Christmas Crafts Archives - Nomadic Decorator

DIY Glittery Christmas Tree Ornaments That Don’t Make A Mess!

I’m a huge Scrooge when it comes to glitter. Glitter is banned from my house. Yeah, even at Christmastime. All violators must eat fruitcake. Why? Because while glitter brings a festive spirit to a Christmas tree, it also puts the festive spirit in your hair, carpet, furniture, everywhere.

But now, I can put the festive spirit only where it belongs – on the Christmas tree! The solution? Glitter scrapbook paper. The glitter DOES NOT COME OFF. The glitter stays stuck on the paper, not on your hands! Yay! So, today I’ll show you how to make no-mess glittery Christmas tree ornaments.

DIY No Mess Glitter Ornaments

Project SUPPLIES

Glitter scrapbook paper
Flat ornaments
Paint
Paintbrush
Pen
Scissors
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Foam brush

OPTIONAL stenciling (DIY tutorial shared in part 2 of this post):

Stencil
Stencil brush
Paint

How to Find Glitter Scrapbook Paper

First, look for glittery scrapbook paper in craft stores like Michaels, JoAnn and Hobby Lobby. You can find single pieces of glitter paper, and you can buy books full of glitter paper. Most craft stores have aisles for scrapbooking supplies, and you will find these papers and books there. Here are some of my papers:

Glitter Scrapbook Paper Book

Glitter paper can cost a bit more. The regular price of single sheets at JoAnn and Michaels is $1.99, but you can buy scrapbook paper on sale or use a coupon. All craft stores will email coupons to you. And you can use iPhone and Android apps to pull up a coupon on your phone. So any time you want to buy, you should get 40 to 60% off. The price of books of papers is usually $19, but use a half off coupon or buy during a frequent half off sale, and for $9-10 you get a whole big pack of papers. Look at all the papers in this pack:

I’m sorry. I’m one of those people who forgets to hold the phone horizontal for videos!

Scrapbook paper makes affordable ornaments. You can make many ornaments with a single piece of paper:

One Scrapbook Paper Many Christmas Tree Ornaments

I used copper color glitter papers for today’s project, but glitter paper comes in many colors.

How to Find Ornaments with Flat Surfaces

You also need ornaments with flat surfaces, like the ones shown above. You can use paper mache, ceramic, wood or chipboard. You can buy these ornament shapes at Michaels, JoAnn and Hobby Lobby. Again, buy during their frequent sales and use coupons.

Also, search paper mache and unfinished wood Christmas ornaments on eBay and Etsy, under their craft supplies categories. I found there are a lot more choices of unfinished wood ornaments than paper mache.

HOW TO MakE the Ornaments

This is so super easy and fast!

Step 1. Paint the edge of your ornament with a color to match or contrast with the glitter paper color. I’m using copper papers today, so I painted the edges of my ornaments with metallic copper/bronze paint:

Painted Edges

Step 2. Trace an ornament on the scrapbook paper. If your paper has a pattern on it, you might want to center the ornament over the pattern. I usually draw cutting lines on the back of the paper.

Tracing Ornament on Paper

Cut Paper Shapes

Step 3. Cut the shape. Cut just barely inside your tracing line. Because your tracing lane will be slightly larger than your ornament.

Glitter Paper on Ornament

Step 4. With a foam brush, spread Aleene’s Tacky Glue over your ornament. You can use Mod Podge or other glues. I like how Aleene’s Tacky Glue is thicker and tackier, and less likely to wrinkle the paper.

Glue Paper

Glue Paper 2

Step 5. Smooth your paper onto the ornament. Press with your fingers from the inside out, to be sure all the paper adheres to the ornament. Pay extra attention to the edges. Sometimes you will need to press down on an edge for a few extra moments to be sure it adheres.

If any glue oozes out the sides, wipe it away with paper towel. Be careful to not get glue on the glitter paper, because it might make dull spots.

Glitter Christmas Tree Ornament

Now repeat the steps above to apply paper to the other side of the ornament. You can use the same paper, or a different paper, so you can flip the ornament around for a different look.

If any paper is sticking out beyond the edge of the ornament, you can cut it with scissors, or lay the ornament on a hard protected surface and slice the extra paper off with an Xacto knife.

TIP: WORK ASSEMBLY LINE STYLE FOR FAST DIY

Set up an assembly line so you do all the tracing, then all the cutting, then all the gluing, then all the paper-applying. You’ll make many ornaments, fast.

That’s it! You have made a no-mess glittery ornament!

No Mess Glitter Christmas Tree Ornaments

Now have fun decorating and enjoying the holidays, not cleaning up glitter!

OPTIONAL: ADD PAINTED STENCILS

The glittery ornaments are pretty just like this. The Christmas tree lights will bounce off of the ornaments, and make them sparkle. But if you want to add something more, how about painting stencils on the glitter paper? Come back for Part 2 of this tutorial, where I’ll show an optional step … adding stencil patterns with paint!

