Mason Jar Lid Ornaments

Happy 2015!  I hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year!

I'm getting ready to pack up my Christmas decorations, but I wanted to get some Christmas crafts completed before I boxed everything up.  I found a bag full of Mason jar lids that I forgot about a few weeks ago, so I decided to put them to use.  Here's what I came up with.

Still can't get enough of that face!

If only I'd thought of this before Christmas...these would've made great gifts!  You could also turn this into a fun kid craft and let your kiddos decorate pieces of paper to put inside instead of using photos.

Here's what you'll need to do some photo ornaments.

Materials:

• Mason jar lids (both the rim and the flat interior)
• Photo prints
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Paper scissors
• Fabric scissors (every crafty gal should have a pair of separate fabric/ribbon scissors.  Cutting fabric with scissors usually used for paper will cause your fabric cuts to be messy.  It'll also make it more difficult to cut paper afterward with the same scissors.)
• Tape
• Paint and paint brushes or spray paint (optional)
• A napping baby (optional)

Here's what you need to do:

1. Place your jar lid upside-down over your photo and center the portion you want to display inside the opening.  Then trace around the OUTSIDE of the lid.  Then remove the lid. 

   

   Trace the OUTSIDE edge

   
   

   

   Look at that sweet, drooly mug...

2.  Place the flat interior portion of the lid INSIDE the circle you just traced on your photo.  It's okay if it's not centered, it's just going to help you cut off the excess of the photo so it fits inside the lid.  (This is easier than cutting around the first line and eye-balling as you cut a bit more off.  It's also easier than cutting around the first line and then holding the lid interior over the cut picture to trim more off.  Trust me.  I tried it all). 

   

   Different photo.  Didn't try this method until the third picture.  Live and learn!

3. Now cut along the inner-most line that you drew.  **If you are doing multiple lids/pictures, I recommend tracing and cutting all the pictures before decorating the lids.** 

   

   Can you see the double line on wee little Max's shirt?  Cut the innermost line.

4. Now it's time to decorate your lid! (I don't have any photos of this part.  It's difficult/dangerous to use a glue gun and play photographer at the same time).  I simply glued ribbon around the outside rim of the jar lids, being sure to place a dot of glue at several points around the lid to ensure it was well-secured.  You can even layer ribbon types if you like.  Be sure to secure the ends of the ribbon with glue.
5. Once your lid is dry, drop your photo face down into the jar lid.  Roll a piece of tape and place it on the back of the photo, then place the flat interior portion of the lid on top of it.  Secure with tape around the edge. (see photo in next step for example)
6. Cut a length of ribbon/twine/rope and loop it.  This will be what you use to hang the lid ornament on your tree, so be sure it's long enough. Place a large blob of hot glue on the inside of the lid, at the top of your picture, and press the ends of the ribbon loop into the glue (use pencil, pen, or other stick-like object instead of your fingers because...ouch!) 

   

   Can you see the tape?

7. Once the glue is dry, you can admire your craftiness by hanging your creation on your tree!

I painted the top rim of this lid before gluing the ribbon around the edge for a different look.  I used acrylic paint and a brush, but you would probably get better coverage with spray paint.  I also just decided that it could be super-cute to use buttons or beads to decorate the lid.  You could even do Mod Podge and glitter.  The possibilities are endless!

Aren't they cute?!  These were super quick to make...I was able to bang these out during Max's nap!

Is anyone else doing post-Christmas Christmas crafts like me, or am I the only one who wasn't "with it" enough to get this stuff done before Santa came?  I'm using my lack of planning as an excuse to keep my Christmas decorations up longer...gotta wait until I can pack the Christmas crafts up with the Christmas decorations!