painted glass ornaments

Not very excited about the color options of store-bought ornaments? Inspired by this pin, I realized it's super easy to make them in any colors you want with some clear glass bulbs and a little acrylic paint. Last year I did a lot of red and gold with my decorations, but I've been into coral lately, so I decided to expand that palette to a range of red and coral shades. And handily enough, glass ornaments are half off at Michael's this week!

Just take off the ornament toppers, pour in a fairly generous amount of paint, and shake it every which way until the whole inside is covered. I held a folded piece of paper towel over the hole while I was shaking so that nothing went flying.

After the first couple, I figured out that when you end up with pesky little spots that just won't get covered with paint, just tap that spot on your palm several times and the paint will want to gravitate to it. Of course since you're working with glass, you want to be careful not to tap too hard or whack anything while you're shaking.

Also, any brand of acrylic paint is fine - I was tempted by the fancy Martha Stewart high-gloss line, but any kind you use will have a glossy look since it's inside of glass, and everything I tried seems to coat and stick just fine. So you might as well buy whatever kind's cheapest or on sale, since you need a fair bit. I got 4 ornaments - maybe 5 if I worked at it - out of each little jar of paint.

 

After letting the ornaments dry for a day, just replace the tops, and voila - shiny bulb ornaments all in the colors of your choosing!