DIY Glitter Ornament Tutorial

     Both of the boys have class Christmas parties coming up and I wanted to do something special for their classes.  What better thing to give at the party than some homemade ornaments?  Plus, it gave me an excuse to pull out the glitter.  Win/win!

     So far, I've finished one class:

And ALMOST finished another class:

Here's how you do it....

Supplies
1.) Ornaments- either glass or plastic clear ornaments with removable cap.
2.) Floor polish or Liquid hair spray- Use Pledge with Future Shine (must have Future Shine to make the glitter adhere properly) for glass ornaments or liquid (non-aerosol) hairspray for the plastic ornaments.  You can find this at the dollar store.
3.) 2 funnels- Not 100% necessary, but definitely helps.  I wish both of mine were plastic, but I only had one plastic that I used for the hairspray.  I made my other one for the glitter out of a piece of paper and tape.
4.) Extra fine glitter-  I used "WOW" glitter for Cam's class and Martha Stewart Neon Glitter for Kai's class.
5.) Glue to secure the tops when you are done.  (E6000 works great)
6.) Rubbing alcohol or distilled white vinegar (rubbing alcohol works best) to clean ornaments.

Just those supplies above (also, vinegar and glue) are what you need to glitter ornaments.  If you want to add vinyl embellishments, you will also need:

vinyl
transfer tape
scissors
Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine, or a lot of patience and a crafting knife.


Okay, down to business.

Step 1-
Pull the cap off your ornament.  Clean out the inside of your ornament with rubbing alcohol (just pour in and shake) and let dry completely.

Cap off, ready to be cleaned.

Step 2-
Once completely dry... using your funnel or a steady hand, pour your hairspray (plastic ornaments) or floor polish (glass ornaments) SLOWLY into your ornament.  You want to do it slowly to avoid bubbles that might mess up your glitter later.  A bubble here or there isn't anything to worry about, but frothy bubbles all over will make your ornament look messy and clumpy.  When using floor polish, I found that adding some and "swirling" (NOT SHAKING, that will make tons of bubbles) it gently around the inside of the ornament worked best.  For hairspray, I just filled the ornament up to the top and then poured it back into the hairspray bottle using the funnel.  You want to make sure to coat the entire inside of the ornament, don't miss any spots or you'll have bare spots where your glitter won't stick.

Ornament full of hairspray

Step 3-
Once your ornament is coated on the inside, pour the excess fluid back into your bottle, being careful not to make bubbles.

Step 4-
Right after pouring out the excess fluid, quickly add glitter using a funnel, then plug up the hole with your thumb or paper towel and shake... making sure to coat the inside of the ornament evenly.

     Beware, this step may result in severe "Purple Glitter Thumb".  ;)

Step 5-
Prop the ornament up and let it dry completely.  I let it sit for about an hour or so.

Step 6- 
Once ornament is completely dry, pull the wires on the cap until the ends click.  (Hard to describe so I took a picture.)  Don't pull it all the way out, just pull until it's ALMOST out.

Step 7-
Add a little glue to the inside of the lid and then place it over the top of the ornament, keeping the wires up while you place it and hold it securely.

Step 8-
Pinch the wire and push it into the ornament slowly.  Pinching it will help keep the wire from scraping the sides of the ornament.  This way, you're not scraping up all that pretty glitter work you just did.  ;)

     That's it!  Easy as can be!

    You can choose to leave them as-is, or embellish them with vinyl and/or ribbon.  It's completely up to you.  Enjoy!

Ornaments, Tiles, and Mailbox Beautification

     This week, I decided to try my hand at glittering ornaments for the kids.  Do you ever see those plain, empty plastic or glass ornaments at the craft store and wonder about who really buys them?  I used to.

     Now, I'm the person buying them... and I wish that I had done it earlier!

     Luckily, you can still find them at Michael's and Hobby Lobby right now for 50% off... so grab your car keys and get moving.

     I'll probably do a quick tutorial on these in the future because they really are fun and even a first-timer can totally blow this one out of the water.

Right after they dried and had the caps put back on.

When they were finished.

    Long story short, clean the inside of the ornaments with rubbing alcohol (swish and pour back in the bottle), then swirl floor polish (with Future Shine) around the inside.  Immediately after pouring the excess floor polish back into the polish bottle, add your extra fine glitter, plug the top of the ornament up with your thumb and shake to coat the inside.  Tap excess glitter back into container.  Finally, clean the outside of the ornament with rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball and add vinyl embellishments.  :)

   SUPER easy, very rewarding.

     Along with the ornaments, I also made a few tiles to give out as "thank you"s to the receptionists and the nurse at my doctor's office.  They've been phenomenal whenever I've gone in there, both before and after Liam came.  I wanted to show them how much they were appreciated.

     I love that Rudolph file.  And glitter vinyl is becoming my favorite thing EVER.

     Also made a thermos for my dad.  (No worries, he doesn't read my blog.  Crafting is not his thing and I keep him posted about the family through my mom and Facebook.)  

     He wanted a Harley for the longest time and finally got one a few years ago.  I remembered growing up how he would always talk about owning one.  Now he's got one and he loves it.  Harley-anything goes over really well.  Dad has always been kind of hard to shop for, but this is right up his alley.

     Finally, today I finally decided that I didn't want to look at my horrible mailbox for one second longer.  I picked up some black glossy spray paint and got to work.

     My mailbox went from this:

   A sad, raggedy and generally ugly mailbox.

To this:

    *cue angels singing*

     I was so happy with how it turned out.  Honestly, just a little bit of paint and some sprucing up will really make something old, new again.