10 Crafty Ideas for Clear Ornaments

Looking for last minute craft and gift ideas for Christmas? We've come up with ten great  ways to use clear ball ornaments for decoration and gifts this holiday season.  Clear ball ornaments like these offer a great blank slate for creating  creative Christmas ornaments or gifts.

 

The two styles of clear balls, shown here are both clear acrylic so they are perfect for children's crafts or party favors (no worries about broken glass or safe transportation home).  We show two different ball shapes. The first is flattened oval profile and the other is a traditional round ball ornament. Either shape will work for our top ten craft ideas, but we learned the oval shape works better when filled with paper.  Let us know which one is your favorite! Here are our top ten holiday craft ideas for clear ball ornaments:

Idea #1: Christmas Card Keepsake Ornament

After all the time and energy put into finding the perfect Holiday photo for Christmascards, those photos need to be highlighted and remembered. A great way to do that is with a Christmas card photo ornament.

With the help of the minimize function on a standard color copy machine, this Christmas card was shrunk down (60%) so it would fit in the 3" circle of this round Christmas ornament. Once the image is reduced, draw a 3" circle around the faces. Cut out this circle photo. Print out the year in a cute font and add this to the photo. Remove the metal top and hook. Curl the photo to easily insert into the top of ornament . It will uncurl once it is inside the ornament. If you need to adjust the image, use tweezers or a pencil.

Idea #2: Bath Salts Ornament

A clear ornament filled with bath salts not only looks like a fun snow filled ornament, but it is also a great inexpensive gift idea. Add a gift tag that says Relax and explains with it is filled with. Perfect gift for teachers or anyone who needs to relax (isn't that all of us during the holidays).

Idea #3: Blessings Ornament

With the hectic pace of the holidays, it is hard to stay focused on our blessings. Here is a great family tradition that may help.

Have each family member write down things they count as blessings this year. Our answers were simple,but profound. Cut the answers into strips and roll them up with the handwritten answers facing out. Add a year if you want to make it a yearly tradition. It's a fun way to see how the blessings (and sweet handwriting) changes every year.

Idea #4: Peppermint Hot Chocolate Treat Ornament*

I'm always looking for pretty ways to package treats for the holidays.  This one is perfect. Filled with peppermint chocolate chips and labeled with a gift tag and directions, this ornament has all you need for a yummy batch of peppermint hot chocolate.

Idea #5: Candy Treat Ornament*

More sweet treats for all the good little boys and girls. The clear ball ornaments makes a great treat container and looks so festive filled with red and green treats. We used skittles here but any small candy will work.  After the treats are gone, they still have an ornament.

*Add a piece of double stick tape under the metal hook/top of your ornament if you are using heavier candy filling. This will prevent the top from pulling off when the ornament is hung.

Idea #6: Custom Monogram Ornament

We all love a pretty monogram, especially in the South. Create the custom monogram you want and print it out in your favorite color. This cute circle monogram fit the round ornament perfectly. You will need a 3" circle to fill the ornament.  Add a coordinating ribbon or bakers twine at the hook to top it off.  Now you have a precious personalized gift that did not cost you a lot.

Idea #7: Decorative Paper Curls Ornament

For an inexpensive holiday gift or decoration, cut up pretty paper and roll into curls. Insert these into the ornament. Coordinate the paper with your holiday decorations. Use scrapbook or wrapping paper. Get creative and add more meaning by using a map from a favorite vacation, wedding invitation or children's artwork.

Idea #8: Candy Snowman

 A decoration and a treat, this cute snowman ornament is sure to make someone smile.

 Fill the ornament with small white candies like Tic Tacs. From colored paper,  cut out two black eyes for coal and an orange carrot nose. Wrap the bottom in fringed burlap ribbon to look like a festive red scarf.

Idea #9: Vintage Photo Keepsake Ornament

Bring beloved family members to your present day Christmas celebration by highlighting them in a special keepsake ornament. Photocopy vintage images so you can preserve the original. Draw a 3" circle around the image you want to highlight. Trim and insert into the ornament at the top.

Idea #10: Swirled Paint Ornament

Inspired by other painted ornaments, we found on Pinterest, we wanted to try these for ourselves. Clear ornaments filled with craft paint create fun colorful ornaments in a few easy steps.  Here is how we created them  with basic craft  paint.



This is a great way to create painted ornaments with little or no mess. But we did learn a few lessons. First: For more vibrant and clear colors, let the paint dry before adding a second color. If not the colors will mix together. Second: Leave the ornaments to dry sitting up right or the paint will leak out of the top.



We hope you all have a wonderful Merry Christmas! Let us know which ornament is your favorite and send us photos if you make some of your own.