Painting Christmas Ornaments: Inside and Out

Painting Your Old Christmas Ornaments

Most of my family members decorate with traditional red or green silver or gold colors for the Christmas holiday except one. Her colors are purple and gold. This is such a sophisticated color scheme and so rich-looking. Like chicken, it cannot be underdone.

Visiting with her one Christmas, I could not see any purple ornaments on her tree. Purple glass ornaments are hard to come by in the blueberry purple shade that she prefers. And when found they are expensive. No doubt in my mind - she needed lots more purple ornaments. And as she is a busy mom with a full-time job, this looked like the perfect "I-love-you" project for craftsy-God-momma. :-)

One thing I found out:  Turquoise, teal, burgundy purple and other mid-dark range colors need glitter or some other finish that reflects light. Otherwise they will be lost on a dark green Christmas tree. If you are planning to decorate your tree with ornaments in one of these colors, include some type of finish that will add shine or sparkle.

I started by painting a series of teardrop shaped glass ornaments with a purple pearl acrylic paint made by mixing Martha Stewart Purple Martin with a white pearl. One cannot really tell how the finish will look when the ornament is hanging on the tree. But if you are a perfectionist, make a pattern of some type when you are painting. I did hand over hand. By that I mean back and forth overlapping strokes to create a cross-hatch look. After it dries it is beautiful and reflects the light. Top to bottom or side to side strokes do not look as nice after it dries. You can also try using a small sea sponge. Two-three patterned coats should work fine. Be sure to spray them with a light coat of clear acrylic to protect the finish. Allow at least 24 hours between coats for drying time and 24-48 hours after spraying with the clear spray paint.

  Purple painted glass Christmas ornament

Pouring Martha Stewart glitter paint into clear glass ornaments is another option. But you may need to add more glitter to the paint in order to get the right inside coverage after the ornament dries. Just don't make the mixture so thick it won't pour out easily.

  Clear glass ornament with Martha Stewart purple glitter paint inside.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Paint in your favorite color
• Additional glitter (if needed) for even coverage
• Rack for holding drained ornaments
• Space for ornaments to dry where they will not be disturbed
• fabric or wire hooks for hanging on the tree
  

If you are using her glitter paint there is no need to dilute the paint before mixing or before pouring into the ornaments. But you may need to add a bit more glitter to get full coverage on the inside of the ornament.

Pour in the paint and rotate the ornament until all surfaces are covered completely (including the neck of the ornament) with no bubbles or bare spots. Turn the ornament upside down and let the paint drain out. It is best to set the ornament in some type of container with an opening small enough that the ornament can stand upright while draining. Old prescription bottles, empty Vitamin containers, a glass spice bottle can all be used. If you buy organic eggs in doubled over clear plastic cartons, keep them.  The top can be used to hold the ornaments and drain the glue. Turn them upside down and the spaces between the egg sections can hold the ornament upright while you add more glitter or other paint colors if you are planning to marble the colors. Pour the drained paint back into the main paint bottle or discard it.

When the paint stops draining, if you plan to add glitter, pour enough glitter into the ornament to fill it about 1/4 of the way up. Rotate the ornament making sure that all interior surfaces and the neck are covered with paint. If you added glitter, turn it upside down and gently tap until no more glitter comes out. Set aside to dry. Sift the discarded glitter to remove glue lumps and add it back to the container.

  Iridescent clear glass ornament with paint inside.

These ornaments were made by pouring a mixture of Martha Stewart Purple Martin paint, clear frost and clear gloss paints into 4" iridescent clear ornaments and draining them to dry following the instructions above.

Unlike ornaments painted on the outside which cure in 24 hours, it usually takes ornaments painted or glittered on the inside three -five days to dry after you drain them. If you are painting during the fall/winter when the heat is on set them open ended in front of a wall vent. In the summer lay them in front of an open window. They will dry a little faster. They will dry on their own if you put the lid back on. But, once a day turn them over and check to make sure that the entire interior surface is coated with the paint or glitter and the inside is drying evenly.

These plastic icicles found on eBay were pink. But painted and glittered, they are now purple. I also painted glass ornaments then glittered and beaded round and torpedo ornaments for her - some in purple and some in gold.

14 dozen ornaments and a purple-decorated silk Christmas tree skirt later, her Christmas tree fairly sings purple (and gold of course!) It was a summer project that I thoroughly enjoyed and one that could be accomplished in spite of a disability. Give your own painting creativity a try with some of your old Christmas ornaments.

Thanks for visiting I Love Christmas.com holiday decorating blog. Use our Contact Form to request permission to reprint or quote from this article. For more Christmas decorating ideas visit my Christmas blog: https://www.i-love-christmas.com/Christmas-Decorating-Ideas . Get beautiful, handmade glass ornaments, garlands, metal ornament trees, ornament hooks, tabletop Christmas trees, photo ornaments and other holiday decorations at I Love Christmas! https://www.i-love-christmas.com . Note that I assume no liability for the use or misuse of these instructions or those provided by the product manufacturers.