Victorian Christmas Ornament

If you’re into making your own homemade Christmas tree ornaments then this unique Christmas ornament is worthy of a true artist and yet an elementary school child can also end up with a beautiful ornament.

Note: because this easy Christmas ornament uses a glass light bulb please do not leave your child unsupervised while working on this project.

Materials:

  • burned out incandescent light bulb
  • dishwashing liquid cap
  • water or soda bottle plastic cap
  • decoupage items such as photos, magazine pictures, etc.
  • ribbon and decorative trim scraps
  • gold, silver or copper wire
  • heavy duty crafters or jewelry glue
  • metallic paint pen or metallic paint to match your wire
  • acrylic enamel paint
  • crackle medium (optional)
  • clear shellac or varnich
  • hot glue
  • old color beads of choice (1 for the bottom of ornament and 1 flat bead for the top center)
  • rubbing Alcohol or white Vinegar

Wipe the light bulb with a little rubbing alcohol or white vinegar and a piece of cotton from a vitamin or med bottle or a soft cloth. Allow to dry.

Wash bottle caps with hot soapy water and allow to dry.

Using a small nail, poke a small hole in the center of the soda cap. Bend wire into a U-shape and thread both ends through the hole in the cap. Secure the wire ends on the inside by twisting together. Now you have a hanger for your ornament.

Using heavy duty craft or jewelry glue, glue the soda cap to the socket of the light bulb and the dishwashing liquid cap to the bottom center of the bottle cap. Allow the glue to dry.

Paint the glass portion of the light bulb with enamel paint. Paint the socket section, the bottle cap and dishwashing liquid cap with a metallic paint. Allow paint to dry and apply additional coats if needed.

Glue your decoupage items to the painted light bulb.

Follow the manufacturers instructions to apply a crackle finish. When crackle finish is done apply a small amount of an antiquing medium such as burnt umber paint. Allow this to dry and then apply 2 to 3 coats clear shellac or varnish. Do not apply clear protectant to the metallic painted areas, as the varnish will dull the metallic paint.

Use hot glue to apply small pieces of decorative trim to hide the socket area and disguise the dish-washing cap.

Glue a bead to the bottom center of the ornament.

Note: you can leave the dish-washing liquid cap either open or closed. If you decide to leave it open, place a dot of glue inside the cap to keep it from closing.

Recycled Candy Wrapper Art

Wait – don’t toss out all those candy wrappers! Halloween is a prime time to collect recycled candy wrappers for art projects all year round. I’ve listed a few ideas below but I’m sure you all can come up with many more. Please post your ideas, successes and failures in the comments section.

Ribbons and Bows

Cut each recycled candy wrapper to the same width and tape to package as a decorative ribbon. You can then loop each length of candy wrapper and tape or glue it to the package as a bow. You can face the shiny side out or the writing side out.

Decoupage

I hardly ever buy silver leaf anymore. I just use recycled candy wrappers and recycled potato chip bags.

When carefully opened and washed the shiny side of these wrappers can be used in a decoupage or collage project, or to simulate a body of water in a doll house or Christmas gingerbread house.

I like to use recycled candy wrappers to cover smaller surfaces or surfaces like a frame where a long skinny shape is best. I use recycled potato chip bags for larger surfaces such as pots, trays, etc.

Antique Foiled Frame

I’ve covered scratched wooden frames with the shiny side of recycled candy wrappers. First crumple the candy wrapper. Smooth with your hands. Cut to fit, and glue to the frame. Wipe the foil with brown or black shoe polish to age it.

Contemporary Foiled Frame

Cut wrappers into squares or rectangles. Glue pieces to frame, butting together or overlapping.

Mod Frame

You could use the packaging label side to cover a frame for a retro mod look.

Decorative Tray or Box

Any of the ideas above can be used to cover a tray or box. I’ve used candy wrappers to cover a tissue box, then I use the box to store spare change.