Would you like to see how to paint Christmas ornaments to decorate your tree and give as gifts this holiday season? You and your kids will love this latest painted ornaments craft that’s part of our ongoing sponsored partnership with Testors.com.
Are you ready for another Testors Crafternoons project to make with your kids? This is Tonya, and I’m going to show you how to paint ornaments that will impress your friends and family.
Be sure to check out our recent Testors Crafternoons project Driftwood Christmas Tree Craft and our How To Paint Christmas Rocks as well as our new DIY Photo Ornaments.
I’m going to show you a few different ways you can paint clear holiday ornaments, from simply pouring acrylic paint inside, to marbling, and adding glitter and stencils to personalize ornaments. These will look perfect on your tree this year, but they also make great gifts too, as well as being a great project to do with the whole family.
How To Paint Christmas Ornaments
Supplies you need to paint ornaments:
- Clear glass or plastic ornaments – I prefer glass though because the paint does adhere a little easier.
- Testors Craft Acrylic 2oz Paint – assorted colors (we used Seafoam Matte, Snow White Metallic, Gold Rush Glitter Burst, Gold Metallic, Silver Metallic, and Deep Sea Matte)
- Testors Craft Marbling Medium
- Testors Craft Glitter Paint – in Gold, Iridescent, or Silver
- Rubbing alcohol
- Paintbrush
- Small plastic cups
- Plastic squeeze bottles
- Ribbon for hanging your ornaments
One of my top tips for how to paint Christmas ornaments is that less is more. The more paint you use, the thicker it is, the longer it takes to dry, and the more chance of the paint just running out of the ornament and colors bleeding together.
The first thing you will need to do is make sure your ornaments are completely clean, so pour a little rubbing alcohol into each, swish it around the inside, and then leave the ornaments upside down to dry overnight.
Now you can begin painting.
I found it easiest to use the squeeze bottle, not only to mix the marbling medium and acrylic paints together but also to get just small quantities at a time inside the ornaments.
When mixing the marbling medium with acrylic paint it is a 1 to 1 ratio. Once mixed, leave to sit for a little while so there are no air bubbles.
Now, gently squeeze just a little inside your ornament, turn your ornament a little and squeeze a little more. Let the paint run around the inside of the ornament before adding more paint. As I mentioned above the less you use, the better.
If you want to add more colors, do so before all the gaps have filled up.
You can use as many different colors as you like and you can also mix between matte, metallic, and glitter paints.
Once all the gaps are filled, place your ornament upside down in a cup to let any excess paint drain out, and then set your ornaments aside to dry. I recommend drying for at least 48 hours before you replace the top to your ornament.
If you want to add just one color, or mix say the teal to make a few different shades of it, then that will create a lovely watercolor effect inside the ornament.
Or maybe, you want to just mix a little white, gold, and gold glitter to make a simple ornament like this one.
But then, you can also add some glitter to the outside too. The Testors Craft Intense Glitter paint works best for this. You can simply apply a thin layer to the outside of an ornament you’ve poured paint into like this …
Or, you can use stencils to add an initial, date, or name to the ornament, like this …
Let’s break down a few of these different ornaments and I’ll show you exactly what I used to create them.
How To Paint Marbled Christmas Ornaments
This marbled ornament for example used the Testors Marbling Medium, along with the Testors Craft paint in Gold Metallic, Seafoam Matte, and Deep Sea Matte.
How To Paint Christmas Ornaments With Glitter
This glitter ornament used a combination of the Testors Craft paint in Seafoam and Deep Sea matter blended together inside, and then the Intense Glitter paint in gold on the outside.
How To Paint Stenciled Christmas Ornaments
I made this stenciled ornament using the Testors Marbling Medium, with the Testors Craft paint in Snow White Metallic and Gold Rush Glitter Burst. I made the stenciled letter with the Testors Intense Glitter paint.
What fun ideas do you have for painting your own ornaments this holiday season? Do you have a color scheme in mind?
Testors paints are the perfect addition to your holiday crafting. The Testors Craft Acrylic Paint comes in metallic, glitter, matte, and regular 2oz bottles and can be used on so many surfaces including glass, fabric, wood, clay, metal, plaster, and more.
Written by Tonya Staab, contributor at 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with us: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
Pin with us at pinterest.com/5minutesformom
More Christmas Fun…
Be sure to check out our Christmas Gift Guide… you’ll especially want to get ideas in our most popular guide… Christmas Gift Ideas for Her.
