1. Photo Cube Ornaments
I found this blank, cardboard, block ornament at Hobby Lobby and bought it to see what creative idea I could come up with to decorate it. I decided on making it a photo cube of my niece and nephew and giving it to my mom.
Step 1: I chose the photos and sized them to the cube, as well as de-saturated them.
Step 2: Cut out the photos.
Step 3: I painted the cube burgundy, to match my mom's tree theme this year.
Step 4: I used mod podge to paste the pictures onto the cube.
2. Chalkboard Ornaments - Chalkboard is part of my Christmas theme this year, so I decided to make some chalkboard ornaments. I bought a pack of blank wooden circles from Michaels. I spray-painted them with chalkboard paint and I designed some chalkboard looks in Word, mostly using Christmas song lyrics. Then I printed and cut them out and laid them over the painted wooden circles.
Then I traced over the design with a pen. This is how it looked.
Then I went over the design with a chalk marker. Some turned out good, some are a little messy, but overall - they covey the "chalkboard look" I was going for!
3. Burlap Stamped Ornaments
I found these little burlap bags in the dollar bins at Michaels (2 bags for $1). I really liked them and felt like they went along with my Christmas theme this year. So I bought them without a clear idea of what I'd be doing with them.
I used the same round wooden craft circles that I used for the chalkboard ornaments.
Once I got home, I decided to cut up the burlap sacks and glue them onto the wooden circles to make ornaments. I used hot glue to glue the back down and then added a ribbon to make them into ornaments. Voila!
This post is not so much a tutorial about how to make these ornaments, but more a reminder to keep your eyes open to elements that can be re-worked into what you need. Especially things found on sale, in the dollar bins or at a thrift store.
Which DIY ornament is your favorite?
