Making a Handmade Photo Tree Topper! (Temper "Success")

It's the last month of the year and most people around the world are putting up christmas trees and decorations. Like most people we also participate in the christmas ritual of christmas balls, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and cards. We put our tree in front of the window so our tree can be seen from the street. This is something we've done every year so this year is no exception, except we will be adding a personalized item to our christmas decorations.

As some will know I enjoy creating so this photo tree topper is right up my crafting tree, pun intended. In this post I will be showing you how you can add this wonderful idea to your tree and enjoy it for years to come.

For this project you will need:
*Scissors
*Card stock
*Printer
*Ink
*Photos
*Laminator(sheets)
*Glue
*Rhinestones
*Silver Leaf
*Adhesive spray
*Sponge applicator
*Crafting software
*Cardboard
*Scotch tape (clear)

When I was creating my topper I decided to use the star shape tool and combine 2 of them together. After I gathered my photos my first choice was to use the punch tool but my photos didn't show in the star good. Below is what my first attempt look like?

So I decided to print the entire collage with the star placed on top of the photos that were manipulated exactly how I wanted them to appear. This is what it looked like after I printed it.

Once you have the photos arranged it's time to place your card stock in a laminating sheet and run it through your laminator, I use scotch 3M thermal laminator. My laminator has a blue indicator light when it's hot and ready to use.

It takes about 10 secs to run a 8x11 sheet through the laminator, that is when were ready to cut the tree topper out and get it prepared to silver leaf. I used craft bond adhesive spray and placed my topper on a piece of cardboard so the adhesive wouldn't get on anything else. I placed about 3 pieces of silver leaf and used my sponge applicator to smooth it out over the back of the topper. Now I'm not good at leafing so some of the leaf didn't apply but I just let it be and it ended up giving it a vintage look.

After you allow the adhesive and leaf to bond I proceeded to put my rhinestones on each point of the star on the picture side of our topper. In this project I used various sizes of rhinestones but of course you can choose any style you like and that includes leafing the back. Have fun and make it your own!

After your finished decorating and all your embellishments have dried its time to attach a holder so your topper can be placed atop your tree. We just used a piece of card stock and some clear scotch tape.

 (Update- we had to use glue (e6000) to adhere the paper tube on the back)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and your family is in "aww" of their new christmas addition. If your so inclined please leave some examples in the comments. We would love to see how yours turned out and I'll pin it on my Pinterest board. 

Happy Holidays

 As always, I must leave you with a video and one of our songs. Make sure to celebrate safe and around people who love and respect you. Have fun and enjoy our track  
Throw it Up!  
Happy Creating from 2ufromus!

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