"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments

Merry Christmas, everybody!  Since Thanksgiving is over and it's "legal" to get into the Christmas spirit, I helped Jill and her family put up their Christmas decorations on Saturday.  I've given Jill a Christmas tree ornament (or sometimes a set) every year since she got married.  Last year, I made her a glitter ball ornament.  Boo obviously liked it, because later Saturday, she informed me that she was going to use my glitter and ball ornaments to make an ornament for her baby sister.  After getting her to ask me, rather than tell me, I agreed to help her and let her use my stuff. 

When I made these the first time, I got the inspiration from the blog The Greenbean's Crafterole.  You can find the post here.

This tutorial said to use Pledge furniture polish, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy a big bottle of something I would only use once.  I used homemade Mod Podge (aka, watered down Elmer's glue) instead.  A year later, the glue's still holding.  I don't remember what ratio of water to glue I used—just mix in water until it looks good.  (Don't you love instructions like that?)  Just remember that it needs to make a nice, thin, non-gloppy film.

What you need:
-Clear glass ball (or other shape) ornaments
-Adhesive of choice.  I used watered down Elmer's glue.
-Glitter
-A funnel.  I made my own with a sheet of paper.

(Isn't my niece cute?  She was cold, so she grabbed the nearest coat—mine.)

Pour glue into the ball.  Use more that you think you'll need.  You'll pour the extra out anyway. Carefully swirl it all around.  As the original blogger said, shaking the ball would made froth, which is bad.  Hence the careful swirling.  Now, dump out the extra.  Make sure it drains well, but don't leave it so long that it dries.  Last year, I had to rinse out my glitter and start a ball over again because too much glue puddled on the bottom of the ball and didn't let the glitter coat the ornament evenly.

Dump in the glitter.  Use the funnel, if needed.  Again, don't be afraid to use more than you think you'll need.  You will dump out the extra.  Just make sure you don't have big glue puddles in the ornament.  This time, you can shake the ball to get it covered.  Let it dry before you pour the extra glitter back into the bottles. You wouldn't want to get wet glue in your unused glitter.

And that's it!  After they're dry and free of extra glitter, put the tops back on and hang your beautiful, glittery ornaments on your tree.

Be sure to check out the other posts in our Sew a Song of Christmas series!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath

And check back on Friday for the next bit of musical Christmas fun!