It’s the middle of February and I’m coming to you with my last Christmas project….or my first for next year depending on how you look at it! I’m either the worst procrastinator in the history of project-doing or the most on the ball. Which one?
I found this sweet little tree at AC Moore on sale a couple of days before Christmas.
Look at these sweet little pinecones!
Earlier in the month (of December, not February!) I found a tutorial for an heirloom ornament on about.com. I bookmarked it for NEXT Christmas. Well, once I found the tree, there was no stopping me!
I was unable to find clear glass ornaments anywhere after Christmas. GO FIGURE! So, I ordered them and they came in the mail a couple of weeks after Christmas.
I wanted to spray paint the tree white but it was too cold outside. WELL, we’ve had a warm stretch here in NC so Son #4 ran outside and put a couple of coats of white spray paint on this baby.
THE HEIRLOOM ORNAMENTS
This was definitely a trial and error kind of project. I tried a bunch of different ways to come up with the result I was looking for.
STEP ONE
I took off the silver hook holders
STEP TWO
I cleaned the inside of each ornament with a 1:1 mixture of bleach and warm water. I let it dry over night.
STEP THREE
I bought all the supplies I would need:
The ornaments
Modge Podge glitter and Royal Coat Decoupage Finish
white acrylic paint
pictures of my beloved family members
I wanted to glue a small black and white picture of my family (grandparents, parents and us) inside each ball. Then coat the inside of the ornament with the Mod Podge glitter paint. Well, what do they say about best laid plans?
STEP FOUR
I brushed a spot the size of the photo on the inside of the ornament.
STEP FIVE
I then rolled the picture around the paintbrush and dropped it inside the ornament. I pushed it around with the paint brush until I got it into place. I then mod podged the picture to stick it smoothly to the side of the ornament. I couldn’t get the picture to lay flat, then I couldn’t get it to stay. It would slide down all by itself!! Using the paint brush inside the ornament was very ackward too. Oh forget this!
Then I had a brainstorm! How about if I stuck the picture to the OUTSIDE of the ornament? This worked out much better!
Let’s start over from
STEP FOUR
I painted a section the size of the picture on the outside of the ornament with the glue
STEP FIVE
I placed the picture on the glued spot and covered with Mod Podge
STEP SIX
I coated the inside of the ornament with a mixture of the glitter and white acrylic paint
The white paint held the glitter really well. It turned out very pretty!
Here is the finished product
Truth be told…the ornaments are too heavy for the tree so next Christmas, I’m going to cover this sweet LITTLE tree with sweet LITTLE ornaments. I have a whole other idea for my heritage ornaments. Something a little bigger.
Please forgive the lateness of my ornament project. I’m just glad I finished it. Each ornament means a lot to us and I love that they will be hanging on something (?) next year.
