Photo Christmas Ornament?

Question

I want to make a Christmas Ornament for each child I take care of at work. I want to make an ornament that I can add their photo to. For most of them this will be their 1st Christmas and I thought it would be a nice gift to give them so they could have it for years to come. I have taken a digital photo of each child to use on the ornament. Any suggestions would be great.

I will be making the ornaments myself to give the parents for Christmas. I have 15 babies in my room under the age of 1.

Answer 1

So many ways, you can buy little acrylic frames and then put the picture on one side and then cut out cute Christmas pictures from old Christmas cards for the other side - or do calligraphy by hand or computer and give info on when and where the picture was taken. To do a homemade frame - you can use some Timtex (a stiff backing) and glue the picture to one side and something else on the back. You could use little wooden cutouts - trees, angels. bells to adhere the picture to and paint the back. You can also use the little wood popiscle sticks around the edges. For all of these options you can use Christmas ribbon or trims on the edges. Definitely use something so the kids can handle their ornaments - that is the best part My daughters nursery school teacher just cut out stockings out of construction paper put cotton across the top and glitter on the edges. They still have them 30 years later. Have fun and good luck

Answer 2

I've made a number of photo ornaments for my neices/nephews, generally with a frame of polymer clay.

This page at my Photobucket site shows one type of photo ornament I made for 3 years (each year was the same for all kids) --covering a painted wooden drapery ring with polymer clay; I stamped the year on a separate piece of the clay to put above the frame, but that's not necessary or you could just write it on the back.
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/DianeBB/Christmas-winter
There are several MORE examples of similar simple frames for photos that you can click on to enlarge from that page too (and notice the book cover on photo ornaments too).

This page at my site has info on various ways to make simple frames with polymer clay for photo ornaments (including the ones above) if you want to check out more:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/frames-mirrors.htm
(...*all* the categories on that page, except the last 3, would have possibilities that could be used as frames from photos, but you might especially want to check out the SMALL & MEDIUM FRAMES category)


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

Cut shapes such as trees, wreaths, stars, gingerbread houses, etc., and glue on a pic. It would be nice if you had their picture on the opposite side also; or else just hand write Christmas 2007 there. Punch a hole and hang with ribbon or ribbon with wire in it.

Answer 4

I think it really depends on their age. if they're 3-7 I think you should give them non-toxic glue, glitter, crayons, paper, and have them make it themselves. If they're infants, you can make it yourselves using some premade ornaments, and I think there are some things you can buy to print the pics on directly. Try Walgreen's or Office Max