DIY: Christmas photo ornament

I'm back, I'm back!
And while I'm not excited to look outside and see very dreary, dead Chicago winter weather, I'm happy to be back to the blogging world after the unintentional holiday break.

One of the presents I got for E's mom was a photo ornament. I wanted it to look unique and simple.
I was going to look for a tutorial, but I had to do it over the weekend we had no internet. (i.e. completely on my own. Ahhh!)

So, without further ado, my very DIY christmas ornament. Hope this is helpful. (I never realized how hard it is to take pictures of DIY project when you're doing it by yourself!)

Supplies needed:
a glass ball ornament (or two)
needle
thread or fishing line
markers (optional)
photo
ribbon

First, purchase clear glass ball ornament (75% off after-Christmas sale, in my case :-) )

Print a photo for the ornament (I printed mine at home on our HP photo printer and it worked just fine!). Make sure the pictures is set so that you can easily cut a circle from the middle (about half the size of the photograph) and not cut off anything that you want in! I chose E's favorite picture from our engagement shoot, the one his family put on their christmas card.


Use a circular scrapbooking stencil and razors to make a circle. (can be found at Creative Memories) You can also trace around a soup or vegetable can and cut with a scissors. Mine was 3" in diameter for a 3.18" ball ornament.


You can either write or print and paste names and dates to the back of the ornament. This wasn't necessary but I know 5 years from now my parents will not remember how old this picture is, so I decided to just take a couple sharpies and write on the back of the picture. For FMIL's though, I printed it in a nice script font and pasted it on the back (sorry i didn't take pictures of that one!)


This next step, I didn't anticipate at all. But, live and learn. (*ahem* craft and learn) But I found the best way to make sure your photo is going to stay where you want it in the glass ball is to use thread. I chose white thread because it was easily accessible. For something less conspicuous you could use clear thread or fishing line.

Thread a needle and carefully find the top of the picture (if you aren't careful, the picture will hand sideways. (see it's slightly crooked?) Make sure to leave about 6 inches of thread on each side so it doesn't come out when you place the picture in the ornament.

 Remove the metal top from the ornament. Carefully and quickly, roll the picture into a tight curl and nsert into the top of ornament.


Once it is complete inside the ornament, it will probably still look curled. I found the best way was to fold with the printed side of the picture facing in. I used my pinky to carefully flatten the picture out once it was inside the ornament. You could also used a q-tip. Just stroke gently and firmly a couple times. It should flatten out!

 Take the thread and place one side in each of these two tiny holes. Tie a knot at the top. You will need to judge how far down you want the picture to hang in the ornament, or if you want no thread to show at all. (tie it very tight with three or four knots)


Gently place the cap back on the ornament with the two tension wires placed behind the photo.

Cut an 8 inch piece of cloth ribbon (i found this great silver glittery wire ribbon in my basement). Thread through the wire hook and tie a knot at the top.


Voila! My DIY photo ornament. I love how these turned out...even though it wasn't as smooth or quick as I was planning on! I may do more in the future and try decorating the pictures, filling the ornament with some glitter etc. It's a great little gift for parents and fiance!

All three packaged and ready to be gifted to parents, future in-laws, and E.