{ Kitty Ornaments }

We have five cats... our furchildren. They rule our lives since our son got married. As thoughts turned toward Christmas we decided we needed a Christmas ornament for each of them. Finding one that would fit each of their personalities was impossible. My sweet Honey, came us with this adorable idea...

With him being a photographer, he takes hundreds and hundreds of photos. Many of them are of our kitties. He picked out some of his favorite photos keeping in mind how they would look as an ornament. In photoshop he added their name and birth year or the year that we adopted them.

Next he printed out the photos of the cats in a wallet size. He chose photos with a straight on shot of our kitties. Next he trimmed the photos around the shape of head, leaving some extra that will be cut off later.

The supervisor checking on our work. You can skip this step =) Our cat Mikey always has to snoop at everything we do.

What you need: Modge Podge, foam brush, wood and screw in eye hooks all available at the craft store. My hubby used thin oak left over from another project, but you can purchase thin balsa wood at the craft store.

Seal wood with a coat of Modge Podge on all sides. Let dry for several hours. If you are in a hurry, use a hair dyer to speed up the process.

Follow the directions on the bottle of Modge Podge for decoupage. Put several coats of Modge Podge over the top of photograph. Let dry completely between coats for best results.

Missed the last two steps, my honey was having so much fun he finished them when I wasn't home. The next step is to cut out the ornament following the head of the animal and making a nice finished neck around the date. He used a bandsaw, but you could use a dremel, scroll saw or small handsaw. Another idea is to use wooden blanks in the shape of a circle and follow the same steps for a easier ornament. We prefer them "cat shaped" Put more Modge Podge around the edges of the ornament after cutting it out to seal. Add a "eye" hook in the top where you would like to hang from. Misty and Mikey's ornament hanging to dry after the top coat of Modge Podge

This is Fiona's first Christmas. She will be 6 months old at Christmas time. Her ornament looks adorable hanging from her ear.

We made ornaments for all the furbabies we have now, and the beloved ones that are no longer with us, but have left paw prints on our hearts and will be loved forever.

Lastly, our beloved Sheltie Chessie. The only dog in the bunch. He was the most wonderful dog ever. I don't think we could ever have another one that was as wonderful as he was. He took a piece of my heart with him when he went to rainbow bridge~

I hope you enjoy these ornaments. They were made with love. The are so precious hanging on our tree. I would love to hear your thoughts about these ornament. I also hope you make some for your tree. TIP: they are cute for key chains too.

xo,
MaryAnn

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