How to Paint Faces on an Ornament

Plain ornaments set the stage for fun face-painted ornaments.

One way to jazz up your tree or center piece is to use plain glass or plastic ornaments and paint holiday-inspired faces on them. Some popular faces for holiday theme ornaments are Santa Claus, Rudolph the Reindeer, snowmen and women, elves and angels. You can even paint the ornaments to resemble family members and give the miniature look-a-likes as gifts during the holiday season. When creating a face to paint on the ornament, draw your idea first on paper.

Things You'll Need

• Glass or plastic ornament balls
• Rubbing alcohol
• Paper towels
• Acrylic paint
• Plate or palette
• Brushes
• Poly-acrylic varnish

Instructions

1. Clean the ornament with rubbing alcohol. Let the alcohol dry. To prevent lint particles from ruining the finish, hold the ornament with a paper towel.

2. Shake the bottles of paint to thoroughly mix the colors. Pour a small amount out onto a plate or palette.

3. Load the paintbrush with the base color for your design, peach for a human face or white for a snowman's face. Apply the paint in thin layers to minimize brush strokes. Let it dry.

4. Paint on the eyes, mouth and nose using a clean brush for each feature. Let each coat dry between layers. Add additional features like hair, rosy cheeks and eyebrows or lashes, letting each layer dry.

5. Let the paint dry for 24 to 48 hours and then seal the finish with water-based poly-acrylic varnish.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a fresh brush for each color. Washing the brushes between colors will add water to the surface, preventing the paint from sticking well.

• Use a poly-acrylic varnish instead of polyurethane, which yellows over time.

• When creating a face, remember to keep the features small and minimalistic since you are working on a such a small surface.

• Glue on felt hats, ribbons or glitter, fake hair or horns to complete the design.

• If this project is for younger children, use plastic ornaments so they do not cut themselves if an ornament breaks.

References

• SOyouwanna: How to Paint Glass Ornaments
• Craftbits.com: Santa Face Ornament