Things You'll Need:
- clear ornaments
- colorful paint
- paint pens
- banana stand or similar
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Step 1
Glitter, sparkle, and shine fill your home during the Christmas holiday season!
Painted Christmas ornaments can add to the glamour in your house during the holidays. In fact, you can add these colorful and vibrant ornaments with very little cost by decorating them yourself.
Purchase Affordable Clear Christmas Balls
Decorating for the holidays can be an expensive and daunting task without a few tips on how to make the atmosphere welcoming, but at the same time, affordable. One of the most practical ways to do this is to make your own decorative Christmas ornaments. During the holiday season, most craft stores and discount stores, including Wal-Mart, have a variety of clear, unpainted glass ornaments for sale. These range in size from the size of a ping pong ball to the size of a grapefruit. For your first Christmas ball decorating project, I would recommend purchasing ornaments that are about the size of a small tennis ball. These are probably the most common and seem to embellish a Christmas tree with the greatest ease. They come with the additional hardware necessary for hanging the ornament on your tree. Because they are clear, you can usually get a dozen or more for just a few dollars. -
Step 2
Use Colorful Craft Paints
The sky is the limit when it comes to painting these opalescent Christmas ornaments. In the craft section of your local discount store, purchase some small bottles of crafters paint. Don’t limit yourself to the typical red and green colors that are so often associated with Christmas. In fact, select colors that will complement the décor of your living space. In addition, go ahead and purchase some colors that have a metallic sheen like champagne, gold, and silver. Often these small bottles of paint can be purchased for less than fifty cents a tube. To help with the effects, make sure that you don’t buy a paint that is too thick, it needs to be about the consistency of runny honey. In addition, purchase two metallic paint pens or glitter pens to use at the end of your project. -
Step 3
Pour and Roll
Now, for the fun part! Carefully pour a teaspoon of paint into the opening in the top of the clear Christmas ball. You don’t need to measure exactly, just don’t pour too much at first. Then, slowly and gently begin to roll the ball in your hands so the paint sticks to the sides. You can mix colors for added swirling effects, or you can just use one color. As soon as you have completely covered the inside of the ball, rest in gently on a flat surface. To avoid any messy counter tops, you might want to lay a newspaper down first. Try to keep the opening of the ball face up, and do not seal it with the hardware until the paint has dried completely. You might want to lean the ball against something stable, and rotate it every couple of hours to make sure any residual paint doesn’t collect in the bottom of the ornament.
Embellish the Outside of the Ornament
After two to three hours, your ornament should have dried enough to handle it carefully. At this point, go ahead and put the hardware on the ornament so the opening is covered. Cautiously hang the ornament on a banana rack or a Christmas ornament holder. Using the metallic paint pens or glitter pens, decorate the outside of your clear Christmas balls. It is best to lightly design your Christmas ball without layering on the paint too thick. You can always go back over the design a second time to increase the effect. If you put too much on at first, it will run and drip. Allow two to three hours for the exterior paint to dry. When the Christmas ornament feels dry to the touch, take it off the banana rack or ornament stand and remove the hardware once again. Let the Christmas ornament dry overnight to ensure complete coverage with no excess pooling of the paint in the bottom of the ornament.
Voila! You have just created beautiful and affordable ornaments that will provide you with Christmas pleasure for years to come.
