swirly orbs
i saw this idea on the chasing cheerios blog so we had to try it out. michael’s was having a good sale on their clear glass ornaments, so we got a pack. at home, we had some folk art metallic paints
N helped to squirt the paint into each ball. we chose three colors for each one. i recommend squirting a lot of paint into the top edge of the ball, with different colors on each side. then you just naturally let it run down the inside while twisting and turning the ball (gently!) in little hands.
then we checked on the ornaments every hour or so for the rest of the afternoon, setting them in the tray so that different sides were at the bottom, which allowed the paint to move all over the place.
we kept the aluminum tops off of the glass orbs for about five or six days to be sure the paint was totally dry inside. then we just put the caps on the top and hooks. such an easy and fun thing to do with your little one. the only thing to make sure of is that your kiddos handle the glass balls with care. these make for such pretty, sparkly ornaments!
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oooh, i just learned that we were doing an extremely LOOSE version of a chinese technique known as “li bien” or painting on the inside… it’s usually painstaking work requiring at least 2 days to paint each ornament. we did these 6 in about ten minutes, so i don’t think it qualifies as li bien exactly, but close?
HI…
just wondering if this technique will work with clear plastic ornaments? If so, would you use the same paint or something different? acrylics? tempra?
Nicole
nicole – i think it’d work the same with plastic ones, and i’d use acrylic paints for that, too. let me know how it turns out!
Those are really pretty and you could make them any color you want. Very nice idea.