DIY Glitter Ornaments

How To Make Glitter Ornaments

These DIY Glitter Ornaments are a quick and easy project to try this holiday season. We used both glass and plastic ornaments and you honestly can’t tell the difference post glittering.  So if you have little ones, pets or clumsy spouses – the clear plastic ones work great for this project too… just sayin’.

Let’s get started!

Keep in mind you that you can also use Pledge Floor Care Finish instead of the Polycrylic.  The Pledge swirls around the ornaments quicker and drips out instantly.  It does, however, not give you quite as much coverage as the polycrylic and doesn’t hold up as well over time.  We pulled some of the ones out of storage that we made with the floor wax last year and some of the glitter has fallen off.

We chose to make the glitter ornaments using polycrylic to bond the glitter since we wanted to keep these around for a while and give some as gifts.  My 4 year old did fine waiting for the polycrylic to drip out so it’s really up to ya’ll.

Supplies

– Extra Fine Glitter Assortment Packs or large individual containers of Extra fine glitter 
– Clear Plastic or Glass Ornaments – I used the plastic ones because I have kiddos and pets. Crafts stores also have bunches of clear craft ornaments available
– Polycrylic Protective Finish  – we used the Miniwax brand – you can find this at the home improvement store or big box store like Walmart – this small 8oz container covered about 40 medium sized ornaments and we still had some left over.
– Funnels – not necessary but it makes getting the glitter in the bulbs easier for little hands (you can find them at Target, Walmart or the dollar store usually)
– Empty condiment dispenser – available at stores like Walmart, Dollar Tree
– Empty egg carton or small disposable bathroom cups – we found this super helpful when letting the extra polycrylic drip out bulbs
– Paper Towels for drips
– Paper plates to keep your glitter from traveling too far
– Cute little helpers 🙂

Prep

Cover your table with a drop cloth or trash bag to protect it from the polycrylic and glitter and children in general.  Carefully remove the tops of each of the ornaments and set aside.  Some of the glass ones have a slightly sharp edge under the cap so just be careful when removing the tops on those.

Coat The Ornaments

Pour your polycrylic (or Pledge if you are using that instead) into your condiment squeeze bottle.  Add a couple tablespoons into the inside of one of your ornaments.

Slowly spin the ornament to coat the entire inside of the ornament.  The polycrylic takes a little while to work its way around.

We just left the container open so we could easily pour the extra polycrylic (or Pledge) back into the container without having to open our squirt bottle each time.

Let The Polycrylic Drip Out

When you’re done coating the inside of the ornament, turn it upside down to let the excess drip out for a few minutes.  We had them sitting on paper towels at first but we kept knocking them over and then they would roll around.

We luckily had this empty egg carton in our recycling that worked perfectly to hold the bulbs upright while they drip dried.  I would think that little disposable bathroom cups would work well too.

Add The Glitter Bling

Once the extra material has dripped out, choose your glitter color and pour what would probably be about a tablespoon worth of glitter into the ornament.

Slowly swirl the glitter around until the entire inside has been coated.  Dump out the excess glitter back into your glitter container.

The kids started getting creative with the glitter ornaments and using paper cups to mix a couple of colors of glitter together to create custom combinations.

Let The Ornaments Dry

Leave the tops off of the glitter ornaments to let them dry.  We let them dry overnight just to make sure they had cured before placing all of the caps back onto the ornaments.

Happy crafting my friends!!!

If you’re looking for other holiday craft ideas, check out our inkjet photo transfer wood ornaments too.