How to Paint Ornaments

The holiday season never fails to bring a smile to our faces here at The Spruce. To create some extra cheer, we've created the best tutorial for painting your own ornaments this year. While these may look tricky, they're easier to make than you think. Before you know it, you'll have plenty of ornaments to hang on your tree and around your home.

While we do love the classic green and red color palette, we went with colors you typically won't find in store-bough decorations. Feel free to use whatever shades of paint you like to customize your ornaments to match your style.

Patterned Ornaments

These bold beauties are perfect for folks who adore vibrant colors, abstract prints, and vivid details. You design your ornaments however you like, but we'll be showing you how to recreate this medium brushstroke pattern.

What You'll Need

Tools

• Paintbrushes (size depends on how large your want your pattern)

Supplies

• Glass ornaments (plastic works too)
• The Spruce Best Home chalky-finish paint in Heartwarming, White Bead Board, Casual Sophistication, and Skydive Blue
• Bowls for paint
• Kraft paper
• Clear ornaments (we used glass, but plastic work too)
• Cake pop sticks (for drying rack)
• Craft foam (for drying rack)
• String or hooks

1. Gather Materials

   Collect your materials and check that your hot glue gun is working.

   

2. Set Up Your Workspace

   Before you begin painting, wrap your workspace in kraft paper or another material of your choice to protect it from any paint drips or spills. Set out all of your supplies and take the tops off of your ornaments.

3. Build Your Drying Rack

   For a speedy solution to drying your ornaments, take your cake pop sticks and push them into the craft foam. Test out the distance between each stick by placing plain ornaments on top; you don't want your freshly painted ones to get ruined!

4. Paint Your Base Coat

   Hold your ornament by its opening and beginning painting your first coat. We love using chalky finish paint because of its great coverage after a single coat. Once your ornaments are painted, allow them to dry for 30 minutes to an hour, then go back and do any touchups if needed.

   

5. Paint Your Accent Color

   There are two parts to the pattern. The first is the underlying shade. Select one of your paint colors and begin painting dashes all around the ornament. Once you're finished, let it dry for roughly 30 minutes.

   

6. Paint the Pattern

   Now that the silhouette/accent dashes are painted, go back through and paint a dash in a different color on top of each one. Allow it to slightly overlap, but give the color underneath enough space so it's showing too.

   

7. Let Dry

   Allow your ornaments to dry for an hour to be safe.

8. Assemble and Display

   After the ornaments have finished drying, replace the ornament caps, add some string or a hook and display.

   

   

   

Wooden Ornaments

For fans of Scandinavian influence and minimalist aesthetics, these wooden ornaments will certainly suit your tastes. They're simple, yet chic, and look stunning against the boughs of evergreen trees.

What You'll Need

Tools

• Paintbrushes in various sizes
• Hot glue gun
• Hammer (optional)

Supplies

• The Spruce Best Home paint in White Bead Board
• Masking tape
• Bowls for paint
• Wooden craft balls
• Screw eye hooks (optional)
• String

1. Gather Materials

   Gather all the items you'll need for creating these wooden ornaments and set them out on your workspace.

   

2. Prepare Your Workspace

   Make sure you cover your work surface with kraft paper or a similar material to protect it from paint drips. Hang up some string between two surfaces or tie a row of strings vertically to a stick or similar object. This will be used to dry your ornaments. Make sure there is kraft paper or plastic beneath the drying rack before you hang them up.

3. Select Your Pattern and Apply the Masking Tape

   We'll be showing you how to make a simple striped pattern, but the options are endless with masking tape. You can make stripes, scallop the edges, or cut out shapes; the list goes on. Once you've decided on a pattern, apply the tape to your wooden sphere.

   

   Tip

   Remember that the paint will go everywhere that the tape is not. So if you want a stripe around the center, do the reverse with tape and put two strips of tape on both top and bottom of the ornament to mark out the middle stripe.

4. Start Painting

   Take a medium-size brush and begin painting your ornament. Start with the exposed wood and gently work your way around the tape. Be careful around the edges to avoid paint from seeping underneath the tape.

   

5. Finish Pattern and Let Dry

   If you'd like to add a second pattern, this is a great time to do so while your other side is drying. Then, allow your ornaments to dry for an hour. If needed, go back and do a second coat or any touch ups.

   

6. Glue String or Drill Hooks

   A drill bit makes this part quick and easy. Simply drill a hole and insert a screw eye hook. If you don't have that type of tool, you can hot glue string to the tops of your ornament. Take your string or twine and tie a knot, then glue the knotted end down to the top of ornament. Make sure you allow it to set and dry before lifting it by the string.

   

7. Remove the Tape

   Carefully peel off the masking tape once your ornaments are completely dry. Pulling off the tape too early can smear the paint, so check to be sure the paint isn't still tacky.

   

8. Decorate

   String the ornaments through their screw eye hooks or finish gluing and tying then hang!