These DIY Photo Transfer Christmas Ornaments are truly one-of-a-kind treasures! And so fun to make!
Christmas is coming and that makes me start ramping up my crafting/DIY/baking! Not sure what it is about the holidays that kicks me into craft mode but I’m not complaining about it. I thought I’d share a fun Christmas craft project with you today in case you are the same way! I love a good craft that is fun, easy AND helps to preserve some holiday memories from over the years and put them on display. Yes please!
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Photo Transfer Christmas Ornaments
Christmas is so much about spending time with family and making memories. Well, that and eating so much sugar and refined flour it should be illegal. It’s also a time where lots of photos are taken but sometimes those photos don’t get out and get displayed year after year. I have been thinking that I would like to make some kind of a Christmas Memories banner or something for a while but then I got the idea to make some ornaments instead! The kids always help with the tree and it’s amazing how so many of the Christmas ornaments have a special memory attached to them. Why not make some with some Christmas photos? I have also been dying to try out this photo transfer technique that I heard about a couple of years ago and this was the perfect project! It’s so much cooler than just mod podging a photo on (although I do love me some mod podge, no doubt on that). The image is actually TRANSFERRED onto the wood. I love the look!
If you would like to make some Photo Memories Christmas Ornaments too, this is what you’ll need:
- Wooden craft ornaments like THESE
- Matte Gel Medium
- White craft paint
- Christmas images you’ve had printed on a LASER printer (ink jet will not work. Kinko’s self serve printers are laser. Just put all your images onto a paper sized image in your photo editing software, put on a memory stick, and take stick to Kinko’s… the self serve machines are easy! They are 59 cents each to print). If you have wording or care about having the image a certain way, make sure you IMAGE FLIP the photos first.
- Foam brushes
- Twine
- Glitter craft paint (optional)
- Sandpaper (optional)
STEP ONE: Paint your wood ornaments with your white craft paint (a lighter background is best to transfer the photo). I distressed the edges with sandpaper. Totally optional but I love that look!
STEP TWO: Cut photos to size. Apply a coat of the GEL MEDIUM to the image side of photo.
STEP THREE: Put photo IMAGE SIDE DOWN onto ornament. Use a credit card or other burnishing tool to smooth paper down and get rid of any air bubbles. Allow to dry overnight.
STEP FOUR: Use a squirt bottle to mist water over the back of the paper. Then use finger to gently rub the paper away. You can also remove any paper that is hanging off the edge as well. Best technique is to rub paper off entire surface and allow to dry. Repeat this until you no longer see any paper remnants. It took about 4 times to get all of the paper off for me. Luckily it only takes a few minutes for it to dry. And don’t worry if you rub a little of the image off… it just adds to the charm! 🙂
STEP FIVE: Sand around edges again, if you want. Apply glitter paint to anywhere you’d like! I put it where there was snow, or there was a Christmas tree in the background, or on the plate of sprinkle cookies my son is holding in one (hard to see in these photos though). Get creative! Add twine to hang and you’re done!
I love this technique because it makes the image PART of your ornament rather than just attached to it. You can see the wood grain texture through the image and it looks so cool! I also am glad I tried it with both black and white and color images. Black and white is more “vintage” looking but I love the look of the color as well!
Thanks for reading and hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season!
** PIN THE IMAGE BELOW TO SAVE FOR LATER! **
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS YOU MIGHT LIKE!
Landee, these are so fun! I have some hollow cardboard ornaments, do you think this same thing would work on them. I’ll be doing this for sure. Thanks for sharing.
These are so cute! I just ran out to buy the supplies and I was surprised at how expensive the gel medium is. Is this much different than mod podge? Just curious. 🙂 I bought the liquitex anyway.
Love this idea!
Do you print the photos on photo paper or regular paper? Thank you!
Yes! Just regular paper. But it needs to be a laser copy. I went and got it printed at Kinkos. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Kinks is now FedEx Office.
Where else can I find the ornaments? I tried my local Micheals and I couldn’t find them. The ones I’ve been finding are either too thin or way too think that they seem really heavy.
I don’t know! I found all of mine at Michaels! However, I did some on the thin wood ornaments and they turned out cute too!
Do you know whether or not this will work on glass ornaments?
You know, I have no idea! It might? I do think it needs a little something to “hold on to” however, and I don’t know if glass has the right texture. For sure the ornament would need to be flat. I don’t think a round ornament would work. If you try it you’ll have to let me know how it turns out!
Will this work if I paint the ornaments with acrylic white paint?
Yes! That is what I used first before transferring the photos.
Thank you for the great idea! I’m doing all homemade ornaments this year and I absolutely love this because we have 4 kids and I think they’ll love seeing themselves on the tree! I cut a bunch of slices from a 3″ diameter tree and was trying to figure out a way to decorate them for the tree – I’m totally going to do this! I got CLEAR gel medium from Walmart for about $3… I’m hoping that will work! 🙂
Did the gel from Walmart work ?
I love this idea and am going to make these ornaments this year for grandparents… do you know if printing the pics at Costco would work??
The photos need to be printed on paper with a laser printer, not ink jet. If Costco can do that then yes! I know Kinkos can.
Does it have to be printed on photo paper? (Or printer paper…?)
Print it on regular paper. The gel medium would not be able to dissolve photo paper so I don’t think the image would transfer. Good luck!
This is such a fantastic idea! I’ve made three last week but was wondering if you used any type of spray to preserve the image for years to come?! Any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m making an ornament for my husband’s family for all the adult kids, should be fun. Thanks again for this memorial idea!
You could for sure use some kind of clear sealing spray or give them a good coat of Mod Podge! Either of those would definitely help preserve them! Thanks for stopping by!
Will Mod Podge photo transfer medium work instead of a matte gel medium?
I am interested in doing this with the LEAST investment, aka using a home printer, not having to have to buy much.
I just ordered the wood ornaments, Already have white paint, sandpaper, and twine.
Do you have any suggestions that will help… not really familiar with Modge Podge OR the Gel Medium…
Any advice is appreciated!
xxo Merry Christmas!
So, just to be clear, inkjet prints won’t work… your images have to be from a laser printer. If you can, put as many images on one file to have printed at a Kinkos (or similar place) that has a laser printer/copier. They are only 59 cents for an 8.5×11 print so the cost is minimal! To transfer the image directly ON to the wood, you’ll need to use the Gel medium. Of course you could always just Mod Podge (basically “stick really well and then seal”) the images on to the wood as well. It would be a little different look but I bet just as cute! Good luck!
Well I tried this. I don’t mind some of the edges of pictures coming off but when it happens in the middle where someone’s face is becomes very frustrating!!! I am guessing practice makes it better but costly to keep redoing ! Love the idea just need help with the process!