It’s a really neat technique that just uses acrylic gel medium from the art store– no toxic chemicals or anything like that.  The toner from the photocopy remains on the wood, so the white areas of your photo become wood colored, which is a really nice natural effect.   I’m planning on make a bunch using some wood veneer cards to use as keepsake gift tags for gifts this year.

For the tutorial I used one of my squid watercolors — in the example above I used a photocopy of a photo of The Boy, perfect for grandparent gifting! And it’s easy to do, though I will warn you it does take a little practice to get the timing exactly right, so plan on practicing on some scrap wood first.

I didn’t really go over how to use photos for the ornaments in the tutorial, and there’s a few things I’ve learned.  Pick a photo with a lot of contrast, and ideally use photoshop, or some other photo editing software, to turn it black and white and bump up the contrast.  In Photoshop, use play with the layer Levels to get a good effect.  Remember to reverse it, especially if you add text!  Make a bunch of copies on the same page (try different sizes). Then print it out, and photocopy.  For the ones shown here, I actually printed out the text separately, and put in on first, then put the photo on top of the text, so I get the ‘white’ background behind the text.

Wanna do it yourself? Go get the instructions…

(Past ornament tutorials: Resin Stars, Easy Gift Card Holder, Champagne Chairs, Sweater Photo Frames, Shrinky Dinky Santa)

Here are a few you might want to go check out again!

Links:

Picture Frame Ornament Tutorial
Recipe Related Gift Ideas
How to Make Homemade Eggnog – Both Cooked and Uncooked versions

And, in case you missed it, while I was off in London last week, we had 3 lovely tutorials last week by three lovely guest posters!

Tutorial – Make Resin Star Christmas Tree Ornaments From Kerry at www.pennydog.com A great project if you’ve been wanting to try crafting with resin!

Tutorial: Make Quick Mittens By Heather from Dollar Store Crafts I love projects that turn old sweaters into something new.. this would be great for when you accidentally shrink one, too!

Moss Terrarium Tutorial – The Gift that Keeps Giving All Year ‘Round! By Lindsay from Shrimp Salad Circus A great tutorial for making a lovely and unusual gift!

Hope you enjoy these! And do drop by the sites of our guest posters and say hi… they have many more great projects, too!

I’ve been admiring Kerry’s resin work in the Dabbled flickr group, and resin is something I’ve never worked with, but always wanted to try! I’ve asked Kerry to share a simple tutorial to take some of the mystery out of working with resin. And so she did! These little Christmas tree decorations would be fun to give as gifts, top a package, or decorate your own tree… hope you enjoy! – Dot

Resin Star Christmas Tree Decorations

From Kerry at www.pennydog.com

You will need:

• Resin of your choice- polyester or epoxy
• Star shaped flexible ice cube tray (mine is from Ikea)
• Fine glitter in your favourite colours
• Plastic cup
• Lolly stick
• Drill with 2-3mm bit
• Bakers twine

Step one:

Pour some resin into the cup. Add catalyst according to your product’s instructions- they vary between the different types. Then mix thoroughly with the lolly stick- try not to whip it though as you don’t want lots of bubbles!

Step two:

Add your glitter- be quite generous- and mix it in. I have used black and green here.

Step three:

Pour the glittery resin mix into the ice cube tray. I fill them ¾ full for a nice thick piece. Leave to set for at least 24 hours.

Step four:

Pop the pieces out of the ice cube tray. Drill through one of the points in the star from one side through to the other.

Step five:

Cut a piece of baker’s twine approximately 5 inches long. Thread through the hole. You may need to use a needle or a pin to help feed it through. Tie a double knot close to the thread ends to create a hanging loop and you’re done! I’ve been using these as samples for goody bags, they’re a great way of demonstrating the material I work with in a festive and cheap way!

About Kerry:

About me and my shop: My name is Kerry and I live in the UK. I make jewellery, homewares, knitting needles and all sorts really using resin, and I’m based in rural(ish) Leicestershire in a listed farmhouse. PennyDog came about when I adopted a greyhound- Penny- and I wanted to donate money through my craft to rehoming more of these ex-racers by donating to the Retired Greyhound Trust. I now have another greyhound- Fletcher too. I’ve always made things. My first craft fair was when I was 12 selling beadwoven jewellery. I booked the table myself, with my younger sister as my assistant. I think my Dad enjoyed having the house to himself that day, though it chucked it down and we barely sold anything! I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial, selling jewellery to teachers at school even! It was just second nature to me. I have an Etsy shop as well, my main website being www.pennydog.com and I also sell through 12 retail outlets here in the UK.

I love this Polaroid Ornament from Katie Cupcake! And she has a detailed tutorial on making these on her blog – Go Here!

Such a clever idea, and a great way to display family photos. Plus what a perfect gift for Grandma…

Want more ideas? Here are some I collected from flickr (links below the big pic)…

1. Bolinhas de natal, 2. Bright Paper Ornaments – Tutorial, 3. Vintage Egg Ornament Tutorial, 4. Fabric Scrap Ornament Tutorial, 5. mini felt chains, 6. Paper Ornaments, 7. Earring Ornament/Packaging , 8. acorn mushrooms, 9. Quilted Ornament Tutorial

Direct links to some of the tutorials (others you may have to click through on the links to the pictures above)

• Patchwork Balls – Portuguese (Translated to English here)
• Acorn Mushroom
• Felt Chain
• Vintage Egg made with real eggs!
• Quilted Ball
• Fabric Scrap

Other cute tutorials, not pictured:

• Partridges
• Little House Ornaments
• Yo-Yo Ball Ornament
• Woven Heart
• Several at One Pretty Thing’s Kids Christmas Roundup

If your work is featured here, be sure to grab a Featured on Dabbled Button!