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DIY Vintage Ornaments

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Hi familia! Now that Halloween is officially over we can bring out the Christmas music (and movies) and all the craft supplies and start planning for the most wonderful time of the year!

And while we won’t have an actual house to spend Christmas this year, I do have a few things up my sleeve in order to make it a sweet experience for the entire family.

Right now I want to share a gorgeous DIY ornament idea that I think you might enjoy. A couple of years ago my friend Debi of Debi’s Design Diary shared how to transform everyday dollar store ornaments into stunning vintage looking ones with the help of IOD molds and her DIY paints.

Ever since I saw hers I wanted to give it a try and finally this year I did. And I was not disappointed. The results are amazing!

The main supplies for these DIY Vintage Ornaments are:

Dollar Store Ornaments
DIY Paint ( I sell DIY Paint in my online shop, it is closed at the moment since we are in the middle of our big move, but you can find them on Debi’s site).
Iron Orchid Design Molds
Air Dry Clay
Decrepit Dust
Clear Wax

Now remember, you don’t even need to go out and get new ornaments for this. You can always check in your stash and if you have any old ornaments you are no longer thrilled about or are using, then just use those to create these instead.

This DIY originally appeared in my Christmas in July video and you can always watch the video version there.

First, you will need to create the air dry clay forms and there are several styles to choose from (it will just depend what theme you wish to go with).

These are super easy to make. Just be sure to use corn starch on the IOD molds first so that the clay is easy to remove. Simply press the clay into the molds and peel back the clay form right away.

Do not let them dry.

Instead, immediately use Elmer’s glue (or in my case wood glue) and adhere them immediately on the ornament so they can take on the shape of the ornament. You may need to use tape to hold them in place while they dry.

They don’t always, but they may crack once dry and that’s okay.

Once they are dry, begin to paint them. I am using DIY Paint in White Swan. It has great coverage and dries in a chalk like finish.

Once the paint is dry, you will need to add clear wax all over the ornament.

While the wax is still tacky sprinkle some dark decrepit dust on it.

Tip: Do not pour (instead sprinkle) unless you want what happened to me, to happen to you. Oops!

Use a small brush to move the dust around the ornament. Make sure it gets into all of the nooks and crannies.

Then with a damp rag remove the excess, leaving only the dust in the crevices of the ornament.

Let them dry and that’s all there is to it!

Here is how this design turned out.

For an alternative look, you can always put a dark color of paint on the ornaments and then use a white decrepit dust. Here I am painting them green and adding a different clay form.

You can see how different they look before (left) and after (right) they get the “decrepit dust” treatment.

Here is a close-up of the green one.

These also complement each other so nicely. You can add a ribbon to hang them or raffia string like I did.

The cracks just add more to the aged look and with the amount of mold options and colors you can paint them, there are so many opportunities to create vintage looking ornaments.

I hope to create other designs in the future. If you wish to get even more ideas that would complement this look, make sure to check out my Christmas in July video with several more DIYs.