Yearly Ornaments

Lisa L Hall
by Lisa L Hall
10 Materials
$7
2 Days
Easy
Each year I get an ornament that reflects what our family has done. Some years it's as simple as just an ornament with a photo and a date, other years I want to get something more personal for each of my boys. This year was one of those years. Ornaments can be expensive, or they don't even make what you are trying to find.

Well if you have a little decoupage (or Elmer's glue and water in a pinch), an ornament (any type will work, plastic, glass, porcelain), and a design - you are all set. This project is not something that will done quickly due to drying time but the amount of time you will spend working on it is quite minimal.

The best part is, you are in complete control of the ornament. Do you want glitter? Add it. Do you want metallic paint? Go for it. It's 100% in your control.

So for this project I wanted to capture my son's first year of high school. So I found their logo online. I downloaded the image to my computer and made a print on regular paper...not even any type of fancy paper. Once that was done, it was time to create....my boys know Christmas is about sparkle (truly anything I touch has to have something sparkly on it).

This idea is not limited to ornaments...you can use it on vases, drinking glasses, wood....you get the idea.

I had everything on hand so my cost was $0 to make this ornament.
Here are the items I used. I did add some glitter and metallic paint as well. When using something round I find that having a cup of some sort to put my round item on, it will keep it from rolling around while glue or paint is drying. It's a life saver.
This is the decorating tool kit that I used. I highly recommend getting one. I can't believe how long I have struggled with getting designs and outlines just right when this was available. Truly a must have for any crafter.
So first I put on my design. I covered the area where I am placing the design with Decoupage. By placing the center of the design into the decoupage, I worked outward making small cuts in the border of the design so it would curve and still lay flat. Once that was complete I let it dry completely. When using an ink jet printer and decoupage, if you do both side at the same time all of your ink will run. If you do one side and let it dry and then do the other side, your ink will retain it's color. I let it dry for 4 hours. Then I was able to put a coat over the top of the design. Again, due to the ink I didn't brush very hard at all. I lightly brushed the decoupage over the top of the design making sure not to press hard at all. It worked perfectly.
Here is a second photo of some of the items I used for decorating so you can see the glitter, decorating tool and the paint. Nothing fancy here.
I gave the decoupage side of the ornament a full day to dry since I knew that I would need to set that side on the cup to work on the numbers. I used the decorating tool, craft paint, and glitter to do the number. I did let the ornament set like this for 4 hours to make sure that the craft paint was fully dried before I shook off the glitter.
Here is the finished glitter number. I didn't go too fancy on it. Using the decorating tool with a fine tip made it so much easier to get the glue on the ornament and not distort the # sign or the numbers themselves.
Here is the finished logo after the gloss sealant. Again, the fine point on the decorating tool really helps with doing outlining on the design. With the gloss sealant you can't see where the decoupage starts or ends.
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 2 comments
  • Wendy Wendy on Dec 24, 2017

    I just love that idea! What a great way to commemorate yearly accomplishments! Loving the precision work ;)

  • R Wilson R Wilson on Dec 24, 2017

    This is a really great commerative idea as well as the start of their ornament collections! Nice!

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