photo cards Archives - Summercrafter

Do you have tons of lovely holiday photo cards of loved ones, family and friends and don’t quite know what to do with them? Well, I have the solution! I think preserving them and using them as gift tags and ornaments for those families is a great way to recycle jar lids and those pictures. A great DIY ornaments project. I’ve had this idea for a while and I’m so glad to finally be able to share it. I do hope you’ll find this tutorial helpful so you can make your own. Please read all the way through before you start.

First, collect all your holiday photo cards.

Start collecting jar lids of all different sizes from mayonnaise, pasta sauce, pickles, salsa jars, whatever! Ask people to collect for you too like family, neighbors or church members. Invite them to make some DIY ornaments with you!

Here is a visual of what you’ll need to make them but don’t be limited by it, please. A list follows below.

A circle template, I like to use this circle ruler for best visibility
Embellishments: jewels, stickers, paper, felt, fabric, pom-poms, buttons, jingle bells, charms glitter, etc…
Ribbons for hanging (13 inches for Ragu lids) you’ll have to measure ; )
Cord, pom-pom trim or rick rack for front edge
Mod Podge
Hot glue gun
Scissors

You may find that when you see mine and start making them, you’ll come up with all sorts of variations. Let’s start! You’ll have to compare photos and lids to make sure the size matches.

Use the circle template around the picture and the lid. It should be the same or slightly smaller than the lid opening. I did not need to trim any of my pictures when using this template.

Trace the circle around the picture and cut it out.

Apply Mod Podge to the inside of the lid and insert the picture. Press down firmly until the picture stays down, it may lift if not glued down all the way.

I also used a small brush to apply Mod Podge on the inner parts of the lid of your DIY ornament.

Then I put a scoop of fine glitter and rotated the lid to get it all around.

Tap out excess. I used a dry brush to remove excess glitter from the photo.

After the glitter dried, I applied Modge Podge to the picture, but in the end, it’s much better WITHOUT!! The picture is well protected in the lid and really, we won’t be playing toss the ornament or anything like that! Essentially, this is how the picture part goes. The back of the lid can be decorated in many ways.

This one is the simplest done with card stock and paper. Paint some Mod Podge on the lid and smooth over the card stock until it sticks down well. Once it’s adhered securely, you may paint over it with Mod Podge to seal the paper.

This one is done with felt which is a great medium, especially if your lid is a little warped or not flat enough. Use the circle template to trace and cut out a circle from the felt.

Then, simply apply hot glue to the lid and press down the felt. Then Secure the sides that are “unstuck” with more hot glue then embellish as desired.

Another option is to paint the lid. I used a sealer just to prep the area.

Then 2-3 coats of paint should do. Just enough so you can’t read the lid!

Re-positioning embellishments with paint is not recommended because it will peal off.

I put the year of the photo, since we parents tend to forget.

Next, we’ll take care of the hanging ribbon and edges: Make sure you mark the center of your lids on the top and bottom this will come in handy for positioning back decor and ribbon so they hang right side up!

To attach the hanging ribbon, start on the bottom center, and got glue an inch at a time and press until you get to the top center and STOP!!

Then you get the other end of the ribbon and start at the bottom and repeat until you get to the top.

Glue the ribbon together (just a dab) where they meet to make a loop.

Then we have this exposed edge that doesn’t go with anything! Cover it with some pretty trim. Start at the front center point and work your way around hot gluing on the metal edge, one inch at a time until you are back at the starting point.