Wedding Invitation Christmas Ornament

Man, I didn't realize until I hit publish yesterday that all my posts this week have been downers! I meant to turn things around after Monday's post, but clearly that didn't happen - even if Tuesday's post was a little more humorous. 

Well today, we're back to a more fun topic: ornaments! This project was actually something I made last year for several people. I posted it on my old blog, but since I didn't migrate those posts, this is its first appearance on the {new and improved} May Richer Fuller Be. I made these for people who got hitched in 2011. It’s a glass ball ornament with a wedding invitation inside.

I originally got the idea for it from Caitlin Graham via Pinterest, which linked to a fantastic tutorial. So if you want to make one yourself, there are good instructions and more detailed photos there. 

Supplies needed:

• Empty glass ball ornaments (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
• Wedding invitation (or some other memorable piece of paper that you want to use)
• Scissors or rotary paper cutter (I recommend investing in one of these if you don't have one. They've come in handy for soo many projects)
• Pencil or marker to curl your paper strips

Instructions:

1. Cut the invitation into narrow strips preserving the lines of text so that you'll be able to see them in the finished product. 

2. Curl them around a pencil or marker. Put the curled strips aside. 

3. Take the tops off of your glass ball ornaments. 

4. Feed each strip individually into the ornament. This takes some finagling, but you just have to be patient. It will work. Eventually, once all the strips are in there and you put the top back on, you will have a finished product that looks something like this:

Or this:

5. Put a pretty ribbon on it and call it done.

This makes a great gift, is inexpensive, is pretty and is super personal. It's a gift that preserves something like a wedding invitation in a special way that the couple can always hang on their tree at Christmastime.

That’s it! Now go take down those pretty wedding invitations you've been keeping on your fridge and go to it!