"Family Keepsake Ornaments"
I love this ornament idea because it is both inexpensive and a guarantee to be very special to the recipient since it captures that year, or a past year, in a photograph and reminds us that we should cherish the gift of family at Christmas.
One ornament is an old photo of my brother and me that I made for my mom, another ornament is for a friend using photocopied picture of her children from their photo Christmas card, the other photo is of the back of the ornament with the quote.
How to make this ornament at home...
Supplies Needed:
Mod Podge (can be bought at Wal-Mart or any craft store), Unfinished Paper Mache' Ornament (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for 50 cents per ornament), Scrapbooking or Wrapping Paper, Brown Stamp Pad ( optional, for aging paper edges), Color or B&W Copies of Photos (using copies of that year's photo Christmas cards, or old photos of loved ones at Christmas makes it appropriate subject matter), Acrylic Paint ( optional), Ribbon (optional)
Step One: (Optional Step, can skip to step two if you want your ornament to have a more "rustic" look) Paint Ornament's entire surface, or just the edges, with acrylic paint, let dry.
Step Two: Measure surface area of ornament, copy photo on plain white paper & trim to fit ornament. (Optional step: Tear edges and rub brown stamp pad around edges to give it an "aged" appearance.) You can also measure coordinating scrapbook paper to put behind photo for a layered look.
Step Three: Using same measurements as front, print appropriate quote for subject matter (quotegarden.com is a great site for quotes ) onto scrapbooking paper. *One easy way to make your quote fit onto the ornament with the correct measurements is to make a table on Word with one column and one row (creating just one cell), then measuring it off with the rulers at the top and side of the screen. And you can finish off the edges with the optional edging in step two.
Step Four: Using Mod Podge, attach the photocopied picture to the front and the quote onto the back, let dry.
Step Five: (Optional) Add ribbon to top.
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Copyright © 2007 by Dana Fleming. All rights reserved.
