Holiday Ornaments for you and your little ones to make at
home
I have walked around some art shops and galleries and
noticed some artists are painting on clear glass ornament balls. I have heard
that Macon Arts even had a glass blower making glass balls at the opening of
their holiday show. One of my first
Christmas gifts I received when I first began teaching at a private school was
a choo-choo train painted on a glass ball. I still cherish that ornament and put
it on my tree every year.
Several years ago my school held an auction and one of the
parents came in my room to have the children in a particular grade make a craft
for the auction. This parent took glass ornament balls, filled each ball with a
bit of craft paint and told the children to twirl the ball to twirl /marbleize
the paint inside the ball.
That art project
could be a neat way to teach color mixing to little ones. That project also inspired me one year to
paint my own glass ornament balls. I used white puffy t-shirt paint to make a
snowman face.
As you can see in these photographs one side is painted but
because the glass is clear, one can see through the clear side to the showman’s
face! It doesn’t matter if the ball turns!
To paint a glass/plastic ornament ball at home one need to buy clear plastic
balls, white puffy t-shirt paint for the snowman, acrylic craft paint, and a
small brush, preferably the short-handled kid’s brushes that come in a pack
from a craft store like Michael’s or JoAnn’s.
Spread newspaper on the working surface. You will also need
a container with water and some paper towels or a sponge for drying and
cleaning the brush when changing colors. An egg carton works great to place the
ornament in when painting and drying. A round plastic lid works for a palette
and can easily be discarded when finished. Old plastic ice cube trays can work
also and keep the paint colors separated.
Set your supplies up. Egg carton with ornament placed in front of the child. Paint squeezed on the
lid or in the ice cube tray. Now paint! Let dry overnight and hang when ready!
For more of Mizz Mac’s art lessons and art projects click
on:
www/teacherspayteachers/com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams
