Message In An Ornament...

This is one of my all-time favorite projects I found on Pinterest!!!  I have decided to name it "Message in an Ornament" ... similar to "Message in a Bottle!"  Pretty funny, huh?  :)  The first ornament I created was for my brother and his wife.  I took their wedding invitation and placed it inside the ornament. It turned out SOOOO cute.  Unfortunately, I was not a blogger yet, so I did not take pictures of the different steps it took to create the ornament.  Here is the ornament... I love how the words and colors/textures of the invitation are displayed in the ornament!!!  

BUT...you are in luck! :)  I helped a good friend make a "Message in an Ornament" today and brought my camera along :)  These are SUPER easy to make and are a fabulous (not to mention thoughtful!) gift for family, friends and loved ones.  I PROMISE you CAN make this ornament!!!!!!!

To get started, you will need the following items:

- A large, clear glass ornament (I found mine at Hobby Lobby).

- The invitation (or any special wording).

- Filler for the ornament (fake snow, sand/seashells, gems, rhinestones, etc)

- 1-3 different sized charms

- Ribbon to match the "theme" of the event (I use 2-3 different types of ribbon).

- Scissors

Get your crafty-self ready!!  Here we go....

1) Gather your supplies.  In this ornament, we placed the vows written by the bride and the groom (what a great idea!!!!).  The were married on the beach, so we used sand and seashells as a filler in the ornament (that is sand already placed inside the ornament).  Go ahead and place your filler into the ornament.  You can always add more later.

2) Take the invitation or writing piece and carefully cut it into strips.  I used one line of wording per strip.  If there are parts of the invitation that have no words, I continue cutting it into strips and use the blank pieces .

3) Use a thick marker (like a sharpie) and wrap each strip individually around the marker, in a spiral direction.  Make sure the words are showing out, not in :-) Hold the paper on the marker for about 15 seconds so it will "hold" the spiral shape.

Strip of paper carefully wrapped around the marker.

Notice the spiral shape!

4) Place each spiraled strip of paper into the ornament.  Be careful...the opening of the ornament may be sharp!! :)

 5) Once all of the strips of paper are inside the ornament, place the cap back on and shake the ornament to fluff up the paper.  You can also use a thin pencil to place inside to move around the strips of paper.  I like to make sure key words from the invitation are showing. :)


6) Now comes the fun part....choosing your ribbon and charms!  Be creative here.  This particular wedding used the colors ivory and gold, so I bought the ribbon accordingly.  I like to buy different sizes of ribbon to add texture.  I used a thin gold ribbon and a shear ivory ribbon in this ornament.   Once you choose your ribbon, tie it through the loop at the top of the ornament (where the hook goes).  I also had some twine laying around, so I tied it on the loop too.  My friend got some really cute charms to use.... they were wedding bands.  PERFECT!  I tied these on with fishing line.

And you are finished!!!!!  Here are a few other pictures...

I would LOVE to hear about your "Message in an Ornament" creations!!!  Please let me know if you found any other creative ideas to include on your ornament!!  Thanks for reading :)