Penny Wreath Ornament
With 2026 being the year of retiring the penny, it’s the perfect time to make a Christmas ornament! Gather pennies with the birth years of your family members or whatever years you want. The best part about this is that if you want to sell the pennies down the road, it’s easy to use your nail and pick off the hot glue!
A lot of you asked why I put my pennies in ketchup-
When you put pennies in ketchup, they get shiny because the ketchup is basically cleaning them. Over time, pennies get dull because the copper on them reacts with air and forms a dark, grimy layer. That’s why old pennies don’t look bright anymore.
Ketchup has vinegar and salt in it, and those two ingredients work like a gentle cleaner. The vinegar breaks down that dark layer, and the salt helps it wash away faster. Once that layer is gone, the shiny copper underneath shows through. It’s kind of like scrubbing dirt off something—you didn’t change the penny, you just cleaned it.
Penny Wreath Ornament
Materials
- 16 Pennies
- Hot glue gun
- Ribbon
- Ketchup optional to clean the pennies (you can also use vinegar and salt)
Instructions
- Clean your pennies by putting them in ketchup and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse. (This is optional, you can just pick the shiny looking pennies)
- I used a mini red solo cup from Dollar Tree and traced a circle.
- Lay out 8 pennies in perfect circle. Lay the next 8 pennies in-between the first row,
- One by one, put a strip of hot glue in the center of the penny and press down.
- Flip it over and put a strip of hot glue around the whole back. Hot glue on a ribbon.
- Then tie a bow and hot glue that to the front. Write the year if you want!
