Things Change—Ornaments Part II

Next up for the ornament tutorial…sparkly white spheres.  I love these!  They are so retro, festive, and fun and can be used in lots of different ways.  Even Joe did a double-take when he saw them and commented on how great they looked.  I was inspired by these ornaments at Crate & Barrel and these spheres from Better Homes & Gardens. 

Sphere ornaments are also a very kid-friendly craft (except for the painting process)…I even convinced a couple of my daughters to help me with them.  I wanted mine white for Christmas, but I think they would be so fun painted a bright orange or shiny gold.

The full tutorial after the jump.

 

Supplies: flat toothpicks, styrofoam balls, spray paint, glitter
*Make sure you use flat toothpicks so they are not a hazard.  You can use any size styrofoam balls you like.  I chose relatively small ones so they would fit between the branches on my Christmas tree.  I did choose one a few sizes larger to use for the “star” at the top of my tree.  I used glossy spray paint to add some shine, and the glitter is white.
Step 1:  Push toothpicks into styrofoam balls.  We experimented with different distances between toothpicks, and decided that we liked them as close together as possible.  This does require a bit more paint and glitter.

Step 2:  If you need to, add a long skewer to one side and put skewer in a glass to hold it up while you push the toothpicks in.  I pushed the skewer through a cardboard box to hold the sphere up while I pushed the toothpicks in.  That way, I could leave it in the box while I painted.

Step 3:  Spray paint the spheres…make sure you do this in a well-ventilated and protected area.  As soon as you are done painting, sprinkle with glitter so it will stick to the paint.

This is a close-up shot before I glittered.  As you can see, there are a lot of places without paint.  You could leave them like this for a more natural feel.  I wanted mine really covered with paint and glitter, so I let them dry and then flipped them over and added more paint and glitter.  If you will be doing this, wait until the last coat of paint to add the glitter.

This is what it looked like after the glitter.  They are more sparkly than they look in this photo, but not quite as sparkly as the Crate & Barrel version.  I’m happy with them like this.

Now, I just have to decide where to put them because I want them everywhere!  I did place some on my little stick tree and I’m going to add some to my traditional Christmas tree.  I’ve also saved a few to put on my front porch in baskets with greenery and pine cones.  I think they would also look great on a wreath, hanging in front of a window, or across the top of a mantle like the Better Homes & Garden’s version. 

What do you think?  Too retro for you, or kind of funky and fun?