How to Make Photo Ornaments with Reclaimed Wood

Time need­ed: 1 hour

1. Set table saw at 6″ to the blade.

   
   Mak­ing your mea­sure­ments to the side of the blade rather than the cen­ter will ensure an accu­rate cut. This is impor­tant for projects where pre­ci­sion is impor­tant. In this case, it isn’t a huge fac­tor. We were just going for gen­er­al shape and sizes here.

2. Cut wood to size

   
   

3. Mark the top cen­ter for drilling hole

   
   Again, if you’re look­ing to be pre­cise, I rec­om­mend mea­sur­ing to the cen­ter of your wood piece to deter­mine your loca­tion for the hole.

4. Drill hole using a 1/4″ twist bit

   

5. Rough Up the sur­face using sand­pa­per

   
   The fin­ish on this par­tic­u­lar pieces was VERY strong. I used a high grit sand­pa­per to expose some of the raw edges of the wood. Any­time you’re dis­tress­ing some­thing, start with the edges!

6. Dry Brush with paint

   
   For added depth, add a lay­er of dry brushed paint. This tech­nique can be achieved by apply­ing a very lit­tle amount of paint to the brush and apply using quick, short strokes until the brush is dry. 

7. Mod Podge Pho­to

   
   For this step, all that is need­ed is your favorite image print­ed on a stan­dard laser jet print­er. Cut to size and mod podge to the sur­face of the wood.

8. Embell­ish­ments and Addi­tion­al Dis­tress­ing (option­al)

   
   Bring the look togeth­er by adding a rag bow and/or pinecones, jin­gle bells, tinsel…whatever makes you hap­py. I also like to use my sand­pa­per to dis­tress the edges of the image for added char­ac­ter. There real­ly is no wrong way to make your own pho­to orna­ments with reclaimed wood.