DIY Harry Potter Flying Key Christmas Ornament

For at least the last five years, I have talked about designing a Harry Potter-themed Christmas tree.

My vision for this themed tree includes Harry Potter ornaments purchased during our travels to Universal Studios in Florida, as well as many DIY ornaments I plan to make from the Pinterest board of ideas I have collected over the years.

So far, I have yet to realize the vision for this tree, despite being gifted several Harry Potter Christmas decorations and ornaments from family to help push the idea forward.  What I have failed to do is to tackle any of the DIY ideas for fun and creative ornaments for the tree to help make it a reality before this year.

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This post is part of the monthly Creative Craft Blog Hop that I co-host with Sara of Birdz Of A Feather’s blog. 

If you are visiting from Carol’s Blog, I know you enjoyed her tips for How To Make DIY A Jewelry Organizer.

I have included links for the talented bloggers participating in the blog hop this month at the end of this post. 

My First Harry Potter DIY Ornament

That changes this month with my first DIY Harry Potter Christmas ornaments, featuring flying keys from the first movie, just in time to include them for the Creative Craft Hop that I co-host with Sara each month.  Anyone who is a Harry Potter fan knows that July 31^st is the beloved fictional character’s birthday, making July the perfect month to work on all things Harry Potter.

Initially, I wanted to make these flying key ornaments from genuine antique skeleton keys.  After searching for them online and seeing the prices, I quickly changed my mind.  Instead, I found a package of decorative keys in various sizes at Hobby Lobby for a significantly lower price.

The biggest challenge I faced with this project was designing the wings. 

I already knew I could make the wings using vellum paper to creatively mimic the transparent design of the flying keys from the movie.  

I’m still learning a lot about using AI.

I am still learning a great deal about using AI, especially for image creation, so my attempts to get an AI program to create images of insect-type wings for my vision became very frustrating.  They were either filled with too many fine details or generated images of bugs only.  I didn’t want pictures of bugs or overly detailed wings with fine lines.  I wanted the basic shape of wings similar to those in the movie.  Simple enough I thought. 

I am fully aware that using AI requires some time to learn how to type in your request with the correct details and wording to receive the results and information you are looking for.  I couldn’t seem to find the right words and details to describe what I was envisioning.  I came close several times, but just not close enough.

Cricut Design Space for getting it done!

So, I turned to Cricut Design Space for ideas.  Thankfully, my monthly subscription provides me with access to thousands of images and graphics that others have uploaded to the database.  With a bit of browsing, I was able to find images I could tweak and resize as I needed.  And I was able to use the print then cut feature to print on my Canon printer and then have my Joy Xtra machine cut out my selected designs with crisp, clean cuts.  Problem solved.

The package of decorative keys I purchased from Hobby Lobby included four large keys that I could use to make the flying key ornaments, and ten itty-bitty keys that I plan to use for another project.  More on that later.

Next challenge, how to hang the keys in a Christmas tree.

I knew that I wanted at least one of the keys to hang sideways so that it would appear to be flying.   To make a hanger for that key, I used some of the jewelry-making wire from my mom’s craft supplies and wrapped one end of the cut piece of wire around the decorative opening at the top of the key and the other end around the key cutout.   I easily attached a set of cut-out vellum paper wings to the key using a hot glue gun.

It turned out well for my first of many more DIY Harry Potter ornaments.

Each of the other three skeleton keys is decorated and hung in a different style.  One includes colored beads at the top of the ornament, representing each of the Hogwarts Houses, and vintage-style gold glitter decorating the wings. Another received glitter wings and gold beads between them.  The beads were necessary to help hold the two wing shapes together on the key.  And finally, the fourth key was given large decorative wings that matched the ornamental details of the key itself.

Currently, it may be the traditional Christmas in July celebration time, but I don’t have a large Christmas tree up in my house at this time to display the four flying key ornaments I made.  My little Dollar Tree Christmas tree was easily accessible in our Christmas storage closet, so here it is instead, with all its fancy flying keys on display.

Creating these homemade ornaments for my Harry Potter Christmas tree idea means I’m one step closer to actually displaying a Harry Potter-themed Christmas tree this holiday season.

Pin For Later

If you are wondering what I plan to do with those itty-bitty skeleton keys from the pack?  Learning more about jewelry making, of course.  They are perfect for playful earrings!

For now, I hope you will take this opportunity to visit the other talented bloggers who joined this month’s Creative Craft hop, starting with Gail’s Handmade Nylon Iris Flowers.

DIY Harry Potter Flying Key Christmas Ornament

Handmade Nylon Iris Flowers

Circle Earrings

Good Day Sunshine! Vintage Headboard Trellis

DIY Scroll Christmas Tree Lantern

How to Make a DIY Jewelry Organizer

Hugs,

If you enjoyed this post, then I invite you to visit a few others like it.  For several years I have shared a Harry Potter craft idea in July.  Be sure to visit my posts for Harry Potter Mason Jar Pencil Holders, or for these tiny Harry Potter Succulent Pots.   I also designed and stitched two custom Harry Potter cross-stitch projects, one with the Book Titles, and the other featuring the Deathly Hallows iconic images. 

Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.