic pen to write the date on one of the triangles. To avoid writing over anyone’s face you might select a scenery shot for this triangle.

	Figure T
	Figure U

Variations

• Forget the center section and use just the five top and five bottom triangles glued together (figure T).

• Use just four triangles on the top and bottom. You will need only eight for the center section.

• Make the triangles different sizes (figure U). Make the sides long (2-1/2" ) and the base only 1-1/2" or 2". The main thing to remember is that no matter how many or how few triangles you use (8, 10, 12 or 20) the base of the triangles must be same on ALL triangles.