Ornaments Safety Tips

Please keep yourself, your children, and your pets safe by heeding these ornaments safety tips:


Watch out for sharp edges around the rim of glass ball ornaments.

• Making handmade ornaments is a very popular arts and crafts project. Making ornaments using glass balls usually requires taking off the cap. Under the cap, the rim around the hole of the glass ball isn't always smooth. Often there are very sharp points of glass. Please use care when removing and replacing the cap.
• Also, when stuffing something into the ball, such as shred or tinsel, use the eraser end of a pencil instead of your finger.

• Children are intrigued by hanging ornaments. They like to look at them, touch them, and maybe even try to eat them. Dogs and cats also like to paw at hanging ornaments because they immediately spring into action. If swallowed, ornaments or pieces of them can cause blockages or other serious injuries to your child or pet. If a glass ornament is knocked off the tree and shattered, the broken glass can cause serious internal and external injuries.
• Non-glass materials also pose dangers. For example, googly "wiggle" eyes, pompons, shred, beads, and other items used to make or embellish ornaments can be pulled off and swallowed, possibly resulting in choking and other health problems. Another danger: The hooks that many ornaments use are easily detachable and pose a choking hazard.
• The best way to prevent these tragedies is to place ornaments higher on the tree, out of the reach of young children and pets.
• And don't forget to store your ornaments in a safe place when not being displayed.

• For the same reasons as mentioned above, store your crafts supplies somewhere your small child or pet cannot get into them. When you finish an arts and crafts project, put your materials away immediately in a safe place.
• If you are in the middle of a craft project and must leave the room with your materials unattended, even for a very short time, make sure your materials are not accessible to your small child or pet.

• The risks mentioned above also are present when your children work with crafts, and the same ornaments safety tips apply. Many crafts materials that are used to make ornaments are potential choking hazards, such as wiggle eyes, beads, and sequins to name but a few. Chenille stems ("pipe cleaners") and sharp scissors can puncture a child's skin. Glitter can get into a child's eye and scratch the cornea.
• The best way to avoid injuries to your children is to work along with them and supervise what they are doing and using.