A Florida mom on a shoestring budget is patting herself on the back for transforming her kids’ old McDonald’s Happy Meal toys into Christmas ornaments.
Rachael Harrison, 31, said she spent about $15 — or roughly the cost of four Happy Meals — to repurpose the trinkets using a small screwdriver, screws and black ribbon.
While some parents might grimace at the cheesy decorations, Harrison said her kids, Madeline, 6, and Drake, 2, relished the result.
“I’m very sentimental as a mom, and I was cleaning my kids’ toy bin, and it was like a light bulb went off,” Harrison told SWNS.
“I just thought why do I not make them into ornaments?”
Madeline and Drake picked through the Happy Meal toys, many of which Harrison said were Disney-themed. They were allowed to hold on to the ones that still sparked magic.
The makeup artist mom recalled that one keepsake is a small cat that lived in Madeline’s pocket.
“It’s all toys that were once their favorites, and I like to keep them for the memories,” Harrison said, sharing her nuggets of wisdom.
She explained that she put a hoop into the toys with the screwdriver and thread ribbon through so they could dangle from the branches. Both kids reportedly have a small tree in their rooms. They are, of course, lovin’ the look.
Harrison encourages other parents to give sustainable, shatterproof, super-cheap Christmas ornaments a try.
“It means a lot to me to keep pieces from my kids’ childhood,” she beamed.
