DIY Photo Ornament or Photo Keepsake

Learn how to create an easy DIY photo ornaments or photo keepsakes with floor polish around that time of year!

We live in an age of technology where we snap photos all the time. Our phones are full of random pictures from every holiday it seems. The question is, what do we do with all of those photos? I know some people print photo albums once a year around the holiday season, while others don’t worry about ever printing or saving those photos. I’ve decided this year that I’m going to start creating my own DIY Photo ornament of my kids so every year I’ll have a Christmas picture of them (and homemade Christmas ornaments!) I’m sure I will treasure this as they get old and move away (tears…). 

If your kids are in school then you probably have lots of “school pictures” from every holiday (at least my kids do). Half the time I don’t know whether to order them or forgo. What do you do with all those extra pictures anyway? Let’s make some DIY ornaments!

I hate to keep pictures stored away in a box or album somewhere. 

Will my kids even want them when they get older? 

That’s when I decided to start a little holiday tradition of creating my own homemade ornaments.

Now when I collect all those sports and dance pictures, I buy the “trading card” size so I can create an ornament. These also make great gifts for the whole family!

I hope this will be a fun tradition of pulling out the old ornaments and “remembering the times.”

For this post I’ll share a simple photo keepsake I created. The method used to create a DIY photo ornament will be the exact same. 

Disclosure; this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay. This disclosure statement refers to the rest of the Amazon links in this post. See my disclosure post for more details. 

Materials used to create DIY photo ornaments or photo keepsake:

• Floor polish (make sure you get the clear stuff) 
• Clear photo ornament or photo keepsake bottle (a plastic ornament or anything plastic is best with kids) 
• Paintbrush
• Extra cup (to pour excess floor polish in)
• Filler materials – this can be glitter or candy or anything. Be creative!
• Picture – find a picture that will fit FLAT on the surface of the container

This is the floor polish I used. Any floor polish or floor gloss will work, just make sure it’s clear.

How to create DIY photo ornaments or photo keepsake

1. After you gather the supplies, remove the top off of the ornament or keepsake
2. Pour a little floor polish into the container 
3. Gently roll the picture and slip it into the container
4. Roll the picture around in the polish 
5. After a few minutes of soaking your photo in the polish Use your paintbrush to press the picture on the surface
6. Pour the excess polish out of the container into another cup
7. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to dry
8. Make sure the photo is situated exactly where you want it
9. Pour the “filler” material into the container
10. Enjoy your new photo ornament or photo keepsake!

This is the “keepsake” I’m using to transfer my kids photo to. I forgot to take a before picture with it, so you can see the picture on the other side. 

Now that the picture is attached you can add your filler! I used a bag of the red cinnamon candies you see around Christmas time. Since this is a big bottle, I needed something bigger than glitter to fill the space. This is fun for older kids to learn to make by themselves or younger kids to help you make!

How to transfer a photo to an ornament or a keepsake

First let me show you a quick and easy YouTube tutorial about how to make these personalized photo ornaments.

Wasn’t that simple and so much fun? I wish I had more of these to show you, but this is just the beginning of my personalized photo keepsake collection! Speaking of collections, I found a fun way to create a DIY personalized Disney memory book here! 

I’m so pleased to start a personalized holiday collection of pictures! Want to join me? 

Grab your old sports pictures or school pictures and let’s make something! 

P.S. If you don’t want to make a DIY ornament with your own supplies, check out our list of Awesome Christmas ornament kits that come with all the supplies. 

Also don’t forget to check out our salt dough ornaments or Christmas Diorama ornament too. These DIY ornaments are a great way to get crafting around the holiday season. Kids of all ages will enjoy them and the best part is that you will make lasting memories. Gather all your family members around the Christmas season and gain some holiday spirit by making these cute keepsakes. 

Happy Crafting friends and Merry Christmas!