Baby’s First Christmas Tree Trunk Ornament DIY

We like to celebrate everything around here, especially all of Trent’s firsts. So of course, that means we want to find ways to make Trent’s first Christmas special and memorable. We already have his first Disney Christmas ornament just waiting for his little photo.

 

We had a blast picking out Trent’s first tree and decorating it (and making this awesome video), and we wanted yet another way to commemorate his first Christmas, so we decided to keep Trent’s first Christmas tree forever…literally!! An ornament made from the trunk of our Christmas tree!

 

This was a simple project with just a few steps, and you can let someone else do the first step too if you want. We started out with a piece of the tree trunk that we had to cut off in order for the tree to fit in our house.

 

If you prefer, you can have someone at the tree lot cut the piece for you. Most tree lots will saw off a bottom piece of the tree anyway, since it gives a fresh cut to help the tree better soak up water once it’s in the tree stand. Just have them give you the piece they cut off!

 

We then used a mitre saw to cut off a clean, thin piece that will be the ornament.

 

Our piece was about a half inch thick.

 

Then, write whatever you want! We wrote “Trent’s 1st Christmas Tree 2012″ but you could also write:

“Our First Christmas Tree”

“Our First Tree - 2012″

or just the year in the center. We used a Sharpie marker, but it ran a little, so I would recommend using a paint pen.

 

Spray several coats of clear gloss spray paint onto the entire piece. It really will need several coats, as the tree will soak up the first few coats.

 

Drill a hole at the top, string a ribbon through and make a bow.

 

Hang it on your tree for years to come!

 

Check out our other craft projects HERE!