Handmade Christmas Picture Frame Ornaments

Making your own picture frame craft ornaments for the tree is a fun project that the whole family can do together at Christmas time. These ornaments are a great way to personalize your Christmas tree with memories from past years. These ornaments should take you about thirty to forty minutes to make, minus the drying time for the clay.

To Make Christmas Picture Frame Craft Ornaments You Will Need:

Activ Clay or air-drying clay (Can be bought at any art supply store)
Wooden skewers
Ribbon or String
Sharp Knife
Pictures
Paints
Glue
Clear Piece of Plastic Acetate or Laminating plastic
Cardboard or poster board (optional)

The first step in this easy craft project is to roll the Activ Clay or air dry clay out to a ¼ inch thick piece. It needs to be at least 4"X4" wide, but you can make wider to cut out multiple ornaments at once. You can make your ornaments any size you want, but I am using 3"X#' ornaments as examples in this project.

Use a sharp knife to cut out a 3"x3" inch square out of the clay. Inside of that square cut out an 11/2" by 11/2" inch square. Remove the middle square and discard. This will be the front of the ornament.

Repeat this process, but do not cut out the center square. This will be the back of the ornament.

Use a wooden kabob stick or metal skewer to poke holes around the very outer edge of the frame. Punch holes in the back second square as well. It is important to evenly space the holes so that they can line up when you put the two squares together.

Lay the two-piece of clay out to dry on a flat clean surface. While they are dying you can cut out more Christmas tree ornaments or plan some decorating strategies.

Repeat this process making as many Clay Christmas ornament frames, as you desire.

Once the clay frames have dried you can paint them. I recommend priming them with a product like Kilz first. This will ready the surface for any type of paint you choose. Primer will also ensure a longer lasting product.

For vibrantly colored homemade Christmas ornaments: use tempera paint, acrylic paint, or even oil paint. Once the tempera paint or acrylic paint has completely dried you can spray it with a shiny or matte clear acrylic spray.

For translucent colors: Paint your ornaments white with Kilz. Use watercolors to paint the ornament. Seal them with clear acrylic spray paint or even wood working wax.

For antique looking Christmas ornaments: Paint the ornaments a usual. When they have dried you can rub them with wood stain. You could also mix 1 part brown paint with 1 part glaze and gently paint over the surface of the ornament with this.

While the paint is drying you can get your pictures ready for the ornaments. If you do not want to cut your photographs then make photocopies of them. Trim the pictures down to 2"X2". Glue them onto the back of the frame once it has dried.

Place a piece of clear acetate over the picture.

Place the front of the frame on the picture. Use thread, ribbon, or string to tie the front and back of the frame together. Thread the string through each hole, working back to font and then moving to the next hole. This will hold your ornament frame together.

You can slide an ornament hook through the top of this string to hang it from the Christmas tree..

To save money you could make the back of the frame out of cardboard. This would extend you activ clay and allow you to make more frames.