Christmas Ornament DIY

It has come to my attention that I have severely neglected my blog lately.  I suppose I was trying to determine if this blog was to be purely my photography or updates about the family.  Since I haven't had too many clients lately, let's talk family.

We don't have a ton of money this year for Christmas presents.  Lucky for us, Ronan is only 14 months and wouldn't know the difference anyway.  But, as has happened to most of you, I've become hooked to pinterest.  Having no money and discovering pinterest = wonderful DIY crafts!  So for Christmas this year, I opted to make hand print ornaments from Ronan's hand.  I merged two ornament how tos and this is what I came up with. 

I bought the clear, plastic ornaments at Michael's for less than $1.  I used a sponge brush and acrylic paint on Ronan's hand.  I had originally bought stamp ink, but when I did a google search for handmade ornaments, it seemed that paint was always used.  The prints turned out surprisingly well for a one year old.  I let them dry overnight.  If there were any blotches, they were easily scratched off with a fingernail.  Then, I cut 1/2" strips of white card stock.  I wrapped the strips individually around a pencil and slid them into the ornament.  I used a little less than one square piece of cardstock for each ornament.  And on the back, I used a regular blue permanent marker to write his name and the year.  As a finishing touch, I looped some blue polka dot ribbon through the ring and tied a slip knot at the top.  Easy, peasy hanging.  Aside from drying time, 4 ornaments took less than an hour to assemble.  And there you have it: a nice, thoughtful, beautiful Christmas gift you can cherish forever! I might just do this every year to see how big his hand gets (until of course it doesn't fit anymore!).