Family Photo Christmas Ornaments

Personalized Christmas ornaments make a great holiday gift or simply a nice, memorable edition to your tree. Grandparents especially love receiving anything to do with photos of their grandchildren, but creating these crafty ornaments can be an easy, low-cost way to provide homemade gifts for every part of the family. It can even become a tradition year after year, whether sending them out to loved ones, or simply adding new, updated ornaments to your own tree to shine along with the ones of the past.

The Christmas Photo Bulb

You should be able to buy some clear, see-through bulbs in most craft stores and some general merchandise stores. Make sure you get the ones that come with removable tops - some don't. To make a photo bulb, simple take the top off, pick out the photo you want, cut it so it matches the bulb's diameter, roll it up (picture-side out; sometimes it helps to wrap it around a pen or pencil) and stick it inside the bulb. Sometimes it flattens out by itself in there, but if not just use a pencil to do this until it's straight in the middle. If you are happy with it at this point, you can be pretty much done, but I like to add some colorful tinsel behind the photo, and use paint or colorful glittery gel markers to add the year on the back. If you want, roll the bulb around in some glitter for a further effect or add the name of the person in the photo with the year. Instead of leaving it with its plain, ordinary hook, you can also make it look better by tying a ribbon or piece of colorful string onto the top in place of the hook.

Photo Frame Ornament

This is a basically simple project, but you will need a higher-powered tool such as a drill. Load up on some cheap, small picture frames (or just one if you only wish to make one ornament) and remove the leg from the back of each one. Remove the backing board and drill two holes at the top, then add some colorful string or ribbon through the holes to act as the hook. Place the photo and the frame and cover it with the backing board. I like to then add the date on either the back of the frame or at the bottom of the front of it with a colorful gel pen.

A Simple Cardboard Ornament

Take any sort of thick cardboard, and cut it into the shape you wish. This can be a circle, square, triangle, etc. Then pick out a photo and cut it so that it matches the cardboard's shape, but do it in a way that it ends up smaller than the piece of cardboard, so it fits "inside" of it. Use a glue stick to secure the picture to the cardboard, and then cover it with laminate or invisible packaging tape. Use a hole puncher at the top of the ornament to tie in a ribbon or string the color of your choice (one that goes well with the colors in the photo is recommended), and then decorate all around the picture itself with whatever you choose - pieces of colored paper, felt, markers, plastic beads and jewels, glitter, etc. The key is to cover up the cardboard as best as you can, so it doesn't show so well. I like to leave a little bit of open space at the bottom of the ornament so I can add the year, but you can just as well add it to the back instead.

An Ornament for Kids to Make

This is the simplest of all the ornament designs provided here, favorably so since it's geared towards being made by the hands of children. First, let them create their own photo "frames" - give them construction paper to choose their color and then let them cut out their own design. If they want to design a specific holiday shape like a star or Christmas tree, help them if they wish or use cookie cutters as a stencil for this. Then let the kids pick out their own picture. Help them cut it so it matches the shape of the paper and fits inside of it, unless they are old enough to do this for themselves. Glue it into place on the paper backing, and then let the children decorate the rest with items of their choice - crayons, markers, glitter glue, etc. When they're done and everything is dry, simply put a hole through the top of it and add some ribbon or string for a "hook" and it's all done!