The Secret to Writer’s Block: Art - Post Five

All I Want for Christmas…is a Shiny New Ornament

Using a Crafting Project to Provide the Necessary Distraction to Writer’s Block (Plus a Little Holiday Cheer)

I know, I know. Another crafting project? Yup! Because this one is just too much fun not to share. Plus, the basis of this post actually originated last year, before I had even thought of starting this blog, but when I was writing “Arriving Through TIme”. I had just started writing and I hadn’t quite figured out my process yet. I kept starting and stopping. I needed a project to distract me and I needed it to be one that I could also start and stop to go along with my process at the time. So technically, this was my first ever distraction from writer’s block.

This project involves taking plastic ornament shells and turning them into fun and beautiful holiday art pieces for your tree.

Here are the things that you will need:

• Clear ornaments - I recommend plastic for a couple of reasons. They are obviously safer and more sturdy (especially if you want to include kids in this project), you can attach different adhesives and textures to plastic than you can to glass, and they are typically cheaper too. You can purchase various sizes and shapes, but I recommend a standard sphere shape as it makes it easier to use the adhesive easily.

• Glitter glue - This is essentially glue that glitter sticks to easily, not blue that has glitter in it. There are several different brands to choose from. Just make sure that your glue is clear so that it doesn’t interfere with the color of your glitter.

• Glitter & funnel - Any kind of glitter can work, but the larger piece glitter actually works better for extra coverage. The glitter will be the main color of your ornament, so you may want to pick a more neutral color of glitter (I used white and silver here) that you can use as a base for multiple ornaments instead of a more specific color. You can then use your decorative extras to make them fit your theme.

• Glue gun with glue sticks - To attach all your fun little extras

• Decorative extras - You can get as creative as you want here. I will give you step-by-step instructions for the two themes in the pictures here as well as some other ideas to make the bottles your own. For these two projects, I bought felt (pink, white, red, yellow, and black), gold pipe cleaners, googly eyes, holly/snowflake stickers, and a black permanent marker.

So, when you have your supplies and are ready to get started, here are your steps to follow:

• Remove any labels and extraneous barcodes from your ornaments. Then pop off the top metal part of the ornament (the part that connects to a hook).

• Next, get your glitter glue. Squeeze some of the glue into the inside of the ornament and slowly turn it so that the glue covers a portion of the inside. Then use your funnel and sprinkle enough glitter in to cover the glued portion. Cover your finger over the opening on the ornament and then shake, shake, shake. Repeat these glue, glitter, shake steps until the entire inside of the ornament is covered. Fair warning: this step is kind of messy. Make sure you cover the hole up completely before shaking and clean off your finger in between shakes! After you are satisfied with your glitter coverage, put the metal top piece back on your ornament.

• Once the inside of your ornaments are covered, you’re ready to decorate! For the penguin project, I first used the permanent marker to color all of the ornament except for a large circle (the penguins belly). I then used the felt to cut out the shapes for the wings, feet, hat, and beak. For the unicorn, I used the felt to cut out the shape of the ears. I then took three of the gold pipe cleaners and wound them around each other, keeping the bottom end slightly thicker than the top end, until I had the shape of a horn that I liked.

• Time to bust out the glue gun! I first glued the felt parts that were layered with different colors (penguin hat/wings and unicorn ears). I then glued these pieces on to the ornaments. I also glued on the unicorn horn and the googly eyes for the penguin.

• Next, I used the black permanent marker to draw on the unicorn’s eyelashes. Use a pencil to get your shape first and then go over it with your marker. Start out with a thin line and then repeat until you get the thickness that you want.

• Finally, for a little extra fun and sparkle, I used the stickers to cover up empty space and the metal ornament tops.

I picked my nieces favorite animals for these ornaments, but you can make it your own! Here are some other themes/ideas I have already tried or thought of trying:

• Color themes: Try using combinations of flat colors with metallics. It’s a nice way to change the depth of your project and draw your eye to something shiny. Other themes that I have tried: Initials (I used just their first initial and their favorite color for a nice personalized gift); Santa or elves (see my holiday wine bottle post next week for image ideas); Candy (peppermint or candy canes would be super cute)

• Characters: I have made some ornaments to represent Disney characters including Minnie Mouse and BB8 that my nieces absolutely love. I have also seen other classic characters depicted like the Grinch and Rudolph which are just as fun and cute.

• Fill your ornament instead of painting or using glitter: Make sure you use something that’s not too heavy! Here are some items that I may soon try: Cotton balls, Feathers, or Tinsel. I also saw someone who put a baby hospital bracelet in an ornament for a “Baby’s First Christmas” theme and thought that was a great idea.

Overall, I really enjoyed this distraction from writer’s block. It was fun to bring out my creative side with glitter and glue instead of ink. It was also a nice project that I could start and stop as I wanted (I didn’t have to finish it all at once).

Here are some of the supplies that helped me complete my project (paid links by Amazon Associates):

I hope that these ideas help you to break through! 

Found a great source of inspiration that worked for you?  Let me know!

Still getting writer’s block?  Tell me how I can help!