picture ornaments

[Blue Skys]

Hi there, I haven't seen any ideas that I really like, so maybe y'all can help...

My grandmother passed away in September, after a long couragous battle with cancer. I wanted to make ornaments for eveyone for christmas, but I haven't found a good idea for an ornament with her picture in/on it that can easily be made at home without spending a ton of money.

Do y'all have any ideas?

 

[CrazyChickieMama]

Have you tried looking at Michael's or AC Moore? I know I've seen ornaments that you can put a picture in the middle of, but they are round. some of them even have glitter like a snowglobe.

Or you can try this:
Photo Frame Ornaments

http://crafts.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_make_a_photo_ornament

 

[welman]

Here's an idea for putting a photo in a glass ornament. You can get those at a local craft store fairly inexpensively, I think. Lots of stores have coupons too!

http://crafts.kaboose.com/christmas-photo-ornaments.html

A great way to honor your GM, happy creating!

 

[Blue Skys]

Good ideas, thanks!!

 

[Haleth]

What a great way to remember your grandmother! It's beautiful that you want to do this for your family. I bet they'll treasure it forever.

You can do photo transfers either onto polymer clay, with liquid polymer clay, or a photo transfer medium. It's inexpensive, easy, and with the liquid PC and medium, you can apply it to dang near anything. It's flexible, too, so you could set the image on rounded surfaces.

The liquid PC is kind of thick, but smoother, and all of the brush-on transfer mediums I've tried leave brush marks, which is kind of cool if you need a certain look. It looks like an oil painting. There are ways to get around that, but if you want it to be smooth, I'd use PC. There're a lot of tutorials out there. Here's one of the ornaments I'm working on with the transfer medium, along with a closeup of the brush marks on the back of it.

 

[Blue Skys]

I like that idea alot, I will look into that some more. Thank you!!!

 

[Haleth]

You're welcome! I forgot to mention, though, that the liquid polymer clay doesn't need a heat gun, but I've read that it does a better job with one. I've only done it in the oven, and it doesn't come out as quite as smooth as the heat gun tutorials I've seen on TV. Actually, it's smooth, but not as nicely rounded. Maybe just the airflow helps smooth it out, and a hair dryer or something else would do the trick. (I was thinking of using a straw at first.) I haven't experimented with it lately so I don't know if any of those will work.

I'd love to see pictures of what you do with the ornaments, if you don't mind.

I'm planning on making a bunch of different kinds myself this year.

 

[Blue Skys]

Good tip! I will post pictures when I do them.