Happy Holidays everyone!! Here in the great white north...where we've gotten a touch of snow...I am in full gear for the holidays. I'm done with my shopping and have even started to wrap! I'm proud of myself...this is unheard of to be honest. I'm not too proud to admit that there have been years where I've been wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve! Not this year. I'm head of the curve on this one.
Since I'm in the holiday spirit, I wanted to share with you my love of snowmen and penguins. I have loved snowmen for years and have them all around my house now. The penguin fetish is quite new actually. It's all good...there's always room for more.
Every year, I make some kind of ornament to give as gifts to family and friends. It's become a tradition. This year, I wanted to make snowmen and penguin ornaments to make everyone's tree happy...mine included! I am really pressed for time this year because I have so many things going on professionally (that's a post for another time).
I wanted to do something that wasn't too labor intensive...but I still had to give myself enough time so that they could completely dry.
I was thinking to myself today that these are my favorite ornaments. So, I wanted to share this great project with you early enough so that you can make some too! There's still plenty of time.
This is what I started with....clear glass balls...
But before you get started, you'll want to grab a couple of other supplies:
- Black and white acrylic paint (make sure it is fluid acrylic...tube paints won't work unless you mix them with a fluid medium)
- Deco Paint Pens
- Pretty Ribbon
That's it! I promise...
The first thing you want to do is take the hanger out of the top of the ornament. These pull right out. If for some reason, one is being stubborn...just give it a twist like you would a soda bottle. When it loosens, you can then pull it out. Like this....
Then you want to squeeze some paint inside and start swirling the paint around until the entire inside of the ball is coated. Then you want to drain them. To do that, you'll need to put then upside down. I take the tray that comes with the ornaments and cut a hole in the bottom of each section. Then I place that over the empty box so that there is enough space for the paint to drain out.
I usually leave them upside down over night. Then the next day I turn them over and leave them for a couple of days to dry out. It's important that they are completely dry inside otherwise they will leak if they get turned upside down. That's just icky!
This may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. I like to work on several things at once, so while these dry...I'm working on other projects.
When the inside is dry, I put the hangers back in and started to decorate!
Using white, black and orange Deco paint pens, I began to draw faces on my ornaments. I started with the penguin faces first because I wanted to make sure that adorable white face was dry before adding black eyes and an orange beak. The snowmen took a few minutes. Just be careful not to smudge any wet paint while you are working.
I actually left the penguin ornaments dry overnight before adding the other details. When I was done, they came out like this...
Aren't they cute????? I'm going to attach some thin, black organza ribbon to the hangars in a loop to hang them from instead of using metal hooks. I think it'll make them pretty.
I would love to see what you all are making for the holidays. Send a picture of your favorite home made ornament and why you love it...I'd like to post a blog of what everyone is doing.
Artfully yours...as always,
Theresa
These are so cute! I love quick ideas like this, especially for last-minute gifts.
ReplyDelete