Christmas Ornaments from Around the World!

I found this simply gorgeous idea on Flea Market Style.  It was a guest post that was dedicated to using vintage papers.  As I read, I discovered that they were German papers and I already knew that Noel was French.  I thought that it would be wonderful to have German papers with a German "Merry Christmas!" and French papers with a French "Merry Christmas!"

As you can probably guess, I'm fresh out of vintage papers and books that are written in foreign languages, so I decided to make them.  Because it's for Christmas decor I decided to make papers that told the Christmas story best, Luke 2.  Not only that, but I did it in 48 different languages.  Here's a few examples.

Download the File Here

Note: I'm completely relying on Google Translator on these, so if there are any mistakes, I'm truly sorry.

Just so you know, I tried this out and I completely failed (Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the disaster)!  I guess it's no secret that sometimes in the DIY world, mistakes will be made and things won't always turn out the way you envision them.  Luckily, I learned from my mistakes and here are a few tips to help this project be a success for you!

1. Be aware that this is NOT a fast, easy project.  It's a lot of steps.  The more you do, the longer it'll take.  It's not horrible, but it takes some time.
2. Buy scrapbook paper that his a slight aging to it or it is too stark.  I tried inking white with an ink pad, but it still wasn't right.
3. Make sure that the paper is thin...like your printer paper...or it will be too stiff to manipulate.
4. Use as little of the blank space as possible.  You want a little bit of space, but you'll want more words to show.  So trim away some of the excess white space.
5. Use large torn pieces.  Little pieces looks too crafty whereas the bigger ones look chic.
6. Do not attempt to Mod Podge the "Merry Christmas!" phrase onto the ball.  You will want to create a tag like they did on Flea Market Style.  It looks cheap otherwise.
7. Sprinkle the glitter on.  I tried mixing the glitter into the Mod Podge and it was awful.  Firstly, the Mod Podge coated the glitter so that it didn't shimmer.  Second, it was hard to get the ratio right.  The glitter was too thick and made it impossible to read the words.  So, put on a coat of Mod Podge, the lightly drizzle the glitter by rubbing your fingers together.