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Glitter Glass Ornaments

13 Dec

ARTS & CRAFTS

I made these glitter  ornaments for an adult arts & crafts program, but they are so simple and “no-fail” that I think they would be a really fun project to do with school-age children.  And the best part is that the glitter is INSIDE the ornament!  Once they are finished there is no mess!  Hooray!

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WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1. Clear ornaments.  I used glass, but I think plastic would work too.  I purchased mine at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon.

2. Glitter.  The cheap craft stuff that comes in the huge jars is just fine.  I actually liked it better than the crazy-expensive glitter that comes in an itty-bitty jar.

And the super secret ingredient…..

3. Pledge floor wax.  Yes you read that correctly.  This stuff is cheap and comes in a huge bottle at Walmart.  You could make hundreds of ornaments using just one bottle.  Craft stores sell expensive ornament glue.  Don’t buy it.  Pledge works just as well!

4. Optional: Rubbing alcohol, ribbon for hanging the ornaments, scrapbook stickers & glass glitter paint for decorating the outsides of the ornaments.

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DIRECTIONS

1. Rinse the inside of your ornaments with alcohol to clean out any dust and debris.  Let then dry out for a few minutes.

2. Pour some Pledge floor wax into your ornament and swirl it around.  Make sure you coat the whole inside of the ornament.

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3. Dump out the extra Pledge. (It’s good to have a bowl to dump your pledge and glitter in as you go.)

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3. Pour a healthy amount of glitter into your ornament.  Having a funnel makes it much easier.  If you don’t have a funnel, roll up a piece of paper and use it.

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4. Swirl your glitter around the inside of the ornament, coating the entire inside.  Add more glitter if needed.  And if you don’t want to swirl – Shake!

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5. Dump out any extra glitter.

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6. You are finished!  Admire your work of art :)

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DECORATING

Add pretty ribbon to hang your ornaments.

Purchasing scrapbooking stickers is a very easy and mess free way to decorate the outside of the ornaments.  I found some snowflakes that I really liked to use on mine.  If you choose stickers, children will be able to carry their ornaments home with them that day – no need to let them dry!

If you want to get a little bit more involved, you can purchase glass paint to decorate the outside of the ornaments.  I bought some Martha Stewart glitter glass paint (This paint was most expensive part of the project!)  To make polka dots, dip the eraser of a pencil in the paint and dot away.

Martha also makes glitter glass paint with a tip that you can write with.  You can write individuals names, the year, “first christmas,” etc. on the ornaments to make them personal.  (I made ornaments for all of my co-workers this year with their names on them.)

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My last name is so long, it almost didn’t fit! :)

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-Leah

Melted Crayon Art – Part 2

12 Jan

I’m back for melted wax fun!  (If you missed it, here’s my first melted crayon art.)  For this piece, I turned things upside down a bit.

I basically made it the same way that I made the first one (see instructions here.)  However, I used a smaller canvas size of 16 x 20 simply because I couldn’t scrounge up more green crayons than that.

I found the flowers at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section.  I arranged them on the canvas to get a general idea of what the final product would look like.  Then I went to work gluing the crayons and melting them with a hair dryer.  Once all of the melting was finished, I flipped the canvas upside down allowing the crayons to become the “grass” and the melted drips the “stems.”  Then I used the glue gun to glue on the flowers.  Ta-da!

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Melted Crayon Art – Part 1

7 Jan

I’m on break from storytime for a few weeks, so  I thought I’d take the opportunity to make some artwork to brighten up the Children’s Room.

These are all over Pinterest and I just had to try making one myself.  Watch out – I think I’m now addicted to melting crayons!  These are just too much fun (and oh-so-easy) to make!

Supplies:

  • Hot glue gun
  • Canvas
  • Large box of crayons
  • Hair dryer

I bought a 20 x 24 canvas because I wanted something pretty big for the library.  I also bought a 64 count box of crayola crayons.  After taking out the browns, blacks and whites, I was about 14 crayons short.  Luckily, I had some extras sitting around to fill in (mostly yellows and greens.)  If you don’t have extras, go with the 96 0r 120 box.

Line your crayons up according to color (or whatever is appealing to you.)  Then glue the crayons, using the glue gun, to one edge of the canvas.  Once they are glued, prop up your canvas (so that the crayons will drip down) and get out the hair dryer.  I turned the hair dryer on high to get started, but the crayons start melting almost instantly.  I’d recommend keeping the hair dryer on low (unless you want melted wax spattered all over the place.)  Plus, keeping it on low gives you control over how far your melting wax drips.  If you don’t care about such things….lay down some old sheets, turn the dryer on high, and have at it!

I have plans to make another one of these soon (I told you – I’m addicted!), and will post once I have it completed.

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