One of my favorite ways to mark the beginning of the Christmas season is to decorate my Christmas tree! While store-bought ornaments can be beautiful and make for a very polished tree, I love hand made ornaments the best. Making ornaments is a fun family activity, and can be a way to make some nice personalized ornaments for gifts.
Every year I make a variety of ornaments. My favorite style is to repurpose old wood (ie fallen tree branches) to make discs to paint. I’ve done this for several years. I tend to use whatever type of wood I have access to, my absolute favorite is when I can get some cedar! My dad had a huge old cedar tree fall in his yard, so I have him to cut me some slices for ornaments. Its such a rich beautiful color, and smells so good!
I also LOVE snowmen, so I’ve focused the art on my wood ornaments on portraying snowmen in a variety of scenes or multi-piece snowmen. I wood burn a design, then paint it with acrylic paint, and finally seal the ornaments. They have such a cute rustic look that I love!
Another fun way to make ornaments is using light weight wooden discs. You can add scrapbook paper to the discs, photographs, stickers, or painted designs. I’ve made a couple different types of wooden disc ornaments. The first set I made using printed images of my favorite band. I print the images or art work in a size that fits the disc, then cut it out and attache with Mod Podge. Finally I add a clear coat on top to seal it. Ornaments like this can be personalized with a favorite artist, tv show, or even printed family photos.
Ornaments with pretty scrapbook paper backgrounds are great to personalize with a name or monogram. These make a nice gift that can fit in a greeting card, or be used as a gift tag!
The newest ornament design I’m doing this year is a chalkboard art style ornament. It’s got a simple black chalkboard background with a name or monogram and a simple decoration. These are cute and classic looking. I think they will make GREAT teacher gifts!
If you are interested in a custom item, I’d love to hear from you!
Serendipities and Sparkle by SarahLou 