What are some crafty uses for glass Christmas ornaments, besides hanging them on the tree?

Question

I have LOADS AND LOADS of round glass Christmas ornaments and a fairly small tree this year. I've used some in bowls on the end tables, and filled the inside of a glass cake stand with them, and still have a ton left. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I like tree branches decorated with those ornaments- you can spray the tree branch with metallic paint and glitter to dress it up if you'd like and set it upright in a vase or pot of sand or rocks.

For the cake stand it may look even better with a strand of lights wandering inside as well.

You could decoupage on favorite Christmas scenes for more indivisually unique decorations

Decorating the outside is pretty and sure to use lots as well

We used to use them to create archways in doorways as well- each was tied onto a pretty Christmas ribbon

Use them to wrap presents- either tie one onto a ribbon around a box or fill one with small items (candy, jewelry, a gift card receipt, cash) and let the recipient break it open.

Answer 2

Hang them outdoors on trees, or whatever you have... or attach them to a cord (knotted) then drape or place them on a balcony, around a window, etc. (make sure they're well attached or not over an area where they'd be a problem if they fall and break).

We also do a lot of things with glass ball ornaments using polymer clay. They can be completely covered with clay, or they can have little molded clay bits or "cane" slices, etc., glued onto them, or be partly covered in other ways. If you're interested in those, check out this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Christmas.htm
(....click on the "Glass Ball Ornaments" category...)
(there's also info there on how to remove the color from colored glass balls, if you should want to do that)


Diane B.

Answer 3

Put some in a basket or sleigh for your table or end tables. Have a bowl of them here and there all over.
The year my daughter died, the funeral home had an ornament for everyone who attended a memorial service. Write a name with glue on the ornament, and sprinkle on glitter. Use them for place cards if you're serving Christmas dinner.

Answer 4

you can use a large styrofoam cone and hot glue or pin them to it until covered. this makes a nice decoration for a mantle, cofee table or an entry table. You can also use it to attach small envelopes with giftcards in.
another thing that I have done is decoupage photos onto them and affix them to the bows of gifts to the grandparents. this gives them a new ornament for their tree that shows off their grandkids.

Answer 5

Crafty uses eh? Remove the hallway lightbulbs and lay the glass ornaments on the stairs and all over the floor.

Answer 6

put a rod or a piece of wire coathanger thru a piece of wood then stand it up then slide a layer of large balls down the rod, the next layer is balls a little smaller and the next layers smaller. put a pointed glass ball on the top to hide the wire. a glass ball "tree" is the general look. looks kinda neat

Answer 7

Place them inside a tall clear glass cylinder vase. Insert a battery light set along with the balls and light it. You could take your special ones and place them on top of tour candlesticks, to give them importance.

Answer 8

If they're relatively sturdy, you can collage on them or even use transfer to put photos of loved ones on them, maybe even painting year numbers on them to comemorate the year the photo was taken. You can use them to make paper maiche balls.

Either keep your artwork or share them with those you care about.

If they're strong enough, you can even break them and use the pieces for mosaics.

You can join a swap or even start a swap.

Or you can sell them on ebay.com, etsy.com or at a garage sale.

Answer 9

Last year we painted faces and names on them and used them as place cards for Christmas dinner.

Answer 10

tie them on to different lengths of fishing line (or similar) attach other end to dowel (or similar) and make a wall feature or hang them in your windows.