Christmas Tree Balls

[Pedal Pusher]

At the ISS show in Atlanta I bought the cutest Christmas balls. It was one of the clear glass balls and they had just stuck red and green vinyl stickers on them with a pretty font initial. Ashamed to say I bought one for $4.

I work for a trucking company and we have a sign guy that makes the signs for our trucks. I called him and asked him if he could cut me some dots and letters. He did it as a favor to me and didn't charge me anything.

Can't wait to make some for my tree.

aka Donna

[StitchinGrandma]

Your sign guy probably has a lot of the scraps of vinyl laying around that he tosses into the trash. You should ask him if you can have them. Then get some stencils or just free-hand shapes using an exacto knife and create your own designs. My ex-husband's father owned a sign business and he had TONS of scraps like that.

[Lisaa]

Oooh, can you post a pic??

[just_teachin]

Oooh, can you post a pic??

Oooh, please do!!!

[Pedal Pusher]

I will try to take one tonight. Not sure how the clear glass will photograph but I will do my best.

Donna

[idesign]

I'd love to see this, too! My husband is an amateur photographer, and he always tells me to stand to the side of something that will reflect, though I guess now that I think of it, the ball will be round, so that probably wont help--duh!

Carol

[Asweetymom]

I would love to see a picture of this christmas ball ! Sounds adorable.
Thanks, Jackie

[StitchinGrandma]

To photograph that put it on a dark fabric. I use black felt many times since I have large pieces of that here in my sewing room. I had to photograph green ornaments before and they were perfect because the felt isn't light reflective as some other fabrics can sometimes be.

[Pedal Pusher]

I certainly hope I am a better seamstress than I am a photographer but here goes nothing. I hope you can tell that some of the dots are on the other side and not touching the initial. The dots look random but actually their is consistency on them. There are 3 dots on the top and bottom and 5 around the middle.

I haven't made any yet, waiting on the dollar store here to put their balls out.

1016

Donna

[susank]

Very cute - these would make great gifts.

[artsiegirl]

Donna, that looks great! As soon as I saw your post about them, I wondered if they were like the ones I've made for the last few years. Mine are the clear glass balls about 4 inches in diameter, and I paint them completely then paint on the dots and an initial or monogram. This year I'm switching to papier mache' ornaments because the paint can dry so much faster for shipping. In years past, I've only sold them in boutiques around here due to the length of drying time after I spray them with a clear gloss. What a great idea to do these with the vinyl stick-ons though! I have some of those vinyl stickers for my wall and now my monogram on my back window of my vehicle, but it never occurred to me to try this! Thanks a million! Here's a shot of one I've done in the past. I won't even shock with the price boutiques get for them in my small town, and they sold an entire tree full of them last year. People do love their initials on things!

[Snyder.crafting]

Donna, The ornament that you bought is cute. You could easily make that.

Artsiegirl, Your ornament is adorable too. We need a section here on the message board with a picture gallery of all of your wonderful projects!

Cheers to both of you!
Jennifer

[sewingfor3]

YOU two are soooo creative. I love these great ideas. I do have a question to Artsiegirl though about the paper mache ornaments. Will you still just paint them like the glass ones or do you have to do something different. Just wondering. I have a lot of friends with small kids and they would not have to worry with the glass breaking and great Christmas presents!!!! thanks.

[debmac]

Artsiegirl have you ever thought about teaching classes to the public. I know that most of us on here would love to be able to take classes from you. You are so creative in everything. You are an inspiration to us all.

[artsiegirl]

Ya'll are so sweet! I taught a couple of adult education classes at our local Jr College. It only took me 1 quarter to realize teaching adults is not for me. The first night of watercolor class a man walked in with a picture of a painting he had seen once and wanted to paint that during our class of 6 hours!

The papier mache' ornaments can be found at Hobby Lobby, and if it's really your lucky day they will be on sale or you find they have a coupon for 40% or 50% off an item that week. I used regular acrylic paint on the one pictured, and then I sprayed it with a high gloss clear spray. They could potentially be crushed, but they are certainly much safer around children. With the glass ones, I always paint the insides of them and allow the excess to run back out. After several days drying time, they were ready for the dots & initials. That's a good option for the vinyl letters & dots Donna posted about.

[Sew Fun]

Ya'll are so sweet! I taught a couple of adult education classes at our local Jr College. It only took me 1 quarter to realize teaching adults is not for me. The first night of watercolor class a man walked in with a picture of a painting he had seen once and wanted to paint that during our class of 6 hours!

The papier mache' ornaments can be found at Hobby Lobby, and if it's really your lucky day they will be on sale or you find they have a coupon for 40% or 50% off an item that week. I used regular acrylic paint on the one pictured, and then I sprayed it with a high gloss clear spray. They could potentially be crushed, but they are certainly much safer around children. With the glass ones, I always paint the insides of them and allow the excess to run back out. After several days drying time, they were ready for the dots & initials. That's a good option for the vinyl letters & dots Donna posted about.

Just wondering if you free-handed the letter? You're so artistic you could probably do so with no problem - I'm not sure I could do one that looked like that. Also, do you just dribble the paint inside and rotate the ornament to cover the inside?

[artsiegirl]

Sew Fun - I did free hand the letter, but you could make stencils out of your favorite fonts or even check in the scrapbook section of your local craft store, and they may already have some pre-made. When I paint the glass ones, I remove that gold or silver topper, squeeze several "runs of paint down the sides all around the ornament, allow it run all over the inside by rotating the ornament every so often, then turning the ornament upside down over a disposable cup and allow it to drain completely. Sit it upright, preferably under a ceiling fan, and allow it to dry for days. You can make these really cool with 2 or 3 different colors of paint and allow the to swirl together. Just be sure you use compatible colors, no complementary ones (red & green, yellow & purple, or blue & orange will llok bad if mixed together too much.)

[Shanda]

You ladies are so talented!! Those are really great!

[Lisaa]

Donna, I saw these ornaments on Etsy and thought of you. Is this what you bought? How cool! I think you got a bargain...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17140837

[Pedal Pusher]

That's the one Lisa. Looks like I didn't pay too much if you look at the one on Etsy. I am making them for about .35.

Donna

[biglucyfan]

Wow that is adorable. I love that idea.

[Lisaa]

How are you making them, Donna?

[Pedal Pusher]

With vinyl stickers. The sign guy cut dots and letters for me in different colors. I found the balls at our Dollar Tree for 3 for a dollar.

Donna