DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide - Dog-Eh!

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Have you ever wanted to turn a photo of your dog into a Christmas ornament? We've outlined all the steps with photos to show you how to do it!

Before you begin you will need...

  • Photos of your dog(s)

  • Wooden ornaments (easily found at your local craft store)

  • Photo Transfer Mod Podge (satin finish)

  • Sponge brush (a couple if you will be making a lot of ornaments)

  • Paper towel

  • Access to water

  • Ruler

  • Laptop with internet access (a cell phone also works but can make aspects of this more difficult)

  • Laserjet printer (if you don't have one, photos can be printed locally at Staples, etc.)

Step 1

Go to canva.com and sign up for a free account if you don't already have one.

Create a design, select "custom size", create an 8.5 x 11" project

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide
DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 2

 On the left side click "elements" and then select the "circle" category.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Click a circle outline, it will appear on your page. Ensure the outline you select doesn't have a filled-in background otherwise your photo won't show properly in the following steps.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 3

Measure the area on the ornament you want the photo to be in. Take note of the measurement in inches.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

 Step 4

Use the measurement from Step 3 and make the circle in Canva the same size. As you make your circle smaller/larger in Canva you will see the size reflected in a box beside it in inches.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 5

 In Canva at the top right of the screen select "share". Click "download"

 DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide 

Select "pdf" from the drop-down menu, and then click "download".

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide 

Step 6

Go to your downloads folder and print it on regular printer paper with any type of printer (a laserjet printer is not required for this step). 

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Cut out the circle outline and ensure it's the correct size for your ornament.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide 

If it's not the right size, change the size of your circle in Canva, download, print, and cut it out on regular printer paper until you achieve the desired size. 

Step 7 

Copy and paste the circle in Canva spacing it evenly throughout the document so you have room to cut around each.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

 Step 8 

Upload your dog photos into your Canva document.DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 9

Place your image on the page. Select the image and press "flip" at the top of the screen. 

Select the image and press the 3 dots, then "send to back". 

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

 Adjust the image so the part you want to appear on the ornament are within the circle.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

 Repeat this step for every ornament.

Step 10 

In Canva at the top right of the screen select "share". Click "download".

 DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Select "pdf" from the drop-down menu, and then click "download".

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide 

Step 11 

Go to your downloads folder and print the pdf file on normal paper with a laserjet printer. 

If you do not have a laserjet printer you can print the pdf files at a location like Staples. Printing this document on anything other than a laserjet printer will yield far less desirable results.

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

 Cut out the circle outline and ensure it is the correct size for your ornament.

 DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 12

Use photo transfer Mod Podge (satin finish) and cover the front of your photo with the sponge brush. 

Ensure all air bubbles are pushed out. Running a debit/credit card lightly over the image works really well to do this. Clean up any excess mod podge with paper towel. Don't forget to clean off your debit/credit card too!

DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Repeat this step for all photos and ornaments. Let them dry completely (usually overnight is best). 

Step 13 

Use a damp sponge or paper towel and saturate the back of the photo with water. 

Gently rub the white paper off with your finger, exposing the image underneath.

 DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide

Don't rub too much off and remove your image. The goal is to rub off the white paper revealing your image, but not enough to remove the ink.

 Let it dry. If too much white is showing dampen it again and rub off the excess paper. Repeat this step as much as you need and for each ornament.

Step 14

Ensure your ornament is clean (no paper fuzzies) and apply one light coat of mod podge (satin finish), let dry, and then you're ready to hang your ornaments!

 DIY Dog Photo Christmas Ornament: Step-by-Step Guide 

Enjoy!!!

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.