DIY Shabby Stenciled Shutters & A Story About the Truth of Things

The latest stencil DIY I did for Paint+Pattern is really two DIYs in one:

How to make a rustic shutter
How to paint a pretty holiday table centerpiece

Christmas Shutter Centerpiece

Head on over to Paint+Pattern to see the full tutorial.

Here are some in-progress photos to entice you. A base coat of Florence color Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan:

Painting a New-Old Rustic Shutter

It’s a glorious blue! Blue doesn’t really go in my house colors, so there’s rare occasion to use blue. Here I’m smearing some Olive Chalk Paint all over it. And next, some Country Gray Chalk Paint and Vaseline technique to make chippy paint distressing:

Vaseline Chippy Paint

My favorite part of this project was playing with Modern Masters Metal Effects, where you can make rust and copper verdigris. The color turns before your eyes! I painted black plastic shutter hinges with copper paint then used Modern Masters aging patina solution to make verdigris:

Modern Masters Copper Patina Solution

Copper Verdigris with Modern Masters

Isn’t that copper verdigris cool? And it’s so easy to do!

Next, I stenciled big Christmas ornaments on the shutter with stencils from Royal Design Studio, designed by blogger and Christmas DIY expert Jennifer Rizzo:

Jennifer Rizzo Royal Design Studio Christmas Stencils

Jennifer Rizzo Christmas Stencils for Royal Design Studio

The final result is a shabby shutter Christmas table centerpiece:

Shabby Holiday Shutter Centerpiece

Shabby Shutter Holiday Centerpiece

The reason I built the shutter from scratch with new wood is, I really don’t have time to find real old shutters at vintage and antique shops. And, I’ve removed the shutters off our house and cleaned them before. I know what nastiness lurks on and especially behind them. Even though you can clean old shutters, I’m not sure about putting that on my dining table. So I built shutters — easy! with just wood glue! — from a few pieces of aspen wood from Menards.

For the full DIY tutorial and tips to build the shutters and paint, visit my post at the Paint+Pattern website.

BEHIND THE SCENES

I thought I’d share a few behind scenes pics with you. Because I live near Chicago and had to do this project in an unheated sunroom. It’s the room with the most natural light! But in winter it gets dark for photos by 3:00 in the afternoon so I’m boosting the lights, both with additional lighting and in Photoshop.

So here’s what you see:

What You See

And here’s what I see:

What I See

I could have set up even more lights. Sometimes I’ve worked later in the day with three white lights and additional halogen lights bounced off the ceiling. But I was working fast to get painting done before it got too dark for any photos. That’s winter for ya in the north!

And ohhhh, the sunroom was chilly. And a nice warm room was just within sight …

Cold Room Warm Room

But I can’t photograph in there. Everything photographed in the house under lights turns yellow-orange. You can see the yellow-orange glow here. It can be adjusted in Photoshop to some extent but doesn’t look as good as natural light.

So in the winter I do a fair number of projects in the sunroom, in the cold, and you’d never know it from photos!

While photographing our dining table, I had to be careful with composition because just out of frame are unfinished walls with holes in them! With blue tape waiting to be painted:

Just out of shot

If you look carefully, in the upper left there’s more unpainted walls and blue tape. The dining table is just to the left out of the shot. So this is why photos are cropped close. It didn’t occur to me how difficult it is to photograph the dining room and keep these unfinished walls out of view!

Often in blogs, you see only what we want you to see. We become experts at composition and camouflage. And moving things just out of view. Like cat toys all over the floor. The extra length from 18 feet of garland:

Extra Garland

A better, more ambitious blogger than I would make another blog post out of that garland. Do something beautiful by draping it somewhere. You can tell I have no ideas — “something” “somewhere.” I have a full-time job. This blog is a hobby. So I pooled the garland on the dining table so a cat wouldn’t get into it (they’re trained to stay off the dining table, mostly) and called it a night:

The truth

It sat there like that for three nights and three days. We’re sorta busy so we don’t even go in the dining room most days. I probably shouldn’t be telling you these things. You’re supposed to think blogger lives and homes are perfect. Of course that is never true! On the third day, I finally cut the garland off at the end of the table and moved the pile to the living room. Which is currently getting painted, and maybe painting will be done before Christmas and maybe the garland will wind up draped beautifully, somewhere over something …

Meanwhile, let me distract you with the gorgeous patina on the shutter hinges! I was able to get that done:

Patina Shutter Hinges

(P.S. Please don’t notice the total lack of pretty holiday napkins. If you came here to dine for real, I promise I would find some for you!)

DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments with Scrapbook Paper

Christmas tree ornaments can be so fast and easy to make. It’s really satisfying to have a big pile of ornaments like this, after just an afternoon of gluing, painting, drinking, singing and laughing:

DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments

These were made with scrapbook papers, metallic paints, stencils and some rhinestone embellishments. Today I’ll show you how to make Christmas tree ornaments like these. They look luxe, but they’re super easy!

