I ran across some small ornaments that I thought might be fun to paint. The original ornament is made of glass but with an adobe clay overlay, acrylic paints and water proof seal I was able to come up with a whole new look. The clay overlay strengthens the ornament making it harder to break which I like because I’m a bit clumsy sometimes.
How to:
Basically what I did was paint on the clay then I let it dry. IÂ painted on a base color, let that dry then added various layers of partially transparent acrylics. This let the base color come through but in different shades. The final color added was to the very top which was allowed to drip down the sides . What I didn’t do was spin the ornaments because that’s a less controlled technique. I wanted the colors to blend in places but not to have a spun appearance. I think dipping helps control the paint and lets it drip down nicely. Of course when you dip you’ve got build up at the bottom so just take a small cloth (not a napkin) and dab the bottom so that you don’t have that little drop of paint drying under the sphere. Once it’s dry spray it with a seal and dab the bottom the same as you did with excess paint. Viola, there’s your redesigned, up-cycled ornament.
What can be done with these ornaments? The new design is shown with the string I used to hang them out to dry but, a nice beaded necklace can be added and hung around an average looking vase. Several ornaments strung together on a necklace would look great hanging from the top of a large, ceramic earthy punch bowl. You could hang one or several over the side of a plant as shown in the photos or place them in a nice bowl without a hanger. I think a ton of different creations could come from these.
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The above ornaments have been sold but more are on the way to my Etsy shop. Please check the sidebar for the link to my shop with current items.
fma
These are really cool.