Vintage-style glittered ornaments

I'm extra excited to set up my holiday decorations this year because I bought a vintage aluminum tree a few months ago! I've wanted one for precisely forever, and found it on Etsy a few months ago. In keeping with the theme, I'd like to decorate it with vintage glass ornaments. I have a small collection of real ones but I decided to fill in with a few handmade, simple mini ornaments. They were really easy to make and I think will add a little extra sparkle to the tree and will catch the light of the color wheel. (Yep, got one of those, too!)



Materials:

• Plain glass mini ornaments. The ones I used are a little irridescent, but you could use clear glass or plain frosted ornaments.
• Fine glitter in various colors. I bought this Martha Stewart variety pack that had Verdalite, Turquoise, and Garnet and also used another Martha Stewart glitter called Smoky Quartz
• Glue. I used Mod Podge since I wanted a glue that was thin and easy to brush on.
• Small brushes

Dip the brush into the Mod Podge and paint the design directly onto the ornament. I used simple dots and stripes. For the dots, I dipped the back end of the paint brush into the Mod Podge and dotted it on that way.


Over a loose sheet of paper on top of your work surface, sprinkle the glitter over your painted design. Tap it to remove the excess and to ensure that the glitter adheres to the glue. When your painted design is covered, prop it up and let it dry.



Lift the loose sheet of paper with the leftover glitter, gently fold it in half, and funnel the glitter back into its container.

After the ornaments have dried, there will probably be glitter all over, not just on the glue design. Here's a tip I used to remove the excess glitter after the design had dried: lightly spray it with a canned air duster, the kind you use on your computer keyboard. If there is still loose glitter around, gently brush it off with a dry, clean paintbrush. Do your best to not get it everywhere, but you'll probably walk around with sparkles on your face for a while.



I love the way they came out! Try combining different colors and shapes, or try using a small glue applicator for fine linework. Make a set or two and give them to your friends as gifts!