DIY brushstroke painted plastic Christmas balls
It just so happens that I bought a large amount of colored plastic ornaments on 75% clearance at Target after Christmas last year and I wasn’t feeling all the colors.
On top of it I had a huge amount of silver plastic ornaments in the attic that I didn’t want to use this year.
I really wasn’t that into the reds and purples.
My first step was to use some scrap wood and nails to create board where I could prop up the plastic ornaments to spray paint them with primer.
My go to favorite primer is Kilz spray primer and it worked like a charm once again. In some of the photos below you can tell that the color still bled through in some spots on the balls, but second coat fixed that. No other primer works as good for me as this one.
After the primer I either gave them a fresh coat of semi-gloss white spray paint or I painted some of them my favorite Krylon Copper Metallic Spray Paint
. The copper is included on the small and the large Christmas tree.
But I didn’t stop there. I wanted to included everything I loved int he past year in my home decor, which was the crosses and the recent dots and brushstrokes. Don’t you just love Jana Bek brush stroke lamps? I do and it sure looks fabulous on Christmas balls too.
I painted black detail in with regular acrylic craft paint and various different sized brushes. Actually very easy if you ask me.
Each ornament was hung up to dry on little rods (sorry for the bad cellphone photos):
And here they are, all kinds of different ones:
Here is a copper painted ornament and a brush stroke ornament:
And another copper Christmas ball and a little dotted brushstroke Christmas ball.
I love how they look on my small Christmas tree and on my large one. Click HERE to see the big Christmas tree with the ornaments.
I still have to share with you how I made the large gold stars. But I’ll do that next time.
Tschüß
(Youleeya)
cassie says
December 10, 2014 at 5:14 amlove how these turned out- especially the cross ones! and your idea for holding the ornaments still is so smart!
Julia says
December 10, 2014 at 8:48 amThank you! Heading over now to see yours.
Dagmara-GlamistaHome says
December 10, 2014 at 6:25 amGreat project. I love the black and white contrast. I am a big fan of the black cross it pops nicely against the white. Seems easy enough to make and looks great on the tree. Thank you for sharing!
Julia says
December 10, 2014 at 8:48 amThanks so much and also thank you for sharing it
Krystine www.KrystineEdwards.com/blog says
December 10, 2014 at 8:52 amSO cute! I thought about doing black and white painted ornaments, but realized I had more to do, next year maybe! You inspired me!
Sheryll & Critters. says
December 10, 2014 at 9:11 amThis is just totally BRILLIANT….. and what took you so long to tell us how….. I LOVE them. And I don’t think I can wait one more hour to find out how you made those stars……. I am so into those stars. Since I don’t have a beautiful Angel to top my faux tree….. I need something I can make on the cheap…. and stars are next on my list. since I need easy and to spend NO money.
Also, you would so love, love, love my grand baby boy Shaymus…. he is the most wonderful kitty since Sugar. I could twist him into a pretzel and he would not scratch or anything…. he is so affectionate it is unreal.
I need to ask you and others if I am the only one that can barely see the very light type print on here and some other blogs? I can not read for such light type print.
Julia says
December 11, 2014 at 5:56 amThanks so so much. And Shaymus sounds like he is wonderful.
Also I have no idea why my type looks so light to you. It’s set to black. I’m wondering if it would work if you increased the contrast on your screen when you read my blog. Unfortunately I can’t set my type to darker because it’s the darkest it is. That’s not good 🙁
Vanessa says
December 10, 2014 at 9:26 amThese are lovely
Megan @ Rhapsody in Rooms says
December 10, 2014 at 9:54 amThese are so cute! I love them. And very you! They look great with the copper too!
Heather |Decor Fix says
December 10, 2014 at 12:15 pmOK, I’ve painted ornaments before, but your trick with the nails on the board? Brilliant!! Would have made it SO much easier. Great tip.
Amy @ Homey Oh My! says
December 10, 2014 at 12:55 pmBeautiful! And very clever way of letting the ornaments dry!
Charlotte @ Ciburbanity says
December 10, 2014 at 2:26 pmThe board with the nails is genius enough! I always see ornaments after the holidays but didn’t even THINK to spray paint them. Super smart. And, I LOOVE the brushstroke pattern with the teal ribbon. So cool.
[email protected] says
December 10, 2014 at 11:10 pmThese look great! Really “you.” And I love your painting set up. Super duper smart.
Sarah says
December 11, 2014 at 3:52 pmI love how these turned out – they capture what I love about graphic, black and white modern art! It’s truly a unique project!
Julia says
December 11, 2014 at 6:27 pmThanks Sarah I did want some modern art in my Christmas decor.
[email protected] says
December 11, 2014 at 4:29 pmSo fun–I love how the Christmas decor echoes what you’ve done over the year with your home 🙂 they turned out great!
Julia says
December 11, 2014 at 6:27 pmThat’s exactly what I was trying to do, to echo what I did throughout the year.
Katja | Shift Ctrl Art says
December 11, 2014 at 8:38 pmJulia, my friend 🙂 This is SO awesome!! I love how you re-purposed the colors you didn’t want anymore. I love how this came out!! Love your tree!!!
Julia says
December 12, 2014 at 3:02 pmThanks so much Katja, you are always the sweetest.
Kara Ford says
December 12, 2014 at 7:15 amJulia, you are so very gifted with talent and creativity!! Absolutely love how you transformed these ornaments from average to fabulous!
Julia says
December 13, 2014 at 5:53 amThank you Kara for the sweet words and visit.
Kenz @ Interiors By Kenz says
December 12, 2014 at 3:18 pmGreat tutorial. These are so simple but make a big impact. Very very classy as usual!
Sarah @ Life On Virginia Street says
December 14, 2014 at 4:45 pmSo cool Julia! I LOVE these!
Julia says
December 15, 2014 at 3:48 pmThank you Sarah
Trisha D. @Black and White Obsession says
December 18, 2014 at 8:20 amOh my goodness Julia, come over to my house and help me add the perfect touches of black and white in my home!! I may have to seriously copy these for my home! Although once I get to it, it’ll be after Christmas ha!
Julia says
December 18, 2014 at 5:36 pmHaha, you don’t need any help. You are pretty awesome at doing black and white yourself 😉
Merry Christmas!
Anna @Annabode says
December 19, 2014 at 8:34 amLove these so much! Black and white is my new favorite color scheme for the holidays.
Julia says
December 19, 2014 at 2:27 pmThank you so much Anna!