How to Upcycle Old and Inexpensive Ornaments
Don't throw out ornaments you no longer love! Give them an easy update with paint. I'm sharing ideas for upcycling both old and inexpensive ornaments for a whole new look!
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Whether you're already finished decorating, or still working on it, this
post is sure to give you endless inspiration for custom Christmas ornaments.
I'm always trying to save a buck, and when you see how gorgeous my painted
ornaments turned out, I'm sure you'll want to try this upcycle too!
I'm sneaking this tutorial in so close to Christmas, but I had so many
projects and home tours to share this year!
Christmas tours you may have missed:
- Christmas porch with red tartan plaid
-
Christmas kitchen and easy drop cloth napkins
- Vintage Santa tree and hutch filled with Santa mugs
- Elegant Christmas dining room tree in green and gold
Find all my Christmas DIYs in one convenient place
When I started shopping for Christmas this year, budget-friendly was the name
of the game! I was able to accomplish this by purchasing some inexpensive
ornaments and giving them a quick update with paint. I also painted some
existing ornaments to make them match my decor.
Let's go!
How to Upcycle Old and Inexpensive Ornaments
Here's a look at the uninspiring ornaments I started with. The red and white
ornaments were found at Walmart, the ceramic and paper mache crafts ornaments
are from Hobby Lobby, and the last image shows some of the existing ornaments
I upcycled.
Ornament #1
The finial ornaments from Walmart were such a cool shape, and they are covered
with texture that I love. They're plastic, so easy to care for. But the color
was just so blah, and the plastic wood-look tops cheapened them.
I hung them up outside on my branch-turned-painting-prop and gave them a few
light coats of spray paint. I used
Krylon Fusion Spanish Moss
and
Krylon Fusion Clamshell, both in a matte finish. Painting the entire ornament the same color (no
more weird plasticy wood) elevated them. But I didn't stop there!
Once the ornaments were painted and dried, I used a
tiny precision craft brush
to add a little
gold acrylic paint
to the raised edges. As you can see, this made a huge difference and these
ornaments now look high end! We won't tell anyone that they're just cheap
plastic!
Ornament #2
The unfinished white ceramic ornaments from Hobby Lobby were only $1, so I
bought several and simply popped the tops off and spray painted them the same
green as the finial ornaments above.
But remember, my spray paint was matte, and I was wanting to create a
different look for these ornaments, so I gave them a couple coats of my
favorite secret weapon...this
Rustoleum Triple Thick spray glaze
that gives them the look of high gloss ceramics. I used this product when I
made over some clearance Halloween houses into
charming gingerbread cottages as well as these
dollar store decoupage pumpkins
I made in the fall.
The high gloss finish gives them a high end look and they can certainly hold
their own with all the gold on my tree!
Ornament #3
The third inexpensive ornament I worked with was cheap paper mache ornaments
from Hobby Lobby. I liked the shape and knew they would be great filled for my
tree, for very little expense.
I simply spray painted them with
this Rustoleum gold paint and they looked brand new! You would never guess these were just paper
mache!
Ornament #4
I have owned these burgundy glass ornaments for years. They are so beautiful
on their own, but always got lost on my tree. Sorry I don't have a better
before picture, these were an after-thought!
I was in the midst of going through my Christmas decor and separating out
items to sell or take to the thrift store, and these ornaments were in that
pile when I decided to try spray painting them.
Just a couple coats of gold spray paint and they look like new ornaments! Not
only that, but the bright gold shows up so much better on my Christmas tree!
For just a little time, I was able to update to use paint I already had on
hand and give these ornaments a completely new life! I can't image getting rid
of them now!
I hope my experience inspires you to upcycle any of your old ornaments with
paint! I plan to spray paint several of my ball ornaments next year (I just
ran out of time to do all the things I'd planned!)
To see more images of my pretty green and gold tree, please
CLICK HERE. You might also be interested in the
DIY wood finial ornaments
I made to complement these green and gold ones.
And if you loved this post, please share with friends and Pin.
Pin it to remember it!
bringing beauty to the ordinary,
Great idea Cindy. Wish I would have seen this a couple of years ago when I got rid of so many ornaments. :/ Oh well, such as life. I've pinned it though hoping to remember this next time I get the urge to purge!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy!
DeleteCindy, this is a brillante idea. My goodness, to think of the ornaments I got rid of :(
ReplyDeleteI def will be doing this in the future!
Merry Christmas
RR
Thank you! Merry Christmas ❤
DeleteP.S Pinned!
ReplyDelete