Once you use a paint pouring medium, you too will want to marbleize all the things! I discovered this cool paint pour technique back in spring when I made my DIY Faux Marble Vases. Even back then, I knew come Christmas I’d have to make some Paint Pour Christmas Ornaments. And boy am I glad I did.
A Few Reasons I Love This Christmas Craft
- It’s FUN! The wow factor of this craft cannot be denied.
- You can customize your ornaments to be in colors that match your Christmas decor.
- The craft is kid-friendly and requires zero craft skills, yet the results are amazing every time. And let’s be honest, how rare is it that you actually want to display your kids’ crafts?
- You need very little time to make these ornaments. The longest part of this project is waiting for the ornaments to dry. The pouring is done in mere minutes. Your time commitment is dependent on how many ornaments you want to make.
Keep in mind that this craft requires some experimenting. For example, I don’t know the exact measurements of paint needed and mixed paint throughout the process because I would run out. Before starting, you may want to experiment with your colors and the consistency of your pouring medium. Simply use a glass jar and pour paint over it to start (when working with something with a flat bottom, use a popsicle stick or other flat edge to “push” the paint over the edge). Once you like the colors, then repeat on your ornaments.
Materials
- Clear glass or plastic ornament (I tested both and you can’t tell the difference)
- Pouring Medium
- Acrylic Craft Paint (Pick 3-4 colors, glossy finishes might work best but I’ve used satin as well. The colors I used are listed below.)
- Disposable cups
- Plastic spoons
- A piece of styrofoam
- Paper plates
- Wood skewers or popsicle sticks
- Aluminum foil (optional)
- Clear glossy spray paint (optional)
- Ribbon (optional)
Instructions
Mix your paint. Pour each point color into a disposable cup. Add pouring medium to each color and mix. The amount of pouring medium to acrylic paint varies, but it’s about 1:1. You want the paint to be “pourable” so almost the consistency of pancake batter.
My paint colors: I wanted the overall look to be a red ornament with variations. So I used Craftsmart Cherry (a bright red), DecoArt Tuscan Red (a dark/brick red) and DecoArt Peony Pink (a bright pink).
Create a “dirty pour.” In another disposable cup, layer your paint colors by pouring each one in the cup and repeating at least two times.
Set up your ornament for pouring. Create a base for your ornament with your piece of styrofoam, skewer and paper plate. I wrapped my styrofoam and plate in aluminum foil to allow me to reuse both the styrofoam and plate.
Pour paint and get ready to be amazed! Remove the cap of your ornament. To start, hold your ornament over your plate and pour paint towards the top of your ornament (which will become the “bottom” when it’s on the skewer). If you don’t do this step, the pouring medium may not cover the whole top because of the curve of the ornament. Next, place your ornament on the skewer. Now pour the paint over the whole ornament. See where the paint goes and then just keep pouring until it looks like the whole ornament will have coverage. Keep in mind the paint will keep dripping so if only small spots show they may get covered. Watch it for a bit and then pour more if needed.
Let dry… I was cautious, letting my ornaments dry overnight. I had some ornaments dry shinny and some dry duller. I’m not sure why, but maybe the finish of the acrylic paint matters so I suggest using a “glossy” paint if you can. If your ornaments dry duller than you want, bring them back to life by spraying them with clear glossy paint. Just be careful because the clear paint will also drip so keep spraying until it all drips off the bottom (which is actually the top of your ornament–so confusing to write about).
Embellish with ribbon. Once dry, put the ornament cap back on. I’m not a big fan of the look of the caps, so I disguised mine by adding ribbon and baby pom-pom fringe.
I simply love how the ornaments turned out. I only wish I had better camera skills because while these images are beautiful, I couldn’t capture the patterns as well as I’d have hoped. All that to say—they are even pretty in person! I’m moving in four days (yes I should be packing right now!) so I don’t have a tree this year. However, the final ornaments look pretty great gathered in a bowl together. Keep in mind, the DIY ornaments would also make for lovely handmade Christmas gifts.
Will you try to make these ornaments? What colors will you use? I’d love to see your creations, so please send any pictures to me by sending a Direct Message (DM) in Instagram (@tonalitydesigns).
