I am actually kind of sad that these 12 days are coming to a close, but I do hope they have ministered to your heart, and maybe given you an idea or two that you can relate to, to remember your child(ren) in Heaven this Christmas.
Anyway right now it’s just me on the blog, sharing a photo ornament idea I think you might LURVE. And the sweet part? You can keep it up all year round if you like, because it’s not terribly Christmas-ey at all :)
What you will need:
- tiny canvases, these are 2″x3″ {can be purchased at a local art store} Locals- Jerry’s Art-a-rama had them for $.30 cents or something riDONKulous like that! :)
- scissors
- gel medium {liquitex, it rocks my socks off}
- spray bottle
- twine
- staple gun
- access to a laser printer
- water spray bottle
- cloth
- small dose of patience ;)
1. As seen above, choose the image you would like to use and resize to fit the size of your canvas. Flip the picture in a photo editing software program before printing so that you end up with a mirror image. Although with photos, it sometimes might not matter :)
2. Generously cover the canvas in gel medium.
3. Cut out image and lay it down facing the canvas+gel medium.
4. Press out any bubbles there might be and let dry for a few hours, overnight if possible.
5. When you see that the gel medium has completely dried, mildly soak the canvas with water.
6. Take your cloth and begin rubbing off the paper as seen in the image above. Do not press too hard or it may scathe off important parts of your photo. Rub until you don’t see any white residue from the paper.
There will more than likely be spots where the image appears tattered but it’s all a part of the photo transfer effect. In my humble opinion, I like it! It makes it look more authentic :]
8. Now you are ready to turn these babies into ornaments! Grab your twine, cut about 8-9 inches and use the staple gun to fasten a hanging string on the backside (as seen in the first picture in this post).
You may use these other ways too- you can transfer nice photos onto larger canvases, lose the twine altogether and arrange them on your counter or dresser… the possibilities are ENDLESS!
Be sure to buy a few canvases if this is your first time doing a photo transfer. It might take a few tries to get the photo to show up just right :)
Just remember, to have FUN with it! :D
XO
I LOVE this. I might go nuts with it!
Tara Finney recently posted..March for Babies
Oh Girl ~ my brain is percolating on some amazing ways to USE this super duper crafty idea!
Thanks for hosting this 12 Days of Christmas my friend!
Stephanie recently posted..Jeremy Clay Price ~ ‘Acquired Taste’ Debut
LOOKS great Fran!!!
Nat Mardon recently posted..3 months without you…
A small dose of patience as an ingredient? Definitely for me! :) Brilliant idea, even as presents, great authentic look!
Anna recently posted..wisdom tooth extraction
LOVE it!! Gonna make on this weekend :)
Ashley recently posted..Decorating for Christmas
I just made them and they are perfect! I followed them exactly. I also found that after I got most of the paper off, I still had little bits hanging on as it dried. Rather than using the cloth, I used my bare finger to rub where I didn’t want the picture to come off. Thanks for sharing your great idea.
That is wonderful to hear!!! I’m so glad the tutorial worked for you :) xo
I tried to make these tonight. I had a really hard time and ended up giving up.
I think I know where I went wrong though.
What kind of photo paper did you use? I used glossy photo paper and when I added water (no matter how much I added) it wouldn’t soak the paper. I let the water sit for a bit thinking that maybe it would help but the picture ended up bleeding and smearing. It wasn’t reconizable. :( Any suggestions?
Oh I didn’t use photo paper, just regular ol’ printer paper :)