Less stressed this season

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Its that special time of the year again. Weeeellll I could say stressful instead. It depends on your mindset and how prepared you are for the commercialism side of this Holiday. It is of course Christmas. This Holiday of Holidays’ has the ability to bring out the best in people but it also can bring out the worst. My family and I try to avoid the worst side by concentrating on the best things we can do to make it that much more special. One way we do this is through creating an elegant DIY Christmas ornament. We etch a glass ornament with and uplifting picture or message, We then anonymously deliver it to someone who we think might need a little emotional pick me up during this season.

Items needed to create this ornament

Glass Christmas tree ornament
any type of glass ornament will work.
Design (ie cut vinyl design or pre purchased sticker)
This is the stencil part of the project. Any vinyl adhesive will work. You can even by some pre cut stencils that work just as well.
Blue painters tape

This just allows you to mask off parts of the ornament that you want to protect from the etching
cream.
Etching cream
A cream I like and that is one of the favorites around is Armour Etch. Its is a fast acting cream
specially made for glass etching. This  product lets you create permanently etched designs on
windows, mirrors and household glassware. Create your own custom glass etching stencil or use a
pre made stencil.

Pre Design planning

I create all my designs in CorelDraw. As with any project you need to plan how you will accomplish your project. Benjamin Franklin supposedly once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Take some time and plan it all out. You won’t regret it and your final product will look amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to use a clip art picture of Mary and Joseph holding the baby Jesus next to the manger.

There is a quiet reverence in the picture.  We always try to go with something different every year.  I prefer the religious aspect of out ornaments but we have also went tradition with pictures of Santa Claus, Presents and other Christmas decorations.

 Preparations

Then you will need to gather up a stencil. You can buy some precut stencil’s or you can use your cricut and design your own. Read here about that. Start with larger prints that do not have much detail until you get the hang of the technique. Clip art works well, or you can find etching kits that have stencils ready for you to use.

I found my stencil design online and then tweaked it a little bit in CorelDraw.  Once I was finished editing it was then transferred it to Design Space.    I then set it to the right proportions of our DIY Christmas ornament.  When everything looked right and straight.  I sent it off to the Cricut to get cut.   It was a fairly complicated design to cut.  There were many lines and curves.  You can’t really get elaborate and big with your design because of the  the amount of space that my glass ornament allowed.

Etching your diy Christmas ornament 

The next part of the process is to set you stencil on to your ornament.  This part can be difficult.  Especially if you have the traditional round ornament ball.  The trouble happens getting the vinyl to adhere to the glass without any bubbles or lines.  Here is a great video by Kim on You tube on how to place vinyl on an ornament.   An important thing to note is that before placing your stencil you need to use a soft towel with alcohol to clean the area of your ornament to be used.  The rubbing alcohol helps to remove any excess grease from the ornament that comes from your handling of the ornament with your hands.

Once you have applied the cream you will want to allow it to set for a specific period of time. Read and follow the directions carefully so you can make sure your designs work.   Also that you are able to make your designs according to need. Following the directions you will find that the cream will work it’s magic. Once it is done and ready.  You can gently wash away the excess cream.  You will be able to peel away the contact paper and you’ll have a beautiful piece of glass.  A new talent of diy craft glass etching will save you money for years to come.

 

anonymous Gift of the DIY Christmas ornament

 

Here comes the fun part of the project.  You get to observe people in their natural habitat.  Keep on the look for anyone who might be feeling down or depressed.  You would be surprised that something as simple as a Christmas ornament can lift a person’s mood or self esteem.  The very idea  that someone cares enough to create a DIY Christmas ornament and leave it anonymously on their door step helps.

We also include a little gift along with the ornament.  My wife bakes home made bread. She mixes it by hand and does quite well at it.  The smell of home made bread will cheer up the grouchiest of people.  Use your imagination to help cheer up someone in need of a little pick me up.

Its delivery time.  Make sure a member of the family who possesses the best wrapping skills is taking care of the packaging.  You want to map out your delivery and escape route.  Next up is to figure who is the fastest in the family but also quiet.  You want this person to make the delivery and get out in a hurry without making a lot of noise.  Your mapped out escape route is for this family member.  You don’t want them getting tripped up by a bike or a scattered water hose.  Choose your date and load up in the family vehicle for your delivery.

I know how this brings a lot of joy and happiness to my family.  The feelings you get from helping lift someone up are indescribable.  Especially if you get it done anonymously.  Have fun with your DIY Christmas ornament and helping someone in need.