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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Personalized Family Ornament

I love making personalized ornaments!
 
 My favorite Christmastime activity
is going through my boxes of ornaments -
 
aw, who am I kidding?
 
My favorite activity is sitting in
front of the fireplace with a hot toddy
and the glow from a fully decorated,
lit Christmas tree in the background,
and the knowledge that all the empty boxes
have been stored away neatly.
 
 
Anyway!!  I love making personalized
ornaments and using them as gift tags on
wrapped packages.  For a change,
this ornament is specifically for hanging.
Well.  I guess you could still use
it as a gift tag ...
 
To make one hearth, you'll need a
3"x4" wood square and one jumbo craft stick.
 
 
I used three pre-cut wood stocking shapes
(you could probably fit five stockings
on the mantle if you don't mind them
hanging off the edges a bit).
 
 
And one Woodsies skinny stick,
rounded ends trimmed and cut into three
cuff lengths (I trim all my wood shapes
with Easy Cutter Ultimate from
Midwest Products).
 
Acrylic Paints:
 
 
These are the colors I used:
Hauser Light Green, Napa Red, Slate Gray,
Lamp Black, White, and Multi-Purpose sealer.
You'll also want a sanding block.
A permanent marking pen.
And a 6" length of ribbon for hanging.
 
Trim one rounded end off the jumbo
craft stick, and then cut a 4 1/2" length.
 
 
 
 Paint the jumbo craft stick and
the rectangle gray.
Paint the stockings green.
 
Allow paint to dry thoroughly,
then sand the edges lightly
with the sanding block.


 I used a regular craft stick to measure
out straight lines, because crooked
lines really bug me.
:D


Then I blocked out a 2" square in the center
of the rectangle for the fireplace
opening.  I made a border around the
opening the same width as the craft stick.
 
 
Paint the square opening black,
and paint the bricks red.
(You don't have to be that neat ...
just get the basic brick shapes
in and leave a perimeter
of gray "mortar"):
 
 
Allow the paint to dry thoroughly,
then sand lightly with the sanding block.
Use a liner brush and white
paint to add details to the stockings.
 
 
Here's where I notice that not all my pics
uploaded from my phone to my
web album.  Actually, I noticed earlier,
when I wanted to post the pic I took
of all the wood pieces together.
 
Anyway, imagine you see the trimmed
skinny sticks painted white and sanded
lightly ... and then imagine you see
the pic I took of the cuffs actually
glued to the stockings.
 
 
 Seal each piece with Multi-Purpose sealer,
and allow to dry thoroughly.
Then use your pen to outline the
details, and write a name on each of
your stockings.
 
I used a thin red ribbon for
hanging ... I attached the ribbon by
putting a line of hot glue lengthwise
across the top of the rectangle where
the mantle will be, then secured
the ribbon by pressing the mantle in
place.  Sort of a ribbon sandwich,
if you will.  I used hot glue
to attach the stockings to the mantle.
 
 
 
From this ^
 
to this:
 
 
With just three or four photos
lost somewhere in cyberspace.
Hmm.
 
~Peace & Personalized Christmas Ornaments~

2 comments:

  1. WHERE DID YOU FIND THE TINY STOCKINGS? SO CUTE..WOULD BE A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Sara!I found the stockings here: craftparts.com and the item number is JC6718. Would love to see a pic if you make these!

    ReplyDelete

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