Marble Glass Ball Ornaments
Painting or marbling glass ornaments is a fun and cheap project.
1. First collect all your materials. You will need:
- glass ball ornaments (cost is about $2 to $3 a box at any craft store)
- rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner
- paint
There are a few different types of paint you can use. You can use basic acrylic paints or there are paints made just for glass surfaces, like Delta PermEname, Vitrea 160 and Glossies. Basic acrylic paints don’t seem to stick as well, but tend to be cheaper. Acrylic paints will still work, you just might need to do more than one coat. If you are using glass paints, read their instructions before purchasing them. Some paints require an undercoat and topcoat before paint is applied. Most glass paints are also translucent, so they will give a different look than the acrylic paints.
2. Clean out your ornaments with rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner, then let them dry. It is important to clean out your ornaments so your paint will adhere better.
3. Now you can start your painting. Put a small amount of paint on the inside of the ornament and let it run down. Rotate the ornament to paint different areas of the ornament. Then add another color, and rotate. Continue this pattern until your ornament is all colored. It takes a little bit time to spread the paint and mix the colors. If you don’t want as big of contrast in your marbled glass ornament, you can combine your paint before you put it in your ornament and mix it up just a little bit.
4. If you are not satisfied with your glass ornament, you can typically wash your paint out with water or rubbing alcohol and start over from scratch.
5. Depending on the size of your ornament it could take days for it to dry. So for the next few days you are going to want to keep rotating your ornament. As your paint dries you will be able to tell if you need a second coat. If you have a lot of extra paint, pour it out.
How to make Glass Ornament Snowmen
You can also add paint on the outside to give your ornaments an added touch. Snowmen are a popular choice and are fairly easy to do. When I am working with kids I find using their fingerprints is a great way to make snowmen. They also make great keepsakes and gifts for grandparents. Circle sponges also work well.
