miy painted glass balls, miycreations, Maddylane,

Miy Hand Painted Glass Balls
C r e a t i o n s & I n s p i r a t i o n s
"f o r t h e p u r e j o y o f m a k i n g t h i n g s"

“Beautiful baubles”

Hands-on time: Less than two hours per dozen.
Total time: Plus 48 hours for paint to cure.
Skill: Easy to moderate.
Cost estimate: Less than $10.00 for a dozen.
Materials & tools:
• Clear or frosted glass balls in assorted shapes and sizes
• Vitrail and Porcelaine 150 paints by Pébéo (you can also use Vitrea and simply do not heat set it)
• Copper or gold leaf sheets and adhesive size by Pébéo
• Micro beads
• Assorted beads to embellish the balls
• Decorative wire in 22 to 25 gauge
• Assorted colourful and white rice papers
• Tissue paper medium (it’s a sealant decoupage medium) by Pébéo
• Bling Bling medium by Pébéo
• Iridescent flakes, rhinestones, tassels, gold string and Fun wool for decorative accents
• Applicator bottles (small plastic bottles with a nozzle tips)
• Basic tools needed; wire cutter, scissors, painter’s tape, a sea sponge and assorted paintbrushes, narrow
painter’s tape, double face adhesive tape and metal glue

The above items are available at arts and craft supply stores.

This holiday season, deck the halls with beautiful ball creations in medleys of rich colours and styles. Make your
own holiday ornaments to add among your cherished oldies and to treasure for years to come. Decorating the
home with impressive ornaments has never been easier to achieve, utilizing only a handful of basic craft
supplies. Glass ball ornaments with sophistication from eclectic to elegant designs are painted with brilliant
colours and magnificently decorated with copper leafing, rice paper, beads, tassels and ritzed up with glitz.

Aside from decorating a traditional Christmas tree, ball ornaments make distinguished decorations to beautify an
entrance, a hallway, or to grace a mantel. Mixtures of solid colours or striped balls are simply splendid displayed
in tall vases, large bowls or incorporated into a spectacular centerpiece.

If you live in a small space, decorating with ornaments is a fantastic way to add wonderment to your décor
without incorporating a huge tree. Smaller glass versions are perfect to jazz up tabletop trees and to create
stylist floral arrangements.

Preparing the base of the glass ornaments:
Prepare the glass surface for painting by washing the balls thoroughly with soap and water and wipe dry.

Attach a decorative string to the metal cap tips that come with the glass balls. It makes it easier to handle the
balls while painting and practical to hang them for drying on an ornament stand or a coat rack with pegs.
Paint the surfaces of the glass balls with a soft bristle paintbrush using Vitrail paints in your choice of colours
from emerald, red violet to turquoise blues. I used a rich palette of crimson, brown, and burnt amber. Since these
are decorative items only, I used Vitrail solvent based paints because the colours are brilliant and they don’t
need to be heat set. Once painted hang the balls to air-dry. They will dry within hours and be ready to decorate
within a 48 hour period. Use a solvent base cleaner to clean your brushes well.

Eclectic Paper Collage; Painted glass balls are garlanded with assorted scraps of colourful and white rice
papers. Use paper bits and pieces leftover from other holiday projects. Apply a coat of Mod Podge over the
surface of the ball. Randomly apply and layer tiny paper pieces around the ball, leaving some areas exposed in
order to see its colour. To secure the paper composition into place, apply a top coat of Mod Podge and let dry.
Once dry apply a coat of sparkle glaze to make them glitter and glow.

Renaissance: Apply vertical stripes evenly spaced all around the ball with a fine point paintbrush using
Porcelaine 150, Vermeil gold. For a majestic look apply rhinestones garnishes over the dried gold stripes using
metal glue.

Baroque: Apply narrow painter’s tape to create two stripes on the bottom half of a glass ball. Apply adhesive
sizing with soft paintbrush to the area between the tape stripes. Set the ball a side to allow the adhesive to
become dry and tacky to the touch (15-60 minutes). Place and press copper leaf over the adhesive medium to
adhere to the ball. Use a clean soft brush to secure the leafing into place and to remove excess pieces. Top off
with a wire length fastened around the cap, bead the ends and add a tassel.

Old World: Apply adhesive sizing randomly around the ball and follow the leafing steps as above. The leafing
will only stick to the areas where the medium was applied. Apply a length of Terrifically Tacky Tape around the
center of the ball. For a gleaming touch, sprinkle iridescent flakes over the tape and gently pat it.

Glistening Swirl: Simply dab a colour of Vitrail paint around a glass ball using a sea sponge. Once dry, apply a
band of rice paper with a swirl pattern at the center of the ball with Mod Podge. Apply glitter glaze around the
ball. Wrap a piece of coloured wire around the cap of the ball and decorate the ends with beads.

Beaded Rococo: Pour assorted metallic Porcelaine 150 paints into applicator bottles, one for each different
colour. Using one colour at a time, squeeze the bottle to release paint along the sides of the ball, letting some of
the colours overlap and some areas free of drippings. Let it dry and set for 48 hours. Garnish the ball with a
band of colourful micro beads using Terrifically Tacky Tape. For an elaborate cap finish use fuzzy wool and bead
accents.

Give older ornaments a renewed look by sprucing them up using the same supplies in order to blend in with your
new ornaments. Each year make and add new styles of ornaments to your collection. Make extra ornaments to
give as gifts to friends, teachers and relatives.

Variations;
Ribbons and fabric remnants make fabulous ornament embellishments. For a dazzling look use sequins, glitter
glues, and old jewellery odds and ends. Modern and minimalist styles of ornaments can be made utilizing
materials such as clay, foils, tinsel, wire, and mesh. For special effects make basic geometric shapes using
textured or snow paints. For fine details or to inscribe your dinner guests names onto a personalized ornament
use Porcelaine liners or markers by Pébéo.

“Miy Christmas ~ Elegant Holiday Ornaments”

Miycreations Project article and photographs
by Maddylane

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