How to Make Christmas Decorations With Cotton Batting

Cotton batting is a kind of cotton that is typically sold in sheets. This material can be used to fill quilts, pillows or anything else that needs to be given some extra puffiness. It can be used at Christmas time in winter scenes, since batting can be laid out on any flat surface to resemble snow. Use it as a base underneath a village of decorative houses for a Christmas scene or to help build up the shape of Christmas pillows or ornaments.

Make pine cone penguins. "Martha Stewart" magazine suggests this method. Paint up the center of a pine cone with white paint to make the center of the penguin's body. Cut off scales from the bottom of another large pine cone and glue them onto the sides of the top half of the penguin to make wings. Paint one side of an acorn white and paint on eyes. Glue the acorn onto the top of the pine cone.

Make trees out of pine cones by spraying the pine cones from above with white spray paint so they'll look like snow has fallen on them. Sprinkle on silver glitter to make the snow sparkle.

Set up the scene on a mantle or shelf. Spread out sheets of cotton batting and pull up on the batting at different points to make it look more like a natural snowfall with drifts and valleys. Arrange the penguins and trees into a wintry scene. You can also sprinkle the whole scene with silver glitter to make it sparkle like fresh snow has just fallen.

"Better Homes and Gardens" magazine suggests making ornaments with felt and cotton batting. Fold a piece of felt in half and draw the shape of the ornament you want to make on the felt, like a snowman or bell.

Cut out the shape with the felt still folded over so you have two pieces of felt in the same shape.

Sew any decoration you want on the front of the ornament. For example, if you are making a snowman, sew on three buttons down the center and two buttons for eyes.

Put the front and back pieces of felt together, with the front side facing in. Sew the two pieces together along the edges, leaving a space of about half an inch open.

Turn the ornament right-side out and stuff cotton batting inside the ornament until it is puffed out to the shape you want.

Sew up the opening.

Cut a piece of ribbon about five inches long. Make the ribbon into a loop and using glue, attach the ends of the ribbon to the top of the ornament at the back so they are not visible while it is hanging on the tree.

"Better Homes and Gardens" magazine suggests making a wreath that can be hung on the front door or inside your home. First cut out a square of fabric to be 14-by-14 inches. Cut out a square of batting the same size.

Place the fabric over the batting. Draw a wreath shape on the fabric, using two concentric circles.

Fill in the wreath shape using buttons of different sizes. "Better Homes and Gardens" suggests using all white buttons, but you can choose your own color scheme. Glue the buttons in place with hot glue.

Once the placement of all the buttons is complete, use a needle and thread to sew the buttons to the fabric and batting underneath to keep them in place.

Attach the wreath to a mounting board, which can be found at a craft store. Place it inside a frame. Hang the wreath in your home.