Christmas Ornament Topper

Happy holiday greetings! Are you enjoying all of the holiday themed posts that are flying around out there? Even with all the work that is required around this time of year, I love it! Christmas is my all time favorite holiday and having kids makes it so much more fun and exciting! I can't wait for the 25th!! Today's project is an ornament topper that I created for a class this past weekend. Isn't this the coolest thing ever?? These beautiful toppers are created by using stamps from Outlines. You can even find decent directions on how to make a few of the toppers on their web site, here. These are super easy to create but time consuming. It took our class the entire two hours to finish one ornament and my guess is that it would take at least an hour to make one. There are a lot of details!! :-)

To create my topper, you'll need to stamp and emboss the Jewel Topper (you can get Outlines stamps at Wholly Scrap!) stamp three times. (I stamped twice on a light blue paper and once on a dark blue paper, embossed both in silver) I completely cut out one of the light blue and dark blue images. On the dark blue I removed the bottom section of each point (if you look closely, you can see that the stamped image is divided into small "sections" on each point). Cutting off the bottom portion allows you to layer the dark blue image on top of the light blue while being able to see both. On the second light blue image, I removed only a tiny section of each point...you can see that little section on top of the dark blue image. Then I started sticking on the jewels! And there were a lot of jewels! I used dark blue and diamond rhinestones to fill in all of the larger circles in the image. Once the jewels are placed, foam tape is added to the back of each of the images, they are layered, and then added to the ornament. (A hole must be cut into the top of the topper to fit over top of ornament. Attach image by removing the ornament hanger and slip topper over the top of the ornament, replace hanger.) Once the topper is on ornament, attach only the large points to the ornament using foam tape. The small points stay sticking straight out. And then...start adding the glitter! I used Stickles to fill in all of the smaller circles on the topper...the ones that are too small for rhinestones. And there you have it...a wonderful ornament for the tree! And easy to change colors, just use a different color Christmas ball and paper...the possibilities are endless! A few of these as a hostess gift would be wonderful!! Just give yourself plenty of time... :-)

Enjoy!!

PS - Tim started his tags today!!! You know what that means, don't you...My family eats at McDonalds until December 13!! :-) I'll start getting my tags posted asap...Can't wait!!