homemade ornament ideas

You'll need a package or two of clear glass Christmas ornaments and several bottles of acrylic paint for these homemade ornament ideas. 

The metallic colors, especially gold and silver, work best. We also used a deep red, blue, and green with great success on our handmade ornaments, too.

The night before you're going to create your holiday masterpieces, take off the tops, and then pour a little rubbing alcohol inside of each.

Swish it around, and dump it out. This cleans the interior of any dust or dirt so that you have a fresh surface to work with. Turn the Christmas ornaments upside down in the box to drain. The next morning, gather paints, the glass balls, and cover your work surface with newspapers to protect it.

This is a bit of a messy job. But the festive end result is well worth the messy fun.

Add Paint to Each Ornament

Squirt about three teaspoons (three little squirts) of paint into each ball. For a really dramatic look, squirt one teaspoon of each color inside the ball.

Keeping your thumb over the hole, gently swirl the colors around until they're mixed the way you like them.

Then place them gently back in the box, upside down, with fresh newspapers underneath. Allow to dry a couple of days before using or wrapping as your customized holiday gifts.

Finish by placing the tops back on, and tie with a festive ribbon.

Consider stringing beads on the hook for added sparkle. These are great gifts for teachers and grandparents.

If You Want to Get Really Festive This Year...

• Personalize it. You can write your name (or the name of the person you're giving it to) on the front along with the year in glitter glue. Or, you can pick up a pen that writes in silver or gold that's made for writing on glass.

• Stuff it. Instead of putting paint in the ball, squirt in a little glue and then pour in glitter and swish it around. Then pour out the leftover and let dry. Don't use much - you don't want the whole ball covered - you just want to create a pattern. We liked using white glitter. After it dries, stuff the ornament with confetti or beads and your child's class picture.

• Glue it. You could also write the person's name on the ball with plain glue and then roll the ball in glitter. Or, you could make a design on the ball - like a snowman - and roll the ball in white glitter. Or, you could make the outline of a tree with the glue and roll it in green glitter. After it dries, glue on little colored beads.

• Add some glitter. Squirt a little glitter glue into the ball after you put in the colors. Don't use much or it will melt the other colors. But a little bit gives a see-through, sparkly look.
  You can also pour some different colored glitter in. We like it best when we'd pour in a little paint, and then a little glitter, and then a little more paint.

That's what we came up with. But the possibilities are endless. Use your imagination to create memories of the season.