Need more help on the memory ornaments fast!

17 years ago

I have started my practice memory ornaments project. This is suppose to be a birthday present for my husband on Thanksgiving Day. And boy do I need help!:)

What I have done so far:

I cut out the size for the ornament on transparency film.

I printed on the lightest weight photo paper that I had two small graphic and cut them out. They are both about 1-1/2" x 1-1/2".

I glued them onto the center of the film.

The problem is that the edges won't stay stuck to the film when I roll it around the pencil to insert. I have tried two different types of glue - the one lets go on the edges when I insert. The only other kind of glue that I have is Elmers All Purpose and it is way too runny and it does not dry clear no matter what the bottle says! So, if when dry, it actually does stay stuck, the film around the picture is cloudy from excess glue.

Any suggestions? Would a glue gun work? Or what kind of glue is quick to set and works for paper on plastic? Do I need a glue that is softer when dry (not sure what adjective I am looking for)? I was wondering if contact paper would work or would it cloud the picture or make it too thick to get into the bulb?

The one that I did try and actually put into the bulb looks really cool with the graphic "suspended" in there, but the edges did not stay tight to the film and are slightly curling forward.

I hope that someone can offer some suggestions. I will check this post tomorrow before I am done at work, so I know what to go and buy after work to finish these tomorrow night.

Thank you so much and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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Comments (4)

Deb_from_Pa
17 years ago
Why don't you print right on the transparency? That's what I do!
maryanntx
17 years ago
I'm wondering the same as deb. Why glue the transparency to the photo paper? I would either print on the transparency (must be for ink jets if that's the type printer you use), or print on the photo paper and insert in the ball.
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evelyn_craftdiva
17 years ago
I don't get attaching the photo picture to the transparency
either, why not just use the picture printed on paper, that's
what I did.
SunflowerMom
Original Author
17 years ago
MIssion Accomplished! First, let me explain, then I will tell you what worked.

From what I have been told there are inkjet transparencies, but you have to paint the reverse side or the picture does not show well in all settings. I wanted the picture to "pop" and I also wanted the picture to appear that it was suspended inside the ornament. Plus, I was given some black and white copier transparencies. Transparencies are costly and come in huge packages. I only need a few sheets, so I started with what I had and free is always good if you can make it work. And to make matters even harder, I always had a problem with one-sided ornaments because they always seem to want to turn to the backside, so I wanted the picture on both sides.

Now to what I did that worked. I found my picture and sized it. Then I copied the picture into my Paint program and flipped it and transferred that back. So now I have the same picture that I can print and use back to back. I printed the pictures onto photo paper (next time I would probably find some very light weight photo or glossy paper). I took the printed pictures and stuck them to one side of double sided carpet tape. Then I cut out the pictures trying to keep the same spacing around each one. I matched them back to back as close as I could trimmming here and there until they were very close. (Now, this is where I probably should have taken a little more time, but it was after midnight and they were looking pretty good :))
Then I removed the backing of the tape off one picture and centered it on my film (that had been cut to fit the inside of the ornament) and pressed all the edges. I repeated this with the other picture on the other side of the film matching this outline to the other picture outline. After pressing firmly in place I carefully rolled it around a pencil and inserted it into the ornament. It was a little hard because of the thickness of two photos and the film to roll around the pencil but the carpet tape held and it worked. I accomplished my goal on this project - the pictures really pop even if the ornament turns around.

Hope this made sense. This was suppose to be my practice project before attempting memory ornaments in honor of my daughter. I did learn alot but will probably invest in the inkjet transparency film for those.