|
Butterfly Chrismon
|
|
Here's
what we did...
Before you begin you will need to visit
the What you will need...
page for information on the materials. To get
templates to trace, I have suggestions for
ornaments on the Christian Symbols
page. (I wouldn't put to much
faith in my definitions of the symbols because I didn't do any serious
research on
them outside of looking on the internet.) You have my permission to use these to make
your ornaments but they are
copyrighted and should not be reprinted or displayed on another web
site or other publication. Or you can draw
your own. You can see pictures of some of our
finished Chrismons and our tree at the bottom
of this page
If your computer is running a "Windows" system, you can print these by opening
them in the Microsoft "Paint" program (usually under "accessories" in your program menu). Click on the image that you want to print. A printable size of the image will be displayed. Save this image as a file on your hard drive. Open Microsoft Paint. Then open the image file you saved. The templates are done in a fairly large
size, so you will probably have to adjust
the size to what you want. Consider how big your tree is and how large
your sanctuary is. Go to the image tab and use
stretch and
skew and make sure both numbers are set at the same
percentage.
Use page
setup and or print preview to see how they sit on the page and to judge
the size.
You
can also
use page setup to make it print landscape if it will fit
better.
Once you have each one the size you want you can
print it. I suggest
printing them on
cardstock especially if you are having young people helping
you. Then cut them out carefully.
Using a fabric marker with ink that will
fade away in a day or so, trace the design onto the white fun felt and
then cut
it out.
You should cut these out as you go because if you don't cut
them out
right away and come back to them later, you will find yourself
retracing them
because the ink really does...fade away. Cut
them out carefully with a good sharp
scissors.
You can
use
the fabric marker to draw the interior
details before using glitter glue but if you are not applying the
glitter right away wait until you are. You
might punch holes in the templates to mark a few of the inside designs
but here is a place you can let people get creative and make up there
own designs. Now, take the glitter glue and fill
in the details of the design
and outline the
edges. Be careful you don't get
stray glitter
from your work surface smeared on the back side of the
ornament. It's best to do the insides first.
 
You can also
add iridescent paint on some areas. Letting the glitter glue dry a bit is probalby a good
idea. Then set
these
out to dry thoroughly on sheets of plastic wrap. Make sure they are
lying
completely flat.
Once they are dry,
repeat the design on the
opposite side and let dry again.
The light will shine through the ornament
so the back should be decorated in about the same way as the front.
Next you
will brush on mod podge to cover the entire surface front
and back. It is best to do this in two steps waiting for each side to
dry but
if you
lack the time, it
is possible to let the wet side lay on the plastic wrap. I
did
have a few odd smooth areas on mine from doing this. Again it is
crucial that they be laid out flat.
After they are
thoroughly dry
use a fat threaded needle and carefully punch a hole in each
ornament,
leaving a
thread about 8 to 12 inches long. I used a piece of thread a couple of
yards long so I didn't have to keep threading the needle each time. Tie
a knot to make a loop to hang your
ornament. Be conscious of where you put the hole and how it will
balance when
it is hanging.
And that’s it. A few
of the ornaments were
a bit different such as the Clam & Drops (looped string around
edge of drops) and the Earth (of
which I left
details off of the back side).
We made at least two
of
every symbol, but I suggest at
least three if you want to decorate an average size tree because ours
is a bit bare on the back side.Try
decorating a box
or buying a christmas
gift box to use for storing them. This makes a great prop for services
where the children come up and hang the ornaments. Once you
hang the
ornaments you can
leave the box under the tree all season as a decoration. When storing
your
ornaments make sure they are stacked so that they are relatively
flat.
Below:
Our
finished tree and a few close ups of our Chrismons.
|
|
|
