Create Your Own Heirloom Photo Ornament

Holiday ornaments are more than decorations, they're memories in miniature. Capture the special memories of favorite family members or ancestors by creating your own homemade photo ornament with these step-by-step instructions.

Materials:

• Clear glass ornament (any shape & size)
• Magic Bubble adhesive
• Magic Bubble brush
• Crystal glitter (very fine) or shredded Mylar angel hair
• 1/4" decorative ribbon for bow (optional)

Note: Because Magic Bubble products are no longer readily available, you can substitute decoupage glue or Mod Podge in place of the Magic Bubble adhesive, or even just plain watered down white glue. It needs to be thick enough to coat the glass, but thin enough to easily swirl around and coat the ball. Magic Bubble products can also be purchased online at Craftware, if you can't find them locally.

Step One: Carefully remove the flange from the top of your glass ornament and rinse the ornament with a solution of bleach and water (this helps prevent mold growth on the finished ornament). Place upside down on paper towels to drain. Let dry thoroughly.

Step Two: Select a treasured family photograph for your photo ornament. Use graphics software, a scanner, and printer, to enhance, resize, and print a copy of the photo on regular printer paper (do NOT use glossy photo paper). Alternatively, you can use a photocopier at your local copy shop to make copies. Don't forget to decrease the image size to fit your ornament.

Step Three: Carefully cut around the copied photo, leaving about a 1/4-inch border. If you're using a round ball ornament, make cuts into the edges of the copied photo every 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch, to allow the paper to fit smoothly on the rounded ball. These cuts will not show on the finished ornament.

Step Four: Pour some Magic Bubble adhesive into the ornament, being careful not to get it on the neck. Tilt the ball to let the adhesive run until it covers the glass where the image will be placed.

Step Five: Roll the copied photo (image side out) into a roll small enough to fit into the ornament and carefully insert. Use the Magic Bubble brush to position the photo against the inside of the ornament and carefully brush over the entire photo until it is smoothly adhered to the glass. If you're unable to obtain the Magic Bubble brush, it looks like a small mascara wand or bottle brush - so feel free to substitute anything similar.

Step Six: If using glitter, pour more Magic Bubble glue into the ornament, and tilt the ornament to cover the inside completely. Pour out any excess. Pour glitter into the ornament and roll the ball until the entire inside of the ornament is covered. If you find you've missed a spot with the Magic Bubble glue, you can use the brush to add more adhesive to that spot. Shake out any excess glitter to avoid clumping.

Step Seven: Allow the photo ornament to thoroughly dry. If you did not use glitter on the ball, you can now add shredded Mylar angel hair, decorative paper shreds, punched paper snowflakes, feathers, or other decorative items to fill the inside of the ball. Once the ornament is completed, carefully put the flange back on, pinching the wires to avoid damaging the ornament opening.

Step Eight: Use a glue gun or white glue to attach a decorative ribbon bow around the neck of the ornament if desired. You may also want to attach a paper tag with the names and dates (birth & death dates and/or date the photo was taken) of the individuals in the photograph.

Photo Ornament Tips:

• If you plan to use your printer to print the photos, be sure the ink is waterfast. Many inkjet printers use water-soluble ink, which will run if used in this project. If you aren't sure, then have copies made at your local copy shop.

• This project works best on flat ornaments. When using round balls, be sure to clip the edges of the photo to help it fit the rounded ball, and make pinpricks in the photo to help eliminate air bubbles. Work slowly and be patient - this can be tricky with larger photos and round ball ornaments.

• If you make a mistake, tear a photo, etc. you always have the option of starting over. To reuse the ornament, rinse it out thoroughly with chlorine bleach, and let dry.

Enjoy your special keepsake ornament!