Christmas Morning

Hello my friends! How are you today? I hope that you are not feeling stressed in these last few days before Christmas. Remember that if you forget a gift card or burn your cookies the world will not end. The 25th will pass and the 26th will come and life will go on. You can give that gift card for the New Year and buy some cookies at the grocery store.
It's easy for us to get caught up in all of the "stuff" and forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Anyhoooo...here is another ornament. I used my very favorite image from the So Jolly Magnolia collection: Christmas Morning Tilda. It looks like Magnolia-licious is currently out of stock of this particular stamp...but be sure that she will be back!
As a curly haired girl myself, 0I was thrilled to see Tilda with some curls! LOL! Then my pal Suzanne Dean told me that the this particular image looked like me. Now, although we email and chat quite a bit...we do not live near by one another...and have not yet met....so how did she know that I hardly ever get out of my jammies?! LOL! There were several other curly haired Tilda's in this collection...why did she choose the one in her nightgown as me?! We had some good laughs over that!

I took pics as I went along to share the EASY process of making these ornaments.
At this point, this tutorial won't be much use to you until next year. Although, I think that if you used Non-Christmas images you could hang it in your window or something like that for the whole year.
If you have any questions please ask. I will reply for all to see, as I am sure that someone else will have the same question.
Please click on the pics to see the image larger.
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Supplies needed:

• Flat glass ornament. Available at AC Moore for $1
• paper scissors
• 3/16" hole punch
• colored image on card stock
• patterned paper
• thin self laminating sheet
• 1/4" Scor-tape or memory foil
• microbeads (not needed if using memory foil)
  
• Ribbon and/or cord for hanging
  

Back of Ornament:



Blank Ornament from AC Moore:

(There are many different shapes and sizes!)******************************************************


Step 1: stamp and color image on card stock.
Remove the gold cord from the glass ornament as this will be in your way.
Center glass ornament over your image.
Lightly trace around the ornament.
Don't forget to trace the hole where we will insert the ribbon later.
Use this line to cut the image out. You can cut directly on the line.
Do not cut out the hole for the cord.

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Step 2: Choose a Patterned Paper to decorate the back of your ornament. This is especially important for people who use coloring mediums that soak through the card stock...like Copics. You don't want to have an ornament that is pretty in the front and icky in the back. I chose a pattern that was not too fussy.
***Because the glass ornaments are not symmetrical you need to place the image face down on the side of the paper that you want showing to trace it. Otherwise it will not match up well when you put them back to back.
The pencil lines will not show by the time we are through...so you need not worry.
*****Do NOT cut this out yet!! Read Next Step*****

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Step 3: Cut out a piece of the self laminating sheet slightly larger than the size of the ornament. Peel off the white backing and place the laminate over the outline on your patterned paper.
Now you can cut out the back of the ornament.
Here is a link to the kind of sheets that I have. Basically it's just a clear sticker. This will protect the paper on the back of the ornament from wear and tear.
If you want to personalize the ornament with a name or year on the back I suggest doing so BEFORE putting the laminate on.

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Step 4: Adhere the 2 pieces together back to back.
The laminated side should be facing outward.

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Step 5: Trim the excess from the back piece.

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Step 6 : Use the appropriate size hole punch to punch out the hole for the cord.
The 3/16" size is a perfect match.

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Step 7: Sandwich your image and glass ornament together. Be sure that it is lined up properly...including the hole at the top. If it seems not to be, than flip the glass over. As I mentioned, these are not always symmetrical. Try to trim off any pieces of card stock that is hanging past the edges of the glass.

Hold it in place and wrap your Scor-Tape around the edges of the ornament leaving a lip on both the front and the back.
I started at the top and wrapped it all the way around...I overlapped a little at the end.
This the trickiest part to explain so I took pictures of several views.

(I also think that you could use Ranger Foil tape instead of Scor-Tape.
If so then you do not need the beads)

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Step 8: Before peeling off the backing of the Scor-tape, run your finger along the edge to make sure there are no bubbles Then fold the tape over the glass in the front and the laminate. Press firmly and try to make sure there are few bumps. You don't want the micro beads to get under it. You can remove the tape backing now.

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Step 9: Cover the Scor-tape with beads. Make sure there is no tape showing. Use your fingers to press the beads firmly into place. You may have to dip and press several times to get full coverage. (In my sample above I used a mixture of blue, green and clear beads. I do not suggest using clear beads with colors...the clear beads look like empty spots.)

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Step 10: Put your cord or ribbon through the hole and enjoy your creation!
(I looped some gold cord through, then tied a bow around the cord.)

Below are the Copics that I used to color my image.
(additional colors like skin and cheeks are in my side bar)

I hope this was useful for you. They are quite easy to make!

Happy Holidays!