Photo Christmas Ornaments...

13 years ago my oldest sister started a tradition. She made a photo ornament of my niece and then she did it again the next year. The tradition was born. Each year I have a hard time coming up with something cute! Sometimes I resort to buying them from Target!! But this year, I started early and came up with a great idea! A matchbook photo album turned into an ornament!! I started by buying a matchbook shape from the Silhouette Online Store. Then I had to decide on some paper. I always love seeing the new christmas scrapbook paper that comes out. But being in an area where the scrapbook supplies are sparse, I had to order online. I went with Echo Park 'Tis the Season. While waiting for the paper to arrive (it wasn't in stock yet) I designed my shape and decided how many pictures to put into the album. I chose 5. It seemed like a good amount to fill in the matchbook but not be too heavy for the tree.

Once the paper came, the cutting began!!

I printed all the pictures using my own printer. Obviously you could have them printed, but with the silhouette software it was a breeze to import them, print, and then cut. For the front of the ornament I wanted to try using the sketch feature on the silhouette. I bought gel pens in white. I found some free chalkboard type fonts and designed the tag. The sketch feature is pretty awesome!! Once all the pieces were cut, all I had to do was glue them together. To attach the photos to the matchbook I used the stapler. I did not love the look of the staple so I covered it with a sticker. To hang the ornament I used a silver brad and then wrapped the twine around it. Then I secured the last photo to the back of the album to cover the back of the brad. (In the words of my 4 year old)... BOOM, DONE! The ornaments are all packaged and ready for Santa's sleigh!