I took basic glass ball ornaments that you can pick up at any craft/hobby store or Target and jazzed them up a little bit. Does anyone else get a mental image of someone doing Jazz Hands anytime they hear, see, or speak the word JAZZ? Oh, just me. Never mind then.

If you intend on coating the inside of a glass ornament with paint I very highly suggest cleaning the inside before. I used rubbing alcohol to clean my ornaments. Just pour a small-ish amount into your ornament swish it around and upside down, with your finger sealing off the hole, and then dump and let dry. Some people reuse their alcohol I found that didn’t work well for me. My first few I cleaned the inside and the paint stuck just fine. My last few (the ones I spent the most time on and loved the most…of course) I didn’t clean. Let’s just say they have a melted look to them.

This first one I went simple. I poured white acrylic paint (slightly thinned with 7-8 drops of water) into the the cleaned & dry ornament and moved the ornament around until coated. Place ornament w/ paint upside down on a small cup to allow the excess paint to drip out. During this process you can move the ornament around allowing the excess paint to shimmy on over to areas that need paint. I allowed my ornament to dry overnight upside down, carefully placed the top back on the ornament, tied a cute ribbon to the top, and hung that baby up!

It’s best to allow this ornament to dry with the hole facing down so that the excess paint drips out and doesn’t pool at the bottom of your ornament causing a dark spot to appear on the bottom of your ornament.

This next ornament I did the same as the white one above, but obviously used green on the inside this time. On the outside of the ornament I wiped it down with rubbing alcohol so that my paint had a clean surface to stick to. Next, I dipped the back of a art brush into white acrylic paint and just free handed a swirly dot, and then allowed it to dry on a small cup. Once dry ,I tied a piece of baker’s twine to the top for hanging.

I wanted this one to look fairly messy. I’m sure it’s not everyone’s taste, but I think it adds a bit of whimsey to my ornament collection. Plus, I can always say the hubs or the kid made it if people laugh at it.

For these polka dotted guys I just cleaned the outside of an ornament and dipped the back of a sharpie marker into paint and dotted it around my ornament, and let dry. These were my favorite. Unfortunately, these were the ones I DIDN’T clean the inside of, so now they look all melted on the inside and will not be returning next holiday season. Always, always, always take the time to clean the inside of your ornament if you intend to coat it with paint. You can kind of see the paint on the inside start to “melt” in the photo below. Poor little guys. They never even had a chance.

Oh well, you live and you learn. I still left them on the tree. I just placed the really bad ones to the sides and back.

Here’s another super quick How-To on how to make a snowman ornament.

What you’ll need…

• clear glass ball ornament (any size)
• rubbing alcohol & cotton ball
• acrylic paint
• small paint brush
• baker’s twine (or ribbon)
• hot glue (& glue gun)
• faux snow

For my snowman ornament I first cleaned the outside of the ornament with rubbing alcohol, let it dry for a few minutes, and then balance on a small cup so I could begin painting. For the eyes I dipped the back of a small art/craft paint brush into dark gray paint and then touched the back of the brush to the ornament. I did this a few times until the eyes were the size I desired. Since I had the gray paint out I went ahead and did the dots for the mouth next.

With a 10/0 sized art brush (basically, a really tiny brush) I freehanded the nose. I allowed the nose to dry for 5 minutes or so and went over it once more to deepen the color and to fix any issues I noticed. Don’t worry about getting his nose perfect. I made 6 of these guys and everyone the nose is totally different. I think it adds to good ole Frosty’s charm.

Once Frosty was dry, I stuffed him full of some fake snow and then added his top. I also took a bit of baker’s twine and wrapped it around his top (where his hat would be) then added a dot of hot glue to hold the twine in place.

(here is the back of Frosty showing the dot of hot glue)

Once your hot glue is dry hang the little guy on your tree or anywhere else you feel needs a snowman.

These would make super easy and cheap party favors or even holiday gifts. You could even add a name or year to the back for a touch of personalization.  Go on, get your holiday on!

Since we have kind of an earthy/natural Christmas theme going on at our abode.  I’ve had the itch to make some of these terrarium ornaments for our tree.  They require zero care.  Well almost zero.  If you have animals like mine you gotta make sure they don’t clobber the Christmas tree, and break your beautiful creations.

I found this quick and easy little project on Design*Sponge (love that site), and wanted to share their “how to” for these Mossy Balls of Joy.

What you’ll need:

– clear glass ornaments

– dried moss

– twine

– pencil

– q-tips

optional- twigs, butterflies, feathers etc…

1. Tear off a small piece of moss and moisten slightly (this helps to keep the moss from crumbling a lot of dust inside).

2. With the eraser end of your pencil, gently push moss into the opening. Repeat this a few times until you have a forest floor on the bottom of your ornament.

3. Add any extras and poke with your pencil to style things as necessary.

4. Bend a q-tip and clean any debris stuck to the inside walls of the ornament.

5. Attach a piece of twine with a bow and hang.