So can you use metalic paint on the outside of an ornament? I have paint and would like to do that for my silver theme. If this works I would like to do it on the outside. If so do you just blob it on?
I love your tutorial as I’ve been wanting to attempt the painted bulbs I can’t wait to try it. We used to make them when the kids were young and now we put up the ornaments that we created together for many years. I have made ornaments in the past. I would love to make some more with my daughters.
nice one good post
nice one good post
Super, keep posting such article, i added you website to bookmarks
I used to make some every year,,and now i love the ones my grandkids make for me
these are some handy ways to do it right? I think i’ll try this way next time.
nice ideas for Christmas thanks for sharing your views!
We love making holiday ornaments together
We love to craft and DIY. We have made some ornaments before.
Every year my Girl Scout Troop makes ornaments. I love your tutorial as I’ve been wanting to attempt the painted bulbs😠i can’t wait to try it!
I made some origami ornaments this year, and in previous years…now if I’d only actually put them on the tree… Thanks and God bless!
We used to make them when the kids were young and now we put up the ornaments that we created together for many years.
We use craft sticks, paint, etc. to make our ornaments.
i used to make some every year,,and now i love the ones my grandkids make for me
My son makes at least one new ornament every year. And 99 percent of my ornaments are very special and are used every Christmas.
I have made ornaments in the past. I would love to make some more with my daughters.
We make a new ornament each year for each of our trees. They bring special meaning to the season.
This is the first year I started making ornaments with my daughters.
We have made ornaments in the past and they are still our favorite ones!
Our family has never done ornaments like these, but my children have given me homemade ornaments that they made for me in school when they were younger.
I’ve never painted ornaments.. just made the usual little diy foam types
Very easy and simple tips for painting the ornaments. Will try it soon (Y)
Really helpful tips for painting Christmas Ornaments, Thanks for sharing
Appreciate it
My children are grown now but I still have all of the ornaments they have made. I like the marbling effect that you showed. I am already thing of other crafts to use this on!
Never made an ornament but many are souvenirs from great family trips
I have ornaments from when I was a kid.
I have several ornaments that my boys made for me when they were in grade school that I put on the tree each year. My favorites are pop-sicle stick reindeer and Christmas wreaths with their school pic.
My granddaughters will love doing this craft.
Well, we used to, but not anymore. All grown up and moved away.
Excellent presentation and explanation..
On every Christmas, I wonder how they made so beautiful Christmas Ornaments, now I see it! Thanks, Tonya.
Great idea, these ornaments look too cute and colorful. Can’t wait to try them
We make special ornaments every year. Never done marbled ones before though!
Yes we make family ornaments. We also hang the ornaments our grown children made while they were younger. Have to tell the grand kids about each one.
These are some of great tips to paint christmas ornaments, Well constructed thinking. Thanks
I have not made them before, but love the monogram ones.
We typically use family ornaments but I have never hear of marbling! That looks so cool! I may make a few ornaments this year to try it out!
We will use popsicle sticks, glitter and other craft stuff that we have on hand to make ornaments. My husband and I also pick out an ornament together every year to add to the tree. We just celebrated 11 years of marriage so we have 11 special ornaments. â¤ï¸
Excellent presentation and explanation. Very clear diction and of course easy technique.
My husband and I have been lucky enough to do a lot of travel, everywhere we go we collect one ornament to remind us of the trip and hang it on our tree
I’ve never made an ornament, but I do make lace and have considered doing it.
We use the same ornaments every year and collect new ones each year.
About 3/4 of our ornaments are hand made and used year after year. This year we made some out of pine cones.
We use to string popcorn and make gingerbread men
We continue to use my Grandmothers homemade ornaments. It is a tradition.
We make a new photo ornament every year. It is a family photo or a photo of just the kids and the year.
The photo is the heart of memories.
I have ornaments that my son makes at school each year that I always hang up
Yes we like to make ornaments usually out of paper
I have fond memories of painting wooden holiday ornaments with my sisters. Recently, I made some felt blue jays and cardinals to hang in our Christmas tree.
We usually make or get ornaments every year that represents the most important event for each person in our family.
Thank you very much for your help, I’m taking a survey to check whether everything is working alright or not.