Easy DIY Glitter Ornament

Last night, at my Grace Circle meeting at church, there was a discussion of making ornaments and this technique was one that was mentioned. I thought it sounded simple enough, and then I was fortunate enough to get to make this one at my MOPS meeting this morning. Very serendipitous, indeed. And the good news is that these ornaments are truly simple to make. We moms used glass bulbs, but if I do this with my kiddos, I will seek out the plastic kind. I wish the picture showed the detail better. I used a mixture of blue and green glitter, and I was pleased with the results.

Materials:

• newspaper
• clear glass/plastic ornaments
• glue
• glitter
• paper/funnel
• permanent markers/paint pens/glitter glue pens (optional)
• ribbon/ornament hook
• scissors (if using ribbon to hang your ornament)

Directions:

1. Protect work surface with newspaper.
2. Remove the top of the ornament and pour in some glue. Making sure opening is covered, swirl the ornament around. If needed, keep adding small amounts of glue until the entire inside is coated with a thin layer of glue.
3. Using rolled up paper or a funnel, add some glitter. (You do not need a lot.) Again, making sure the opening is covered, swirl the ornament around until the glitter adheres to the glue, and you are happy with the results. Don't worry if you see white areas because they will dry clear and should have glitter as well. Put the top back on the ornament and set it aside so that glue can dry.
4. Decorate the outside of your ornament as desired. You can use permanent markers, paint pens, or glitter glue pens to write names and dates or to make designs. Allow drying time as needed.
5. Cut some ribbon and attach it to the ornament. Or use an ornament hook to hang your completed ornament on your Christmas tree. These would also make nice gifts. You can make them with your kids (I would suggest getting the plastic kind if doing it with younger children) and give them to grandparents, teachers, friends, neighbors, really anyone, because who wouldn't like something made by an adorable child? Another option if you don't want to use glitter and glue is to use paint inside of the ornaments. Happy crafting.

Beaded "Sun Catchers"

Here is a project Mia and I recently did on a rainy day. The goal was to create "sun catchers," but since our beads were more opaque than translucent, we just ended up with decorative ornaments. I found this idea here. The original directions said to bake for 20 minutes, but I found that ours took a bit longer, more like 30 minutes. I suppose this depends on the size of the beads you use.

{Make a single layer of cheap plastic beads inside an oven-safe dish. I think ours were from Walmart. We used ceramic ramekins, but muffins tins, cake pans, mugs, or glass dishes would all likely work. Note: I first lined ours with parchment paper to protect the ceramic in case this didn't work; I didn't want plastic melted to something I use for food.}

{Once the dishes are filled, bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, checking every so often. Note: This may be slightly smelly while the plastic melts, so I turned on the fan.

{Remove from the oven and allow to cool. This does not take very long. Once the plastic is cool, overturn the dish and the sun catcher should pop right out. Peel off and discard the parchment paper if you used it to line your dish.}

{Thread fishing line through the finished project to display. For the top one, I found a pin hole already there, but the bottom one required that I use a cordless drill and make one.}