Make Your Own Family Photo Christmas Ornaments

Photo ornaments are the best ornaments to put on your Christmas tree! They're adorable and easy to make. Pictures are a great way to express yourself, and share memories with your family at the same time! No need to spend lots of money on photo ornaments at the store, when you can make your own! Here's some simple and cute photo ornament ideas that you can make yourself:

1. Glass Photo Ornaments-
This is an adorable and simple idea. It looks really nice, and you can also design it any way you'd like!

Things That you'll need:
-Clear Christmas Bulbs about 6" or larger with removable tops/hooks
-Picture
-Scissors
-Paint, or Glitter & Glue Bottle.
-Pencil & Q-tips
-Ribbon or Potpourri

Step One) Take the top off of the clear Christmas bulb. Cut the picture about the same diameter of the ornament.

Step Two) Wrap photo around pencil or paint brush handle (photo side out).

Step Three) Slip pencil and picture into bulb.

Step Four) Use something such as a pencil or a q-tip to straighten out picture to stand upright in the center of the bulb.

Step Five) Fill up back side of picture, so that way it stands up right, and also gives it a nice touch, instead of just a picture in a boring clear ornament. Add potpourri or ribbons to the inside to the back of photo.

Step Six) Then on the opposite side of the picture, you will want to add the date, your name, your greeting, etc. As an alternative, you can paint small snowflakes around the top of the bulb, or any other design that you'd like. If you're using paint, apply it with a brush very carefully, and let it dry. And If you're using glue and glitter, write your words in the glue, and cover with glitter (do this over a newspaper so that way it's easy to clean up)

Step Steven) Tie a ribbon around the top, put top back on.

2. Wreath Photo Ornament-
This ornament is cute and adorable! This is my favorite Christmas ornament that I've made myself. It comes out beautifully, and you'll be hanging it on your tree year after year!

What You'll Need:
-Mini Oval Photo Frame Box
-Green Acrylic Paint
-Foam Brush
-Green Sequins
-Red E-Beads
-Red Tail Satin Cord
-Ribbon Bow
-Craft Knife
-Tacky Glue and Toothpick
-Low temp Glue Gun
-Small Photo
-Scissors

Step One) Remove the top from the box.

Step Two) Cut the sides of the bottom to 1/2 in. deep.

Step Three) Discard of the side pieces cut off (do not cut the bottom of the box).

Step Four) Paint the outside of the top, and the outside of the remaining bottom with the green acrylic paint. Let dry.

Step Five) Hot glue gun a ribbon to the front, and on the back, you will want to make a loop out of the cord so that way you can hang this ornament up on your tree when you're finished!

Step Six) Use a toothpick to dab glue to the top of the box and apply green sequins, then red e-beads.

Step Seven) Cut the photo to fit inside the box.

Step Eight) Remove the box insert. Place the photo inside and replace the insert to hold the photo in place. Glue the box top to the box bottom.

3. Photo Wooden Ornament-
This is a great and adorable project. To get it to look right, you have to follow the directions very carefully. These are beautiful, and make a wonderful gift. They look very professional, and don't require a whole lot of supplies.

Things you'll need:
-Ribbon
-Drill
-Small Piece of Balsa Wood Or Wooden Dominoes
-Sand paper
-Iron-on Tshirt paper.
-White Paint
-Scissors
-Foam Brush
-Iron

First Step) First you might want to sand down whatever kind of wood you are using to make these ornaments. Then paint them with your white acrylic paint. Let it dry completely before ironing on pictures, or this project won't come out right.

Second Step) You'll need to go to Scrapartist.com, and use a layout to add a nice touch to your pictures. (The ones in the photo of this are merry & bright papers by Nancie Rowe Janitz, and Star from Winter Wonderland by Michelle Coleman).

Third Step) Once that's all done, you'll need to print them out on your iron-on paper. **Make sure they are the right size for the ornament**

Fourth Step) You (or your husband) need to drill two holes at the top of the ornament for the ribbons to go through.

Fifth Step) Iron the pictures on using medium heat, moving the iron constantly, and make sure to get the edges. Iron for about 30 seconds. Pull the paper off slowly. Some of the edges might not stick so just sand them down with sand paper.

Sixth Step) Cut the ribbons to the size that you want them to be, but make sure there's enough room to knot both ribbons at the end. Add the ribbons, Tie a knot, and you're done!

4. CD Photo Ornament
This is probably the easiest Photo ornament to make, and you don't need much for it. It's adorable, and really stands out amongst other ornaments that you might put on your tree!

What you will need:
-Old Cd's - 2 Cd's for each ornament
-2 Pictures
-Glue
-Glitter
-Something to hang the Ornament with.

Step One) Glue two Cd's together so that their shiny sides are facing out. If your CD has both sides shiny, then use only 1 CD. (This is a good way to get rid of those "Free Trial" AOL disks)

Step Two) Once the Cd's are glued together, glue one picture on each side over the hole in the CD.

Step Three) Apply glue and sprinkle glitter over it (preferably over a piece of newspaper so that way it's not a mess)

Step Four) Add the string however you'd like, hang on the tree, and you're done! (You can drill a hole in the top of the Cd's, or you can tie or glue the string to the Cd's)