Making personalized ornaments

Making personalized ornaments

LiAnn Le, Staff Writer

Each year, my sisters and I  make sure to have the Christmas tree up no later than Thanksgiving day. We remove ours from the box and set it up in the usual spot in the living room. At this point, it is just a pine tree. So what separates a plain, old tree from an actual Christmas tree? The lights, tree topper, and ornaments! While it is easier to buy ornaments, allow your tree to stand out by making a few of your own.

One of the best ways to give your tree a personalized and nostalgic feel is to use pictures from past holidays, family vacations, or times that make you smile. Use small photos or if there are photos on your computer, you can shrink them down to appropriate dimensions before sending them into a local Target or Walgreens to be printed out.  

Once you have collected all the pictures you would like to use, gather some green and red felt, or any felt that matches the theme of your tree, sparkly ribbon, liquid glue, and a pair of scissors. You want to start by cutting out the felt into dimensions that extend a little bit past your picture in order to achieve a border.  

Depending on how thick you want the border to be, you can extend it further or lesser to your liking. Once this is done, measure what to cut out in the middle of the felt for the picture itself.  Glue the felt onto the picture and create a slit at the top of the felt. Take the ribbon and slip it through the hole and enclose the ribbon with some glue. Allow to dry and then there you go! You can now transform your tree into a Christmas tree.

It’s inevitable that almost everyone will have a Christmas tree, but make sure yours emulates something different than that of your neighbor. There’s no better better way to do that than placing special memories of you and your family on there.

For more do it yourself ornament ideas, visit  www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/g393/homemade-christmas-ornaments/.