SUPPLIES

Flat paper mache or wood Christmas tree ornaments
Scrapbook paper
Pen/pencil
Scissors
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Foam brush
Paint
Paint brush/stencil brush
Paper towel
Optional: Stencils, Colored rhinestone embellishments

Ornament Supplies

12 Assorted Paper Mache Ornaments | Angel Ornament | Aleene’s Tacky Glue | Foam Brushes | Scrapbook Papers

Colorful Rhinestone Stickers

Rhinestone Stickers | Clear Rhinestones | Red Rhinestones

You can find these supplies online or at any major craft store. The curvy paper mache ornaments I used were found at a Hobby Lobby store. I haven’t found the same ones online. You can also often get ornaments on sale up to half off, or use a coupon which brings the cost to only $1 to $1.50 each.

Choose an ornament and a scrapbook paper. You can use any scrapbook paper you want and there’s thousands of designs available in stores and online. But if you think you also want to paint stencils on your ornament to make layered patterns, it’s best to choose a lighter color paper with a more subtle pattern. Something like the Prima Ledger Papers at Amazon. Some scrapbook papers I used were glittery so that’s another option for a fancy festive look!

Step 1. First, paint the edge of your ornament. I used metallic paints but you can use whatever color you want that coordinates with your scrapbook paper.

Step 2. Trace your ornament shape on scrapbook paper and cut it out.

TIP: Cut slightly inside the trace lines, so your cut-out won’t wind up bigger than your ornament.

Scrapbook Paper Christmas Ornament

Step 3. Next spread a light layer of Aleene’s Tacky Glue on the ornament with a foam brush.

Aleenes Tacky Glue

TIP: Mod Podge is very popular and you may have some in your craft supplies. I’ve used Mod Podge as a glue for a few scrapbook paper projects, and had wrinkle problems with all those projects. I tried every solution I found online to minimize the wrinkles. It helps to use a thicker scrapbook paper, and to smooth the paper from the middle toward the edges with a hard straight edge like a credit card or ruler. But I still had wrinkle problems. So I tried Aleene’s Tacky Glue instead. It’s less wet, more tacky, and I found even thin papers did not wrinkle. Yay! So based on my small experiments thus far, try Aleene’s Tacky Glue instead of Mod Podge if you’re gluing scrapbook paper.

You can apply the same paper to both sides of an ornament, or glue different papers on each side of an ornament. I made each side of my ornaments different:

Scrapbook Paper Ornament

That doubled the creativity, but now I’ll have a hard time deciding which side to show on the Christmas tree!

SCRAPBOOK PAPER ONLY

Once your scrapbook paper is glued on, you could call your project done. Super easy! I used a glittery chevron scrapbook paper on one ornament, and that was it, simple was beautiful and that ornament was done:

Glitter Scrapbook Paper

SCRAPBOOK PAPER + RHINESTONES

For another ornament, I added a few colored rhinestone embellishments and called it done. With a paper this pretty, it didn’t need much more:

DIY Scrapbook Paper Christmas Tree Ornament

You can cut apart rows of rhinestones to use smaller pieces. And if the sticky backing comes off, as it did for a few of my rhinestones, just use some of the Aleene’s Tacky Glue to adhere them.

SCRAPBOOK PAPER + PAINT AND STENCILS

For some ornaments, I painted stenciled patterns on the scrapbook paper:

Stenciled Christmas Tree Scrapbook Paper Ornament

Next I’ll post a Step 2 to this tutorial, with info about stenciling on scrapbook paper to make layered patterns. Visit it here.

Wondering where to buy scrapbook paper?

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small percentage of compensation at no cost to you if you purchase after clicking the link. I post affiliate links when I have purchased from the company or used the product, and I can confidently share the company or product. For more info, see Disclosures & Policies.

Shared at: A Houseful of Handmade |

A DIY Christmas

Do you do any DIY for the Christmas holidays? It’s usually a DIY Christmas around here. I think making things is much more meaningful than buying a bunch of stuff manufactured in China. Especially if you have kids, you can make a tradition of creating tree ornaments and other decorations together every year. My mom did that with my sister and me. Starting very young, every year around the kitchen table together, we painted plaster Christmas tree ornaments. The ornaments painted when I was eight were a little messy but I still have them almost {ahem} years later. With time and practice, we kids got better at painting and now painting is a regular hobby for all three of us. Bringing out those Christmas ornaments brings up lots of good memories.

So it was perfect that Hometalk asked me to put together a board of easy DIY Christmas tree ornaments. You might find some good ideas for your Christmas decorating here:

I had fun looking at blogger projects posted on Hometalk, and seeing the creative things they used to make Christmas ornaments. Can you believe some of these projects used: