colorful diy ornaments

Every year we like to get a little crafty with our ornaments and make a few new ones to add to our tree. Ornaments are like Easter eggs, there are so many fun things you can do with them…the possibilities are endless. We even used some of our ideas for decorating Easter eggs and tried them out on ornaments. Whenever possible, we like to get our kids involved in our crafts, so we have included several ways that kids can help.

Acrylic Paint Ornaments

This year our kids’ really wanted their own little Charlie Brown tree in their rooms and we thought it would be fun to create a colorful tree that was merry and bright. These paint ornaments could not be easier to make.

We found all of our ornaments at Michael’s, but you can find fine most of them online as well. When you open your box of clear ornaments be sure to save the part of the box that holds the ornaments to use as a tray. Make sure you have covered your work surface and that you are wearing clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on. Open the top of your ornament. Chose the color of acrylic paint that you want to use and squeeze the paint inside the ornament. Shake the ornament spreading the paint on every surface inside the ornament. If you have some holes, take the ornament and knock it firmly on the heal of your hand until the paint covers the inside of the ornament.

Tip your ornaments upside down in the tray from the ornament box and let the excess paint drip out. Leave for a few hours to dry and then turn your ornament over and put the top back on. We tied each ornament with the same black and white striped ribbon that we used in our black, white and gold holiday decor. You can also add letter stickers to the ornaments to spell out your child’s name, monogram or a festive word. The paint does not completely dry inside the ornament so be careful not to hang these ornaments where they could break easily. We loved being able to pick the exact colors we wanted for these ornaments and our kids love their colorful Christmas tree.

Abstract Painted Ornaments

Ornaments are really fun to paint for kids and adults. Start with white glass ornaments or spray paint clear ornaments. Remove the top of the ornament and start painting. There are no rules for this craft. We experimented with a lot of different painted designs and we liked some more than others. For the ornaments above we picked 4 colors that we liked together and painted different designs on each ornament in our chosen color palette. We tied the ornaments with red and white striped ribbon and hung them with an ornament hook.

Gold Foil Ornaments

These gold foil ornaments were also really fun to make. We bought a box of glass ornaments in our favorite colors. We applied gild adhesive randomly all over the ornaments with a clean foam paint brush, making sure not to cover the ornament completely. Modge Podge also worked in place of gild adhesive. Next we placed pieces of Martha Stewart gilding sheets on the ornaments and gently patted them down with a clean paint brush. A trick of letting these ornaments or any painted ornament dry is to stick skewers into oasis and place the ornaments on top of the skewers until they dry. If you don’t have oasis, a piece of styrofoam or even a shoe box might work.

Splatter Paint Ornaments

To create these splatter painted ornaments, use a medium size, fluffy paint brush and cover it heavily in paint. Next hit the paint brush over your pointer finger and let the paint splatter all over the ornament without touching the brush to the ornament. If that is too hard for your kids, you can also have them flick the brush just over the ornaments, making sure not to touch them. With a clean brush, switch colors and repeat the process. Once you have made it through all the colors, let the paint dry. Once the paint is dry, flip the ornaments over and splatter paint on the other side.

Happy Crafting!