Christmas Crafts: Embellish Store-Bought Ornaments

Dec 16, 2010
Jennifer Hayes

Spatter Painted Bulb - Jennifer Hayes

Create fond holiday memories with these ideas for embellishing and personalizing plain bulb ornaments.

One of my favorite holiday memories is the year my mother, sister, and I spent a chilly evening in embellishing and personalizing plain glass bulb ornaments. I cannot tell you what was under the tree that year, but I do remember what was on it. So, get the kids, hot cocoa, and a few inexpensive craft supplies to create new holiday memories with your family.

Supplies For Embellishing Ornaments

One Box Plain Glass Bulb Ornaments: Small or large, you can buy either one color or a box with assorted colors. I suggest an assortment of both color and size.
Ribbon: Satin or grosgrain, you can buy ribbon either by the yard or on a spool. Both Dollar General and Wal-Mart have cute holiday ribbon for very little money.
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks: Remember, hot glue is hot! Children should use hot glue guns only under direct parental supervision.
Craft Paint and Paintbrushes: The Plaid Company sells many kinds and brands of paint, including Folk Art and Apple Barrel. For this project, you may want to consider buying one or two sets than come in the interconnected plastic cups.
Scrap Felt: If you have already made my Felt Mini-Stocking, Felt and Ribbon Tree Skirt, or Fabric and Ribbon Scrap Wreath from previous articles, then you should have plenty of scraps on hand to work with.
Assorted Buttons
Craft Thread or Embroidery Floss
An Old Toothbrush
Paper Plates or Newspaper
Paper Towels
Water for rinsing paintbrushes
Glass Painting Medium (optional): You can generally find this on the same aisle with the craft paint. It can help to prevent streaking, but multiple coats can cover streaks.

Using Paint to Embellish Ornaments

Spatter Painted Snow: With an old toothbrush and white craft paint, use your thumbnail to spatter the paint. Do this over a paper plate or newspaper to catch overspray. On a blue glass bulb, the paint looks like snow (See photo below). Add a ribbon bow with hot glue and hang. You could also splatter red paint, let dry, and then spatter green paint.
Personalized Ornament: By adding a name, intial, or date, you can personalize the ornament and create a bookmark in time to look back on later.

Using Felt Scraps to Embellish Ornaments

Felt Holly Leaves: Cut about 6 or 7 holly leaves from the scraps. The best way to do this is to cut a series of semi-circles. Use green craft thread and a running stitch (see photo below) to create the center vein; and glue to the top of a red bulb. Add a red ribbon bow with hot glue and hang. You can also cut 2 or 3 larger holly leaves, and glue a small red button on one end to resemble holly berries. Group them with the buttons together and glue them to the bulb.
Felt Hearts with Button: Cut small hearts, add a button to the center, and glue to the bulb. Add ribbon bow to embellish and hang. You can also use many other shapes, such as stars, bells, diamonds, and triangle Christmas trees.

Embellishing ornaments is not only fun, but can make for fond holiday memories. May your memories be as fond to you as mine are to me. Also, keep in mind that these are only a few ideas, so don't be afraid to let your creativity shine. You can also use glitter, beads, pompoms, or small bells. Just have fun, laugh, and don't forget the cocoa.