What happens when you have ornaments to upcycle and some leftover resin? You get creative with coloring! Last week, I created mustache adornments to decorate the outside of glass ornaments. I thought to myself then that there must be more we can do to DIY resin ornaments for my Christmas tree.
Step 1: Prep a glass tree ornament
Most major crafting outlets have glass ball Christmas ornaments for crafting use.
After taking out the metal insert, I propped the first ornament onto toothpicks with tape around the bottom. (You will see why this is important in a minute.)
For the second ornament, I propped it up on toothpicks around the perimeter of the ornament. Note: Both ornaments are on styrofoam trays covered with wax paper.
Step 2: Color the resin
I had some leftover mixed clear resin that I colored with Resin Obsession opaque red pigment.
Step 3: Apply the resin
For the ornament propped up on the tape, I paddled resin onto the outside. I placed two thick coats onto the DIY resin ornament.
For the second ornament, I poured some mixed resin inside.
I then swirled the resin around the inside to completely coat the interior.
I was able to get two coats of resin on the ornament on the left (brushed on the outside), but only one coat on the inside.
Set the resin ornaments aside to cure.
Step 4: Remove from toothpicks
Unfortunately, once they had cured, the second coat of resin didn’t matter. They both cured with the same resin layer thickness.
Note: The tape kept the ornament on the left from sticking to the toothpicks. Otherwise, the dripping resin would have cemented it to the props.
I would say they both turned out the same, with the exception that the ornament with the resin on the inside was able to maintain a little bit more of the pearlized effect on the glass. The difference is slight though, and I don’t think I would have noticed if I hadn’t had them both together.
In case you were wondering, here is what they looked like compared to the original ornaments. The color is subtle but very pretty. While I wouldn’t expect to do a bunch of these in an afternoon, I think this would be a great option for when you have a little bit of leftover resin.
Here are some of my other observations about making these DIY resin ornaments:
- You must use a doming resin for this. You need a thick surface tension to stay on the surface of the glass.
- All things considered, I would coat the resin on the inside of the glass. It was easier to do.
- To get the thicker color of resin on the outside, I would try recoating again once the first layer had cured.
What do you think of my little DIY resin ornament project?
If you hate wasting resin as I do, then here are some more leftover resin project ideas.
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Maybe add a small amount of fine glitter to resin before pouring ?
I think that would be great for ornaments. Would look great under the lights.
This project would be great for one of those LED lighted ornaments. We have a couple that were painted with something that peeled off. The original effect when we bought them was similar to how yours look now. The idea of adding a little glitter sounds good, too! Maybe I’ll give this a try before we put the ornaments away.
Could you do this with plastic ornament balls? I know sometimes resin can heat up/maybe melt plastic?? So not sure if it would end up ruining them. Trial and error I suppose! Lol
Good question Nicole. It wasn’t that much resin, so I would expect it would work fine.
Hey!
This project would be great for one of those LED lighted ornaments. We have a couple that were painted with something that peeled off. The original effect when we bought them was similar to how yours look now. The idea of adding a little glitter sounds good, too! Maybe I’ll give this a try before we put the ornaments away.