Flaming Cameo Ornament

Okay, so it's not really a cameo, but I wasn't sure quite what else to call this ornament. I'm not sure the photo does it justice either, since in real life the flames are more sparkly than they may appear in the picture.

The ornament is made of two components: first is a stack of dynamite (there are six sticks) colored to look like Christmas candy; the tag reads "To Road Runner from Wile E. Coyote". The second component -- the "cameo" portion -- shows Wile E. suffering an explosion  and surrounded by flames. The flames are about 3.6" x 3.26"; the dynamite sticks are about 2" long.

Make the Dynamite Sticks

To begin, I made the dynamite sticks from striped paper drinking straws in Christmas colors, cut into segments about 2" long.

To fill the inside, I used scrap paper rolled up tightly into a tube with a bit of red string glued inside for a wick. I cut my pieces of paper about 1.9" x 5" long before rolling; depending on the thickness of your paper and your hand at rolling you may have to trim this length a bit. When I had a roll of paper the right size to fit into the straw, I put a tiny bit of glue inside the straw and gently worked the paper roll inside. I made six of these dynamite sticks, then glued them in a stack using tacky glue. When the glue had grabbed, I wrapped the bundle with string, which I looped through a jump ring, then knotted and glued (I used a white cotton cord with a gold metallic stripe). I printed the small tag on the computer, but you could write it by hand; I glued the printed tag to cardstock, then glued it to the dynamite with one corner tucked under the cord wrap. I finished by touching the ends of the wicks with a dab of gold glitter glue.

Make the Cameo

The flames-cameo segment is essentially a sandwich, with the flame piece between two 2.25" button-badges.

 To make the image of Wile E, I turned again to my trusty 2.25" button maker. I pasted a cut-out of Wile's sooty face over a picture of an explosion; this is the one I used but if you google you can find several suitable ones, plus an image of an explosion, which I also grabbed from on line.

Then I made two flat-backed button badges from the resulting image. (If I didn't have the buttons, I think I would have made a paper-tole version of the image, with Wile E's face slightly raised above the image of the explosion.) Remember to reverse the image for the second button, to make the back of the ornament.

For the flames, I found an image of a fireball on line, similar to the one shown, and used that (without the stem). I sized the flames to about 3.6" x 3.26" in my software and printed directly on 110-pound card stock (print two images, reversing the second one for the back of the ornament). Then I fussy-cut both images and glued each one to a piece of black card stock. I fussy-cut them a second time, and matching the edges, glued them back to back with tacky glue. Then I pressed the image under a heavy weight while it dried (I left it overnight to be sure). This makes a sturdy flame piece, and the black showing around the edge is kind of a neat visual touch.

When the flame piece had dried,  I added a skim coat of gloss Mod Podge and finished with a very light dusting of fine iridescent glitter. I then set it aside to let it dry once more.  When the Mod Podge was dry, I used GOOP to affix the button badges. You may find it easier to do one side at a time and let the first one set before you apply the second image -- it's easier to keep them lined up that way. Make sure that they are even and that the tops are both oriented in the same direction. When I was positioning the buttons, I had the flames point slightly to the side, in the direction of the explosion. Once again, I clamped the whole thing with clothespins and let it dry for several hours.

Once the GOOP was dry on the cameo segment of the ornament, I punched holes in top and bottom of the flames, attached the dynamite unit using a jump ring, and added a hook for hanging. Presto! -- Wile E. has blown himself up again.

Although there are many commercial ornaments featuring Wile E. and Roadrunner,  DH wanted handmade versions of all the characters for our tree. He was entranced by this ornament and especially the dynamite dangle. And my sister got such a kick out of it that she requested one for her husband for Christmas!