This way of recycling your old Christmas cards has been around for a very long time. It can be tacky or elegant, largely based upon which Christmas cards you use to make it. It also helps to use glue, rather than staples to keep it looking fine. You can use this same method to create 20-sided and/or 8-sided spheres based on facets of 5 or 4 respectively. You can see both pictured below:

As you can see, the ornament in the foreground uses only three different kinds Christmas cards. I went looking for some boxes of Christmas cards on clearance and found this delightful Santa in a Christmas wreath.

I based the size of the circles on this Santa. Of course the size of the circle determins how big the ornament is going to be. This is a really big ornament, much too big for a Christmas tree (unless it is a giant outdoor tree - and you’d have to waterproof the ornament for that), so I’ve displayed on this chandelier instead:

Here is one my oldest brother did in grade school, 30-something years ago. Notice the staples and how they don’t really hold it together well over the long term:

Instructions:

• Place a Christmas cards on a cutting mat (important!), and cut out a circle with a circle cutter (for the cleanest circle).
• Repeat until you have 20 circles.
• Cut out one more circle from the back of one of the cards and fold three edges in to make a triangle template that fits your circles perfectly.
• Measure the sides of the triangle template to ensure they are equal in length.
• Using your triangle template and a bone folder, score each of the 20 circles and fold the tabs inward.
• Glue 5 of the circles together to form one facet of your sphere. I’d put a very thin line of glue on the edge and spread with a finger to cover the entire tab. When I pressed 2 tabs together, I usually had to hold them for 20-30 seconds each.
• Continue glueing until you have completed the sphere.
• Use an oval punch to make a whole in the tab you want to be at the top.
• Use a silky cord or ribbon to hang the ornament.

Though I have yet to try it, I have seen someone dip paper ornaments in hot wax to make them weather-proof and fit for outdoor trees.

Merry Christmas!