Glitter & Tinsel DIY Ornaments (Anthropologie Knock-Off)

 

Hello all! I've got a fun and quick catalog knock-off diy ornament to share with you today that uses the thrift store garland from this photo (the deer was made over here, if you missed it):

I was actually looking for tinsel garland when I found this at the thrift store, though I didn't think that I would find it for only .49. Woot!

If you remember some of my inspiration pieces from the 31 Days of Thrift Store Transformations series, you won't be surprised that I had seen a few things from the current Anthropologie catalog that I wanted to recreate. One being the wool pom pom wreath and garland that is now on our mantel, and the other was this ornament:

Ten dollars is not an outlandish price at Anthropologie (unlike the wreath...), but still - it's a clear bulb with tinsel and glitter, all of which can be found for pennies. And since you're reading AOC, I'm pretty sure you have a DIY brain that thinks like mine: if I'm going to pay ten bucks for something (plus shipping), then it's going to be something I can't easily make.

The only other thing that might induce me to pay $10 is if it would take a lot of time. But this only took about 10 minutes. So it's a slam-dunk. And wouldn't this ornament make a fun gift? I sometimes like adding homemade ornaments to package wrapping or bring as a holiday-themed as a hostess gift. And this ornament is neutral enough to go with any decorating scheme, so it would pretty much work for anyone.

The supplies are easily found - in fact you may have some already:

• Clear glass or plastic ball ornaments (I used glass) and if you can find the style with the little point at the end like the inspiration photo, you get bonus points!
• Tinsel garland
• Silver glitter
• Tacky glue
• Small, narrow paint brush
• Painter's tape
• Jute twine (or whatever you'd like to hang it with)

The process is pretty straight forward:

• Cut a piece of tinsel the length of the ornament, remove the metal top and insert the piece of tinsel, then replace the top. Whew, that was tough. Wait, though - you will need to trim the piece of tinsel first if it's wide like mine was. Use scissors to trim it so that the garland ends just reach the edges of the ornament when inside without bending.
• The only tricky part of this knock-off is getting the lines of glitter straight and even. Now, we all know we don't aim for perfection here, but they did need to be in the middle and not all wonky, which left to my own eye-hand coordination would've been. So I used painter's tape as a guide for the two outer lines of glitter:

1. Cut a length of painter's tape in half so it's narrower and place it in the middle of the ornament, being sure to rub it down flat along the edges. Use a small paintbrush to apply a thin line of tacky glue using the edge of the tape as a guide (squeezing a line of glue from the bottle results in globs and lines that run as they dry, so the brush is the way to go).
2. Sprinkle glitter all around the first glue line, shaking off the excess. The thin glue dried pretty quickly for me, so I glittered after each line instead of completing both lines and then adding the glitter.
3. Repeat with second line on the other edge of the tape and then remove the tape right away before the glue dries. Voila - two fairly straight and even lines. For the middle line of glitter simply use the small brush to paint a line of glue. Now that you've got the two even lines, it's pretty easy to get this one centered.

• Set the ornament to dry in a small cup or candlestick - whatever you can find that will hold it without touching the drying glitter.
• Add whatever hanger you'd like.

See? Pretty easy and quick, huh? Of course, this same concept will work with any color of tinsel and glitter you can find. And that's the other part of handmade that I love: putting your own spin on an idea and making it your own.

Have you made any ornaments this year? Did you find something at the thrift store for them?

 

I'm sharing at these great parties: Metamorphosis Monday, Tips & Tutes, Christmas Craft Linky Party, Weekend Wrap Up Party , Saturday Nite Special, Christmas Wonderful