DIY Memory ball Christmas ornament

It doesn’t get any simpler, or more special, than a single ornament that captures the memories of your entire year. Before, this was an ugly ball ornament that I found discarded at the bottom of our ornaments box.

Now, it’s a piece that has new life, and makes me smile whenever I look at it!

Oh, and it’s totally free.

What you’ll need:

any ornament you can write on
a black Sharpie

Check your ornaments box for ugly ornaments that you never put up, or don’t like. You’re bound to find some balls like this one in there. If not, head to Michael’s, Walmart or Big Lots and you’ll spend $2 or less.

Then, bust out your Sharpie and start thinking about the fun things you did with the family this year. I loved thinking through every month and writing down our adventures: family vacations, memories, firsts for the kids, visits from family.

You can make it a family affair and let the kids share their favorite memories of the year. If your kids are old enough, give each of them a ball to write their own favorites of the year.

Another idea is each child can write out their list for Santa on the ball.

You could also use this as a gift for a friend. Write out all of your fun memories for the year, or phrases that are inside jokes, or even hashtags from your favorite social media shares.

You could even write out all of the “firsts” that your child did through the year, and give it as a grandparents’ gift.

When I first started on my ornament, I made the mistake of trying to write 2014 in big block letters. Since the ornament is spherical, it ended up looking like awful chicken scratch. But instead of discarding it, I just positioned it on the tree so that side was facing inward.