Christmas in July- Shadow Box Button Ornaments

By Melony Bradley on July 29, 2013 in Christmas

Christmas in July – let’s make some Shadow Box Button Ornaments!

To make Button Ornaments:

It seems like its never too early to be thinking about Christmas crafting. When I was asked to do a set of Christmas ornaments using Styrofoam and buttons from Buttons Galore and More, I asked if I could use foam core instead. Lately, I have become somewhat of an addict to manipulating the craft knife to cut various shapes. For these ornaments, I challenged myself to cut circular shapes rather than my usual safe square or rectangular shapes.

To make Button OrnamentsFirst I created cardstock circle templates in three different sizes. One for the back, one for the front and one to use to cut a circle in the center of the large circle. I used Elmers Foamboard for this project.

Now for the hard part. Use a very sharp craft knife with and a self healing cutting mat to cut the circles out. First, score lightly along the traced line, then pass the knife back through cutting almost to the other side. Use a third and/or fourth pass to cut the circle all through way through. This is referred to as the “three pass rule” and when used with patience, will result in perfect cuts. If you do end up with stray bits of foam core, use a sanding block or file to smooth the edges.

Trace a circle in the center of the cut circle and cut out with knife. Cut a slightly larger circle to enclose the back of the ornament to create a shadow box effect.

Trim the edges of the circle with scalloped edged scissors.

Paint the pieces of the foam board and cardboard with acrylic paint. I choose coordinating colors of DecoArt’s Americana Acrylics.

Spray the cardboard circle with a sealer and coat with glitter.

Next, assemble the ornament with a strong tacky glue.

For the green and yellow ornament, I formed a tree shape in the center of and used green and red buttons to decorate the edges.

Paint and stamp blank craft shapes with a holiday sentiment and attach it to the front of the foam core.

I hope I have inspired you to try your own Shadow Box Button Ornaments! Choose from an array of inspirational buttons from Buttons Galore and More to come up with your own themes and designs. Start now and you will have plenty of these budget friendly creations ready by the holidays for your tree and to give as gifts.

Live Life Creatively,

Melony