Feeling Kinda Crafty At The Moment...

A week or two ago I decided that I felt in the mood to make some homemade Christmas ornaments. In other words: I was feeling crafty. I haven't felt like doing any of that in a while so I took the bull by the horns and set out to start my projects. I began two types of ornaments at the same time (both are a little time consuming but so easy).

The first that I'd like to share with you looks like this. It's one of my favorites. This past Christmas when we had to make ornaments to exchange on Christmas Eve, this is what I made. We drew names Christmas Eve to find out who would receiver our ornament. My nephew Jamie got my ornament. He's still too young to appreciate it now, but he will one day (he's not quite 2 yet). His is exactly like the white one here. This was my first time trying a snowflake, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

The process is really simple. The hardest part is waiting for everything to dry. So here's how you do it:


First you start by getting all of your supplies together. You'll obviously need some clear bulbs (I got mine at Hobby Lobby), I used glitter glue (got at a Family Dollar), acrylic paint and ribbon to hang it with. Oh, and something like newspaper or paper towel to put under your project to keep you table clean.












Next, decide what design you want and what colors you want to use and draw that design on the ornament. I found it is better to do the outside design first and then paint the interior. When i first made Jamie's ornament I painted the inside first. For some reason putting the glitter glue on the outside after having the paint dried on the inside made the inside paint slide away from the place the glitter glue was. This left me having to redo the inside painting a few times. Long story short: do the outside first.








The next step is easy, but can be difficult if you're in a hurry. That is to wait. Wait until the glue dries. You can tell it's dry because all of the liquid will be gone and the glitter will be stuck to the bulb. I let it sit overnight. It's better to let it sit longer than not long enough so that the design won't get smudged if it's too wet still. You can see the difference in the pictures.

The glitter glue is now dry.

If you want a design on both sides like I did then you have to repeat this process again by flipping the ornament over (which is why the first glitter glue must be dry since it will be on the bottom this time.)









Now, take the top off the ornament (or you can do it before you use the glitter glue) and put a little paint in the bulb. The hard part with this is that the paint moves around the inside of the bulb slowly. Because it doesn't look like the paint will cover a lot or move quickly you may have a tendency to use more than you should. I did this for my first bulb and wasted a lot of paint in the end. The paint covers more than you thing it will. I suggest letting it sit and rotating the bulb so any parts that aren't covered are on the bottom and letting the paint slide into those sections. This is extremely helpful when most of the bulb is covered and just a few sections aren't. It takes patience but is totally worth it. If anyone has any other suggestions I'm totally up for them.

 Let the inside paint dry and then carefully put the top back on. If you aren't careful about holding the prongs together as long as possible you will scratch the paint off the inside at the top and it will show the prongs. It's not a big deal, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to that type of thing. Also, once the top is on, DO NOT rotate it. Make sure it is facing the direction that you want when you first put it on. Rotating it will peel the paint away immediately. Unless you're going for that look, then by all means go for it.

What is always helpful too is if you think you have too much paint inside the ornament and it's taking a while to dry, just put it upside down and let the paint flow out onto your newspaper. Also, when trying to get paint to an obscure part of the bulb, use your paint bottles to hold the bulb in place if you need to.

This is one of my new favorite ornaments. It's simple, yet beautiful. I just bought some puffy paint from Walmart last week so I think I might try that next time instead of glitter glue and see how it goes. Anyone have any ideas of what to try next? Let's keep it simple shall we? I like simple.

I'm not quite finished with my other ornament project yet. Most of it is done, I just have to figure out how I want the finishing touches. I can't wait to share it with you when it's done! I hope you've liked this ornament. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas!!

Merry Christmas!!