Ornaments to Deck Those Halls

I'm crazy about Alpha Stamp's new Layered Ornaments. They each have a laser-cut chipboard scene, two outer edges, and clear plastic low-profile domes that combine to make a snow globe ornament. One of my favorite things about them: even when they're done and fully decorated, they're still lightweight enough to not pull down the branches of your tree!

Here's what I made with this month's kit. I really loved the scene with the deer, so that's the first one I made. I colored the tree and deer with colored pencils, and then brushed white paint on the tree and ground to look like snow. A little bow on the top with a pine cone and some holly complete the ornament.

To get this look, brush some glue on the snow and sprinkled with Diamond Dust. Then, glue the dome to the front of the ornament. Once the glue is good and dry, add some micro beads to give a snow globe effect. Glue the plastic dome to the back circle. While the outside of the back is lying face down, pour a few micro beads into the dome, and then carefully glue the ornament to the back. It helps if you use clothespins to hold all the sides together while your glue dries. Once the ornament is assembled, glue a ribbon around the outer edge and embellish with greenery, charms, etc. as you wish.

My next ornament was the Santa. I really love all the details in this laser cut; it's my favorite. The ribbon on the package and the springs on the Jumping Jack are so delicate! I used acrylic paint to bring Santa to life, along with a gold metallic paint pen. After painting, I brushed glaze over all the painted surfaces to give a little shine.

For the back of this ornament, I chose a holly-covered paper. I added some Diamond Dust snow, some snowflake charms, and some peppermint slices from this cane. Here's the front and back together:

Here's a little quick ornament: after painting the outside with red and green stripes, I painted the laser cut scene black. Before putting the back on, I attached silver stars with the tiniest dab of glue. Diamond Dust snow was added before assembling. I looped a ribbon around the holder and added a snowflake charm.

It's pretty easy to get those stripes placed, if you go about it like you're drawing a clock. Start with stripes at 12, 3, 6, and 9, and then fill in evenly. After the red was done, I painted green stripes between. I liked the look of the cardboard, so the neutral color you see is the unpainted chipboard.

Most of these photos make these ornaments look pretty flat. They're actually about 1/4" wide; the perfect width to add a colorful ribbon to the sides! You can see the depth in this photo:

Last but not least, here's a great way to preserve some Christmas memories. I've taken photos of my girls every year since my older daughter was born. Back in the days before digital cameras, I would take 20 some pictures and then wait for the film to be developed. I always ended up with several outtakes that were not "card worthy". Here is my favorite. My younger daughter was almost two, and in every.single.picture she screamed "tee hee!" My older daughter, who was not excited about taking Christmas photos in the first place, could not hide her exasperation.

Nine years later, the girls agreed to recreate that photo for me for our 2013 Christmas card. That card is one of my all time favorites, and I will love having this ornament on my tree. I am planning on going through all my old cards and making more photo ornaments. Wouldn't these make great gifts for family?

 Time to get to trimming the tree! For a complete list of supplies to make these ornaments, click here.