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12/15/2010

A Win and a Fail

We've all had those Eureka! ideas where we know its  going to turn out great. How could it possibly not? Then you execute the idea, aaaaand yea it didn't turn out half as well as it did in your head. I had that moment when making this ornament.

I had this grand plan to modge podge the back of this ornament with a vintage Santa Claus image from The Graphics Fairy. So I printed out the image. Trimmed it down to fit the back of the ornament from seam to seam. Yes, my ornaments are plastic. :) This is where Ruination entered his mean little head. The paper was not molding nicely to the back of the ornament. You couldn't see the image really clearly through the ornament, and the back looked like crap. I thought well maybe you can't see it real well because the glue is still wet and I can hide the back and raw edges with glitter. So the glue came out again as well as the glitter. Here's where Ruination tap danced all over my efforts. I can't even explain the horror. You will just have to see for yourselves. Here is Ruination's ornament.
   
But I am not so easily deterred. I'm stubborn like that. You could go with mule-headed, but I don't like much being compared to a mule. :) So my first problem was how to avoid Ruination with the viewability of the image. I decided that I would put the image inside the ornament, but what to do about the back. I'll just print the image on the back as well. I can ink the edges and all will be forgiven.

I had wanted to incorporate some clocks into the tree, Santa had his shot, but I didn't know what time to put on them. So I tried thinking of what times were meaningful to me. Eureka! Again! I decided to put the times that the boys were born. 6:30 pm and 3:53 pm. So I found a clock image {again} at The Graphics Fairy and then made a couple of clock hands using Photoshop shapes, I googled free photoshop clock hand shapes. After creating the clock faces I made sure that I could print them out on the front and back of the sheet by positioning each one a 1/4" down from the top of the page and 1/4" away from each edge.

After printing, I had one of each clock image on either side of my paper. I cut them out (I made my clock faces 2-3/4" to fit inside the ornament) and then inked the edges. So how do I get them to stay upright inside the ornament? More glue! So I {very carefully} dripped a couple of drops of glue into the bottom center of the ornament and then rolled the paper up and shoved it inside. I then used the backside of a paintbrush to kind of uncurl the paper and get it positioned in the glue. Then I clipped a small clothespin to the top of the image. My clothespins were small enough to fit inside the lip of the ornament, and kept the image upright and in place until the glue dried, which took forever!

After the glue dried, I just dumped a small amount of glitter into each ornament to hide the glue spot and shook it around. Then I put the hanger back in and hung up.





Easy Peasy, and it holds a lot of sentimental value!

I hope you guys have a terrific day! I'm off to make the last of the ornaments for tomorrow and then hopefully start sewing. :)

Have a great day guys!

Heather

12 comments:

  1. They look great, well done!

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  2. Looks great, so creative!

    Come enter to win a free paper bead necklace from Heart Strings for Orphans!

    http://gigglesglitzandglam.blogspot.com/2010/12/gifts-that-give-back-heart-strings.html

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  3. these are completely adorable - what a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing :) and Merry Christmas!!

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  4. I completely understand the results not turning out as directions imply they should. Love your determination and peristence.
    Great idea for the "special times" you added to each ornament.

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  5. Love it! What a cute ornament!
    Have a Merry Christmas!

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  6. Love clock stuff and these are adorable!

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  7. This looks great, Heather! Love the clock face and the hands you added. I had no idea you could do that with Photoshop {I am so graphically challenged}! I came over from Brag Monday!

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  8. Heather, your ornament is gorgeous. And I never even thought about how hard it would be to get the clock inside...wow!! Well, your results are astounding!

    Congratulations on being featured on the Graphics Fairy. This is so pretty--I love it!!! What a magnificent ornament you have made!
    XO

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  9. Your determination paid off -- big time! Oh goodness, pardon the pun (it really wasn't intentional). Your clock ornaments are absolutely beautiful. So glad I stopped by from The Graphics Fairy!

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  10. I so wish I had found your blog BEFORE Christmas! *grin* These would have made awesome gifts for my family.
    Looking forward to visiting here often!

    Jana Z

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  11. I love decorating clear ornaments. The clocks are a great idea and came out looking super! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Just wanted to let you know I featured this project in my 10 Great Ideas for Using Vintage Prints!! Great project! :)

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