For me to say that I'm making lots ornaments and DIY Christmas wreaths is an understatement. I'm making something every day. One year I was still making ornaments on Christmas Eve just before leaving for a Christmas Party. No, I didn't need them for the party. I just wanted to keep making ornaments. Funny thing is, after Christmas I have no desire to make any more ornaments until the next October or November. So there you go...

But, anyway,  now I'm full steam ahead. :)

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED making these ornaments. I decorated an entire Christmas tree - okay, it's not a full sized tree but I made a whole theme for this little tree... All Creatures Great and Small - a Christian hymn. I wrote the entire hymn on the ribbon garland.





The first thing I bought were these awesome wooden discs that I bought on Amazon. These are the ones with the holes drilled in them already. They are very reasonable. I bought 30 for $16.99 but there are lots of them on Amazon.



 I painted them back and front with white acrylic paint. I only lightly painted the outside of the disc which is real bark. I love it and didn't want to completely paint over the bark so I basically just sponged it with paint.
After they were lightly painted the wood grain raised up slightly but a light sanding is all they needed to make them smooth again.

I picked up pictures from the internet and printed them out in plain white paper, copy paper, really.


Because the sizes and shapes were all slightly different I laid the wood slice on top of the picture making sure that the picture of the animal was in the center and then traced around it. It will be a little  bigger than what you need but the shape will be right. Cut out the shape and trim as needed to fit inside the circle.

Use a brush to Mod Podge over the disc. I bought the matte Mod Podge so it wouldn't be shiny.

Once the Mod Podge is applied to the disc place the picture that you cut out on top of the disc and smooth out. I used a rounded brush handle to roll over the entire surface a few times to make sure there were no wrinkles.

After an hour or so you can apply another light coat of Mod Podge over the entire disc. Let dry.

Add a string. Done.

I did several in an hour. Easy. Peasy.

I had a little Christmas tree from last year that I just put the little animal ornaments on.


I thought this looked great but then I've had this hymn that also was made into a series of books by James Herriott.

"All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all."
       Christian hymn. Words by Cecil Frances Alexander 

I put each sentence on a ribbon and used it as a garland on the little tree.




There's a big white sparkly bow on top of this Christmas tree also. I love it so much!!

My sister added Bible verses on each one.



She did a  lot of these. She said it wasn't easy getting the right Bible verse with the right animal. :)


I also intend to make these with family pets and kids and give them to their respective owners/parents. Nice gift. Thoughtful. Meaningful. Not likely to be returned. ha ha

You will enjoy making these. It was fun and easily accomplished. Having a printer helps but not necessary.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season,