Putting Photos in Memory Ball Lockets

A photo or memory ball is a fabulous keepsake with enough room for the whole family! Gorgeous opening and closing ball pendants of sterling silver or 9ct yellow or rose gold to display photos on one side, and names, dates or words of love on the other side. A fabulous gift to personalise for Mother's Day or any special occasion gift to remember always.

Inserting your own photos is easy - when you know how! These giddy tips are all you need to create a unique pendant with a precious story.

 

Photoballs: Engraved or Photos?

The first decision is whether you'd like the photoball locket to display photos, words, or photos & words. 

One side of the discs in a photoball have indented sections for photos. 

The other side of the discs are plain. The plain sides are usually hand-engraved but there is no right or wrong way to create a photoball and you can choose to have both sides of the disc engraved, or both sides with photos as long as the photos are on thinner paper.

 

Choosing Photos for Photoballs

Different sized photoballs have different amounts of space for photos but most will be around 15mm in diameter. If you are clever you can print photos to the exact size, after measuring the diameter needed. 

 Alternatively, you can use the actual photoball to simply create a template that can be used to cut photos to the size needed.

 

Creating a Template for Photoball Photos

Open out the photoball on a flat surface, take care not to bend the hinges too far.

Take a light piece of paper you can see through and position it on one of the discs.  Trace around the space just inside the rim of the disc to get the size of the photo you will need. 

Once you have drawn the circle that is the size of the inside area of a disc, place it on top of the photo you would like to put in your photoball pendant and mark the circle on the photo.  Cut it out as neatly as you can as you will see the edges of each photo. 

Gluing Photos Into Memory Balls

Photoball lockets are similar to old-fashioned cast lockets in that the photos are attached directly to the metal and not held under perspex. 

If you would like to be able to remove the photos at a later date, photos can be attached with tiny blobs of bluetac or stickydots (included with your Oh My Giddy Aunt Photoballs). 

If you would rather have the photo sit flush against the metal inside the rim of the disc a gluestick is perfect. Coat the back of the photo with gluestick and it will adhere the paper of the photo to the metal.  To remove this photo at a later date you will need to apply water and peel the photo off, so this method is not suitable for antique photos or photos you can't reprint.  

Choose the order and the number of discs you would like filled with photos or word and once you have your photos attached and your words engraved you will have a story to be told and retold each time the precious ball of memories is opened!