hippo ornament with LLLC...

Hello my fabulous friends!

Usually when I think of Christmas, I think of snow.. That's just because where I grew up, a "white Christmas" was the norm... And I loved it!

Where I live now... we don't get very much snow... So I've started bringing the beach into my holiday decor..



Paper: Georgia Pacific white cardstock; DCWV Holiday Glitz; kraft; tissue paper
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Memento Tuxedo Black
Coloring: Copics
Green- YG05, YG09, G28
Red- R22, R27, R59
White- W4, W2, W0
Hippo- T1, T3, T5, T7, E81, R11
Other: sanddollar, glitter, twine


I live about an hour's drive from the beach where I can collect as many sand dollars and sea shells as I want.. So, I started turning my beach treasures into canvases for my art.. I love creating sand dollar ornaments.. It's super easy! I've made a bunch of these.. Usually I use floral stamps though... 

When I saw these adorable hippos in the latest La-La Land Crafts release, I knew I wanted to put them on some sand dollars! 


Since I've been getting a jump start on my Christmas cards this year, I figured I might as well get a jump start on gifts too... So I also made a super quick and easy gift tag with some of the LLLC dies to attach to my ornament so all I need to do is add a name, and it's good to go!

Ready to make some sand dollar ornaments with me?

Let's get started!


Start by stamping your hippo onto some tissue paper (you know, that super thin paper you stuff into gift bags)

Color with Copics... This isn't paper designed for coloring, so keep your coloring simple... And always keep some scrap paper behind it... Both the stamping and the coloring will bleed through this paper... if you don't have something under it to absorb the excess ink, it will smear all over your tissue paper.

When you are done, trim around the hippo. You don't have to cut right up to the black line, but get as much extra paper off as possible.


If you are using sand dollars from the craft store, you are ready to jump right in.. If you collected sand dollars from the beach, make sure you get all the sand out, clean them, and let them dry completely before decorating them. 

Use a hand drill to create a hole in the sand dollar... This is where your string will go to hang the ornament.

Cover the sand dollar with a thin layer of Mod Podge.


Use Mod Podge to adhere your tissue paper hippo to the sand dollar. Seal with an additional layer of Mod Podge.  Be VERY careful while doing this... The wet tissue paper is very fragile and likes to tear...


You can leave it here if you want.. I like adding some sparkle to my ornaments..


If you want sparkle, cover with a thin layer of Mod Podge, then cover with glitter. When the glue is dry, you can brush off all the extra glitter for later use. 

For my candy cane hippo, I used a micro glitter which is super fine... for this mistletoe hippo, I used a  slightly larger glitter (the typical glitter size). Both look beautiful! I think I actually like the slightly larger glitter size better... but it's a personal preference. Do what you like best!

To finish them off, thread some twine through the hole and tie it off... If you want these to become gifts, simply thread on a gift tag before tying the knot. 

These make great gifts, and are great beach vacation mementos too!

I hope you give them a try!

See you soon!
~Kassi


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