Create a Christmas Ornament

Christmas is a time to gather children together for an afternoon of crafting or baking. These traditions are passed from generation to generation in many families including my own. A favorite project of many children I have worked with is the swirled glass ornament. This can be crafted in an afternoon session with adult supervised children age 3 and up.

Materials: Hollow clear glass ornaments
Acrylic craft paint in red, green, white, yellow and blue
Miniature silk holly and poinsettia blossoms
1/4 inch wide red satin ribbon
Glue gun

The glass ornaments and other materials are readily available at a craft store beginning in October and on into January. Remove the gold metallic caps from the ornaments.

Spread newspaper on the work surface to protect it from spilled paint. Make sure the children are wearing play clothing or craft aprons.

Explain the fact to the children that they are going to be working with an ornament that is breakable. They will be gentle with the glass orb. Ask each child to choose one or two colors that will go into their heirloom ornament. These two colors will be combined with white to paint the interior of the ornament.

One at a time instruct the child to squirt a thin line of colored paint into the open neck of the ornament. It works best to hold the ornament in one hand when applying paint. The paint should be applied at the side of the glass, not directly into the center of the hole. Help smaller children by guiding the little hands when squirting the paint.
Squirt two or three lines of each paint color into the ornament. When the colors have been applied add a squirt of white paint on one side of the ornament interior. Good color combinations are red and green with white, yellow and white, red and green with white, green and white, blue and red with white or blue and white.

Have the child slowly turn the ornament as the white paint rolls over the interior, blending with the other colors and coating the entire area of the the glass. This will take a few minutes to accomplish. The paint will swirl together creating a beautiful effect which is seen through the glass. No two ornaments will look the same.

Set the ornaments back on to the tray that is used for packing them into the display box. Set them at an angle if the child needs a break which will pool the paint on the side rather than the bottom of the ornament. When the entire ornament is coated keep the glass ball in the tray and allow them to dry for 24 to 48 hours. You can speed the drying process by turning them upside down and allow the paint to drip out on a piece of plastic wrap, wax paper or paper toweling set into the tray. Pay attention to them as the paint can build up in the hollow neck of the ornament and clog it as it dries.

Gently set the metallic hanger piece back into the neck of the ornament when the paint is dry. Cut a piece of the red satin ribbon and thread it through the small ring at the top of the hanger. Tie a secure knot in the ribbon to create an elongated hanger for the tree. Make a tiny fluffy bow and tie it to the hanger at the top of the ornament. Glue a piece of silk holly or poinsettia at the base of the hanger on the gold metallic piece.

You can personalize or date the ornament with a gold or silver glitter glue pen.