Back when we admitted to putting up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, many readers asked whether Clara would get a special “First Christmas” ornament. We finally made one right before moving boxes took over the house, and because packing distracted us we’re publishing this a week after the tree came down. Better late than never.
We wanted the ornament to be silver so it would coordinate with our existing decorations for years to come. Silver is a neutral element we often use on the tree, and a metallic finish seemed timeless. Still, we wanted the piece to feel personal to Clara circa 2010, so we decided to add a small silhouette of her profile. At the craft store we picked up a plain white ceramic ornament for a dollar and some inexpensive silver acrylic paint. We actually bought two ornaments — cheap insurance in case the first attempt didn’t go as planned.
The plan was simple: create a silver backdrop and Mod Podge a scaled-down version of Clara’s baby silhouette on top. That way the ornament reads unmistakably as a baby keepsake while establishing a silhouette theme we could reuse in future years to track how she changes. I still had the digital file of her headshot silhouette from an earlier project, so we resized and printed it, then carefully cut it out.
When painting the first ornament with silver acrylic, the finish turned out streakier than we wanted. As a backup, Sherry remembered a metallic Sharpie in the junk drawer and tried that on the second ornament. The Sharpie adhered to the glossy ceramic much better than the acrylic paint. The acrylic actually dried and peeled off later in one blob — a reminder that some paints don’t bond well to slick surfaces. A second pass with the metallic Sharpie a few hours later blended everything into a smooth, coin-like finish that looked much more professional.
Once both sides were covered with Sharpie for a shiny silver background, we centered Clara’s cutout silhouette on one side and glued it down with a tacky craft glue, taking care to wipe away any squeeze-out before it dried. After the glue set, Sherry applied several thin, even coats of Mod Podge over the paper silhouette to seal and protect it for the long term. The finished result was delightfully charming and inexpensive — all told the project cost under $2.50 in materials.
On the back we wrote “Clara’s 1st Christmas, 2010” in small handwriting with a black Sharpie for a personal touch. The spare ornament that lost its acrylic paint gave us a second creative idea: we used a traced paper cutout of Clara’s hand as a stencil, traced the outline onto the ornament with silver Sharpie, and filled it in. Her tiny hand fits perfectly, and that piece will be a sweet reminder of how small she once was. It’s worth noting the hand-print version may require a larger ornament in future years if we want to repeat the same idea.
So that’s how we represented Clara’s first Christmas on our tree in two simple DIY styles: a silhouette keepsake and a hand-print ornament. We hope to unpack them again for a quick, casual decorating session at the new house. Have you made any personalized ornaments? Sherry also suggested stuffing a pink baby sock into a clear glass ornament for a third keepsake, which I thought was odd at first — but I’d be curious to see tasteful versions if anyone has tried it.
Update: We’ve shared other homemade ornaments and holiday decor ideas in past posts and rounded up some favorite seasonal finds in a holiday decor list.