Over the years, we’ve made a few dozen of these. It’s always fun for my son to pull them out and see how much better hid got over the years. Use a paint marker to add the date to each one, and even the name of each family member. Your tree will look so wonderful decorated with these unique ornaments!
What you need:
- Glass ball ornaments
- Acrylic craft paint in holiday colors
- Empty egg carton
- Ribbon for hangers (or standard ornament hangers)
- Water
- Paintbrush
- Clear glaze spray suitable for glass ***Optional, see note below.
How to make it:
- Remove the hanger top from each ornament and set aside.
- Place egg carton upside down and place ball ornaments in the middle of four egg cups to act as your holder.
- Place some paint in a palette and water the paint down until it begins to drip off the paintbrush.
- Keep the paint palette close to your egg carton holder. Dip paintbrush into the watered down paint, picking up a generous amount. Move the paintbrush to the top of the ornament immediately. Place a dollop of paint onto the ornament. If it doesn’t begin to drip down, add some more paint until it does. Continue this technique around the ornament, alternating colors as well. When finished, allow the ornaments to dry completely.
- Once the ornaments are dry, replace the hanger tops and tie ribbon in place.
- Hang ornaments on a dowel or strong twig, and then in a well-ventilated area, spray with clear glaze spray. Let dry completely. ***NOTE: This is optional. Sometimes I haven’t sprayed them and as long and you pack them carefully, the paint seems to hold up well.
Tips:
- Using the egg carton as a holder will cause the paint to stop where the paint drips down and meets the egg carton. You can avoid this by hanging the ornaments on something sturdy while you paint, just be sure that you have newspaper below to catch the drips.
- The thicker the paint, the darker your drips will be. If you would like lighter drips, thin out the paint more.
