How To Easily Make Those Glitter Ornaments - Too Much Love

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Having sons, I’ve never really been into glitter. Pictures of glitter ornaments have been popping up all over my newsfeed I just had to try it. Here’s how to easily make those glitter ornaments.

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The process isn’t hard. You just need a few specialty tools and items to get you going. I must say, that glitter is addicting. Making these glitter ornaments was pretty easy to do and once done, you can decorate them in so many ways.

Things You Need to Make Glitter Ornaments

BLANK ORNAMENTS – you can get these from a variety of places, including Michaels, various dollar stores or online buy-ins. They come in a few different sizes and styles. The round ones come in two different sizes and you can also get a disc-shaped one that is flatter. You can also get them made of glass or shatterproof (a fancy word for plastic).

MINWAX POLYCRYLIC – this is the stuff that you will put inside the ornament to get the glitter to stick. You will most likely need to go to a hardware/home improvement store to get this – it’s usually in the paint aisle. I used semi-gloss, but I don’t think it really matters as the glitter covers everything up.I have heard of a number of people using Pledge Floor Polish – however, the reviews tend to be mixed. Some have success and some say that it’s too thin and you don’t get a good layer of glitter to adhere. The polycrylic is a sure thing, however, and so I’d personally rather go with that.Some people have had trouble finding the polycrylic – you can also get it on Amazon. I’ve included the Amazon affiliate link below this list.Be careful of any substitutions – Varathane may seem similar, but will yellow with age and will discolour your glitter, so you don’t want that!

GLITTER– you can get this from a variety of places that sell craft stuff, including the dollar store, which is where I got mine.

FUNNELS– you can get small craft funnels from the dollar store. You will need a couple – one for the polycrylic and another for the glitter.

PLASTIC SPOON – this is for putting the polycrylic into the ornament.

EMPTY EGG CARTON – this holds the ornaments upside down so that the excess pours out into the egg carton and so is contained. Those cardboard takeout coffee holders also work, but they hold fewer ornaments.

NEWSPAPER– use simply to cover your table surface, making clean up quick and easy. I seem to get glitter everywhere!

Amazon Links

Ornaments

polycrylic

glitter

funnel set

Step by Step Process to Make Glitter Ornaments

Remove the hanger/top – you can just pull them out. I store mine in the cover of the egg carton.
Using the funnel, put a couple of spoonfuls of polycrylic into the ornament using the plastic spoon.

Swirl the ornament around so that the polycrylic coats the entire inside. It has a translucent look to it, so it’s obvious when it coats. To get the very top done, I hold it upside down over the bucket of polycrylic and swirl it to get a coating over the top. Don’t worry if you don’t get any over the “stem” of the ornament – the hanger/top covers that up so no one will ever see it. If you miss a spot, use the funnel and put another spoonful in to get the area you missed. Drain out the excess back into the polycrylic bucket.
Place the ornament upside down into the egg carton so that the last few drops of excess polycrylic drip into the carton.

TIP: I do about 6 ornaments at a time (in an egg carton that holds a dozen eggs, alternate them and they will all fit). You don’t want the polycrylic to dry before you get a chance to put in the glitter so be wary of doing too many all at once.

EDITED TO ADD: I have now done this a number of times and can actually do 25 at a time. There are 25 in the container from Michaels and I haven’t had a problem with the polycrylic drying out while it sits.

TIP: I do it assembly-line style: I put the polycrylic into each of the ornaments (as mentioned, I do 6 at a time), then swirl them one after the other.

Using a clean funnel (this is why you need 2), pour in a good spoonful of glitter.

Swirl/rotate the ornament around so that the glitter sticks to the polycrylic. If you need more, pour in extra glitter. Look for an even coating – make sure you don’t miss any spots. In order to get glitter on the top, I use a similar method to that of polycrylic. I put the funnel back into the glitter container (mine had a spout that I poured out of and the funnel fit back in) – then I turned the ornament upside down over the funnel and swirled and rotated the ornament to get the top covered in glitter.
This is very forgiving. If you see that you’ve missed a spot, put more glitter in and aim it into that area. Don’t worry if the “neck” of the ornament isn’t coated – the hanger/top of the ornament covers this up so no one will see. At this point, you will see how and why I seemed to get glitter everywhere.
Put upside down again into the egg carton. Leave to set and dry – I left mine overnight.

Decorate! I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut out permanent vinyl to decorate mine. The possibilities are endless.

TIP:TIP: If starting out, be careful about doing something overly fancy and ornate. Keep in mind that you are not working with a flat surface. Depending on your design, you will need a lot of patience and prodding to get it down without any bubbles or wrinkles. You’ll also want to experiment with size – too big can be hard to lay flat. That said, there are some flat, disc-like ornaments in stores that you can glitter as well. I’ve even seen some ornaments decorated with ribbons and jingle bells – the possibilities are endless.

CHECK OUT MY POST

How to Put Vinyl on a Glass Ornament

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Put the hangers/tops back on. That’s it!

This is definitely a craft in which I would recommend doing a bunch at a time. Although the process is easy, you don’t want to go through all these steps to do only one glitter ornament. I do a bunch at a time, in a variety of colours so that I always have a few on hand.

This is a great craft that can easily be personalized. The glitter makes them so beautiful. These glitter ornaments would make great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers. I’ve made so many now – everyone I know is getting one!

Like making these glitter ornaments? There are lots of great ideas for making Christmas ornaments using your Cricut.

Other Christmas Ornaments to Make

Be sure to check out these other great projects.

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Materials

Clear acrylic ornaments
Minwax Polycrylic
Glitter

Tools

Small funnels
Plastic spoon
Empty egg carton
Newspaper

Instructions

Remove the hangers from the ornaments.
Using a funnel, put a couple of spoonfuls of the Polycrylic into the ornament.
Swirl the ornament so that the Polycrylic coats the entire inside of the ornament.
Drain out any excess Polycrylic back into the container.
Set the ornament upside down in an egg container for the excess Polycrylic to drip out.
Using a clean funnel, pour in a good spoonful of glitter into the ornament
Swirl or rotate the ornament so that the glitter completely coats the inside of the ornament. Add more glitter if necessary.
Put excess glitter back into the container.
Let sit upside down in the egg carton until completely dry.
Put the hangers back in.