Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Wooden Photo Ornament

A very special ornament has been added to our tree this year!  I made a whole bunch of these photo ornaments last month, as favors for LB's baptism.  One the front is a wallet sized picture left over from a portrait package and on the back is information about his birth and the baptism date.  It would be really easy to adapt the project for any photo.

They were very easy to make, if a little time consuming due to drying time between steps because I was making a baker's dozen all at once.  I did mine assembly style, watching TV while I worked, and got everything done in an evening.

Supplies:
  • Unfinished Wooden Discs, mine were 29 cents each
  • Drill/Handy Husband
  • Photos Sized for Discs
  • Mod Podge & Foam Brushes
  • Decorative Paper Scraps
  • Decorative Paper Sheets - for printing the backside of Ornament
  • Ribbon
  • Misc. Decorative Embellishments
To Make:
  1. Drill holes for hanging...or do as I do and have your husband do it.
  2. Sand the surfaces and edges, you can skip this step if you get nice smooth discs but because mine were cheapy ones they needed a little help.
  3. Paint the edges of the wooden disc and let dry.  There is no need to paint the surface because you'll be covering both sides.
  4. Using Mod Podge, decoupage on the photo, positioning as desired.  Add additional paper scraps and paper trims to cover the entire front side of disc. 
  5. Add a thin layer of Mod Podge to the entire surface of the front side, lay down and let dry.
  6. Type out print for backside of ornament.  I used Word and formatted my page for two columns.  Then I added my type and copied and pasted it to fit six on one 8.5X11 sheet of paper.  Print out on decorative scrapbook paper.  Tip: Do a test print on scrap paper before using your pretty stuff!
  7. By now your first side of the disc should be dry.  Use a varnish to protect the front side and to prevent the slight tacky feeling Mod Podge can leave to projects. 
  8. Now back to your printed out text from step 6.  Hold the disc behind the paper and then up in front of a light source to help you center the text within the disc.  When you like how things look, keeping the disc in place, set the paper down and trace around it.  Repeat for as many ornaments as you want to make. 
  9. Cut out and use Mod Podge to adhere to backside of your disc
  10. Add thin layer of varnish to the backside of your ornament and let dry.
  11. Add ribbon for a hanger.
Variations: Save a step and size your photo so it will over the entire side of the wooden disc.  Then you won't have to add scraps and trim to fill in the space, saving you additional drying and sanding time. 
 

Signature

Linking Up At:
My World Made by Hand
Homemaker on a Dime, Carolyn's Homework, Holly Bloggy Christmas at Tatertots and Jello, and Tickled Pink at 504 Main.

5 comments:

  1. Katie, this is darling. I remember my mother hanging a handmade picture of me and one of my twin sis every year. This is a great way to personalize a tree. Thanks so much for the goodies. I really am enjoying using them. They are darling!
    :O)
    Jessica
    p.s. I like that this project required a Handy Husband. I am glad to have one of those just laying around....LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a pretty ornament idea! And simple enough that I might even be able to pull it off!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a cute idea!

    Thanks for coming by my blog!

    Michaela @ coveredinmodpodge.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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