Is it me or is finding beautiful, on- trend ornaments that are NOT breakable so hard?? I fell in love with these textured ornaments from Crate and Barrel, but there was no way I was going to spend $40 on 6 ornaments that would more than likely get knocked off of the tree and break. So...when in doubt, DIY it out.
As you can see I chose to paint some ornaments and others I kept clear and stuffed them with dried florals.
Because this DIY is so organic, the instructions are very loose. This is one of those projects you just have to keep playing around with, but trust me you can't mess this up. The key is LAYERS. But for my visual peeps, you can watch my video tutorial here.
Shopping List
Clear, Plastic Ornaments: I used both the 3 7/8" and 3 1/4" sizes
Chalk Paints: Here is exactly what I used, but you do you
- FolkArt Chalk paint in the colors Java, Castle, French Linen, Maui Sand
- FolkArt Wax in Antique Wax
- FolkArt Terracotta in Ocean Cavern (this is a blue color that I want to incorporate
into my theme this year so it may not be for you)
- A random matte black paint I had from a previous project
Rub N Buff: I used the color Gold Leaf
Dried florals of your choosing (just make sure they're bot the type to crumble when squished. They should be pretty durable)
Gold Spray Paint
How To
Take off the silver hangers. Set them aside
Choose a base color to paint the ornament. Let it dry and repeat with however many you want of that color. It will take 2-3 coats to completely cover the ornament.
Continue painting your base colors, but switch it up! Some of mine were black mixed with the Maui Sand (which is like a charcoal color), some were French Linen mixed with Castle, some were Java, some were Java mixed with Castle. Play around with it! That was honestly the most fun.
Once all of your ornaments have a base color...layer! The key to these ornaments is layering. It will definitely look worse before it looks better. Use a brush to apply rub n buff. You're goal isn't to cover the ornament but just sporadically apply it.
Next, LIGHTLY brush on a different color making sure you don't have too much paint on the brush. Dab it off. I honestly can't even tell you which colors I used where and in what order. I just kept mixing colors and layering on the antique wax, rub n buff, and paint until it looked nice and blended.
Repeat with the other ornaments. No two ornaments will look the same and I love that.
For the dried florals, I just cut the them off the stems and pushed them into the ornament. You don't want to cut them too short because then they'll just fall to the bottom. Keep the stem longer so that they fit nice and snug inside.
I chose to tie the velvet ribbon onto the ornaments with the florals inside. You could do all of them if you wanted!
Spray paint the silver hangers with a gold spray paint (if you want). Once those dry, carefully pop them back into the ornament and you're done!
* The blue color paint that I used is a color that I want to incorporate into my decor this year. It didn't turn out as blue as I was hoping so I will be making some more.
Thats it! It's so easy and fun playing around with the different combinations. And remember...it will look worse before it looks better! Just keep that in mind haha I can't wait to get my tree set up and decorate with these beauties! And as always, I can't wait to see your projects!
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