I promised in my October Review, November Preview post that I would begin sharing ideas to create your own Christmas ornaments. I know, it seems early, doesn’t it? But Christmas is really not that far away and if you want to make ornaments for those people in your life with an adoption connection, you need to get started early so you have time to do it.

Giving an ornament to the people in your life related to adoption is a great tradition to do each year. Birthmoms can give their child an ornament each year, I do this and now that is getting old enough to know what it is all about, he looks forward to see what kind of ornament I’ve made for him each year. Adoptive parents could give an ornament to their child’s birthmom (birth dad too if he is involved) and also any extended birth family members like birth grandmas who may also be involved. Depending on the age of your child, he/she can help too!

The first ornament I bring to you is a holly wreath ornament which features a photo. It would be great for a photo of the child and his/her birthmother if you have a recent one.

Materials Needed:
Red foam
Green foam
Scissors
Ribbon
Hole Punch
Glue or scrapbooking adhesive
Photo of your choice
Glitter (optional)

Instructions:
1. Make a circle with the red foam by tracing something round. I traced a cup to create my circle. Then cut out the circle.
2. Trim your photo to fit the circle if needed. Adhere it to the circle. Don’t worry if the photo itself is not round, it will not show.
3. Either free hand or use a stencil (I created my own stencil using the pattern here) to trace and cut out holly leaves from your green foam. Depending on the size of your circle will determine how many holly leaves you will need. I used 12.
4. Adhere the holly leaves to the red circle overlapping the leaves as you go.
5. Make a bow out of the ribbon.
6. Punch dots out of the red foam to create berries and adhere them to the ornament.
7. Make a bow out of the ribbon and glue it to the front of the ornament.
8. Using the ribbon, create a loop in which you can use to hang the ornament. Glue the loop ends down in the back of the ornament.
9. If you’d like, accent the ornament using a little glitter.

And there you have it! An easy ornament featuring a photo!

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Further Reading:
More crafts for your loved ones in the adoption triad
More on Christmas

Picture credit: Coley Strickland