Disclaimer: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and Pampers. All opinions are 100% mine
Christmas has always been my favorite celebration. I have wonderful childhood memories of getting together with all my family in my grandma’s house. I remember our talks and the music, those were happy times.
I also have wonderful Christmas memories from when my sons were babies, like my younger boy’s first Christmas with his great-grandma.
Or the first Christmas when my older boy wore a Santa Claus suit.
One U.S. tradition I appreciate most is the giving and receiving of Christmas tree ornaments to commemorate important moments from the year. And I love the idea of creating something personal and unique each year to do the same. I think it’s a nice way to preserve memories and, then, revive them when we decorate the tree each year.
Thinking about all that, I decided to browse the thousands of photos I have on my computer and choose just two photos of important moments from my sons’ lives this year and create a Christmas ornament for each of them. Looking at all those photos made me wish I had started this tradition years ago.
Because of that, I want to suggest, if you have babies, that you start a tradition right this moment to help you remember the first tooth, the first steps, the first smile, the first trip to the beach. Your baby experiences your love in so many different ways, and those precious moments you share with your little ones make every day special and worth remembering.
To get started on the right foot with this lovely tradition, I opened up my friend Kathy Murillo’s book, The Crafty Chica Collection. Kathy’s a great artist and I love her colorful, creative projects. Leafing through her book I found two projects (pages 53 and 120) that, together, gave me a model for making my personalized Christmas ornaments.
I made these Christmas ornaments in my boys’ favorite colors, and used small charms to represent things they like. For example, my older boy likes boardgames a lot and he loves to go to the beach, so I attached a pair of dice and two starfish to his ornament. The photo at the center represents something he did for the first time this year, guitar classes.
Now here is how to make them step by step.
Materials
2 wooden shapes of your choice, just make sure they are thin and light so that you can hang them easily on the Christmas tree.
Charms to represent the memories you want to preserve.
Photos of your kids or the person you want to give the ornament to.
Paint
Paint brushes
Beads or crystals of your kids’ favorite colors.
Silver chain
4 Jump rings (1 cm) 3/4″
Head and eye pins (these are not sharp pins, but they have a flat head or an “eye” on one end that keep the beads from falling off when you thread them on.)
White glue.
Mod Podge
Twine
Also you need a pair of round-nosed pliers and a pair of flat-nosed pliers.
Everything, except for the photos, of course, I found at Michael’s (It’s a crafter’s paradise). I found that in many cases you need to buy a complete bag, for example the charms, or the jump rings. But I have to tell you the prices are very reasonable and in the end enough remains to make more of the same or a piece of jewelery perhaps. (Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this post)
The Process
1. Paint your wooden shapes the color you like and let them dry.
2. Cut out your photo to fit the size of your wooden piece.
3. With the help of a hammer and a nail make small holes in your wooden pieces, one at the top, and one at the bottom of each piece as shown in the photo below. Tip: place a thicker piece of wood behind your shapes in order to absorb the point of your nail.
4. Glue a photo in the center of you wooden shape. Let it dry. Later take a brush and spread mod podge over the entire piece of wood and photo. Carefully, but quickly, sprinkle colored beads to form a frame around your photo. The mod podge will look white, but don’t worry, when it dries it will become transparent.
5. Meanwhile, search for charms you want to use for each ornament along with other beads and crystals that you think will complement your colors and design. Thread a charm and some beads onto a head pin or an eye pin, then, using your round-nosed pliers, make an eye at the end of the pin. Repeat until you have the number you want.
6. Take your silver chain and decide how far you want your charms to hang down from your ornament. Then, make your chain twice that length (you will be folding it in half and attaching it at the middle) and, using your pliers open the link of the chain at that length to separate it from the rest of the chain, and close the link again.
7. Take one of the jump rings, open it with the help of your pliers, and attach the middle link of your length of chain to it, then close it. One by one connect your head pins or eye pins with your charms already attached to links of your chain by opening the eyes of the pins with your pliers and then closing them around the links. It looks like this:
8. Open the jump ring and attach it to the small hole at the bottom of your wooden ornament, then close it.
9. Take a piece of twine and thread it through the hole at the top of your ornament, then tie it to form a circle.
That’s it.
What do you think? Are you ready to get started on your Christmas ornaments for your babies? It makes for a lovely gift, too, if you have a new baby in the family.
You know, Pampers has been a part of many babies and families’ lives for years. They are so popular that in fact, Pampers Swaddlers are the No.1 choice at local hospitals in Los Angeles and across the country. And now Pampers Swaddlers are available through size 6 to comfort and protect babies through many more moments of love!
And if you have babies at home, or someone in your family does, you’ll be glad to know that Pampers (check out the hashtag on twitter #RegaloDeAmorPampers) is offering parents the opportunity to participate for a chance to win a gift, here at Mamá Latina Tips, with wonderful things to help you capture these special moments of love with all your babies and children. This gift pack contains Pampers Swaddlers diapers, Pampers wipes, The Crafty Chica Collection Book, and a $25 gift card from Michael’s to help you create your own special DIY loving keepsake. Ready?
Win it!
To participate for your chance to win the one prize package with Pampers Swaddlers, Pampers Wipes, The Crafty Chica Collection Book, and a $25 Michael’s gift card is easy. Just leave me a comment telling me how you capture your favorite loving moments with your kids or babies. That’s it! That is your required entry.
Would you like more opportunities to win? I have a few of those, too! These entries are optional:
Subscribe or already be a subscriber to my blog by email or by RSS - 1 entry
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Follow Mamá Latina Tips on Google + – 1 entry
Follow Pampers en Facebook – 1 entry
Follow Pampers on Twitter – 1 entry
Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following:
Enter today for the chance to win 1 #RegaloDeAmorPampers gift pack w/ Michael’s GC & @Pampers diapers @mamalatina http://goo.gl/TMq3mi
(limit: one tweet per day, just please leave me a comment for each with the link of the tweet) 1 entry per tweet.
Please leave me separate comments for your required entry and for each optional entry (1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and/or 7), so I know how many entries you have, thanks.
This giveaway will end on Monday, November 24, 2014 at 11:59 a.m. (noon) PST. No purchase necessary. Open to US residents only, 18 years of age or older. Winner will be randomly chosen and notified via email. Winner must respond to notification email within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen. Void where prohibited. Please no P.O. Boxes. Entries/Comments that do not follow the submission guidelines will be invalid.
Good luck!