Floral Painted Christmas Ornaments
Learn to paint floral Christmas ornaments to hang on your tree or give as gifts. This simple, fun project is a great way to use up extra paint!
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When you finish a painting, what do you do with your leftover paint? I never want to waste paint, so I like to create small, quick paintings or crafts with it. And during the Christmas season, it’s easy to come up with ideas like the cute floral painted Christmas ornaments I’m going to share with you today.
After I finished a teaching session online – a Funky Winter Flowers lesson, I realized I had a lot of paint left on my palette. I also had a ton of super cute, unfinished wood ornaments just waiting to be painted.
I had so much fun painting these – truly, I could have painted them all day. This is an easy project and one you can easily make your own. These ornaments are perfect to hang on your own tree or to give as gifts!
Are you ready to paint with me?
Materials Mentioned
- Unfinished Wood Ornaments
- DecoArt Acrylic Paints
- White
- Teal
- Light Green
- Dark Green
- Red
- Magenta
- Black
- Posca Paint Pens
- White
- Black
- DecoColor Gold Paint Pen
- The Social Easel 15-piece Brush Set
- Makeup Sponges
- DecoArt Distressed Harlequin Stencil
How to Paint Floral Painted Christmas Ornaments
Paint the background.
I decided to play around with the backgrounds of these ornaments. When I first decided to paint these, I planned to paint four, but a suggestion from one of my students was so good that I had to add a fifth!
I used a large round brush and simply painted an even coat of paint onto each ornament – black, white, and gray (made by mixing black and white). You could also leave the background unfinished for a more rustic look. The options are endless and the choices are yours!
I left the “hanger” of the ornaments unpainted. I did this for two reasons. One, it made a great handle to hold onto while I painted. And two, I knew I wanted to do something special with those hangers. We’ll get to that later, but think gold and sparkly!
Christie Tip: You can mix brands of acrylic paint with no problem. I have my favorites, but also pick up colors I love from different brands. All can be used together!
Start with the flowers and leaves.
If you’ve been around for any time at all, you know I love painting florals. But… you can also paint snowmen, Christmas trees, snowflakes, or anything else you choose. These are your ornaments to paint. Play, have fun, and embrace the whimsical nature of this project!
I used round brushes – small and smaller – to paint my flowers.
On the white background I went with magenta flowers and leaves in two different shades of green. Then I came back and added some smaller flowers to fill up more of the white space. Again, just play and have fun with this!
I came back with an even smaller, detail brush to add black in the center of my flowers and additional tiny leaves for the small flowers.
On the black background, I decided to pull in some teal. I started by painting randomly placed leaves to serve as a backdrop of greenery. Then I painted red and pink rosettes. So pretty!!
I wanted to add polka dots for more fun. I find that craft paint works best for polka dots.
Christie’s Tip: Whenever I paint polka dots, I use the end of my brush handle – not the bristles. This allows me to control the size of the dots better – I don’t have to worry about bristles spreading and making bigger dots than I want.
I continued painting ornaments, choosing to focus on one large flower on the other black background and my signature The Social Easel teal on the gray background. I LOVE how they both turned out.
Time to try something different.
One of my students suggested using the harlequin stencil we used in a recent project to paint a background on one of the ornaments. I LOVED the idea!
I grabbed a fifth ornament and painted the background white. When that was dry, I used the harlequin stencil and dabbed on black paint using a makeup sponge.
For more on this stencil technique and to see the Whimsical Harlequin Tree Sign project we painted, check out this blog post.
Bring on the gold paint pen!
It’s time to bring some sparkle to these ornaments! That means my gold DecoColor pen!
I love this gold pen – it’s super shiny – and was the perfect way to add a special touch to the “hangers” on my ornaments.
I also added gold touches to all my ornaments. A little gold goes a long way, so start small and add more if you think it needs it.
Check out this blog to learn about my favorite gold paint products.
Add finishing touches.
I used my black and white Posca paint pens to add finishing touches. First, I outlined leaves and some petals, then I added some scribble lines here and there.
I love how these pens give my ornaments more detail and definition. If you like yours better without paint pens, that is totally up to you!
When your ornaments have dried completely, I recommend sealing them. If you’re going to hang them on your tree, they need the extra protection for those months they’ll spend packed away with all your other ornaments. Depending on the type and finish of sealer you choose, you can add some additional sparkle and shine!
This blog post walks you through all you need to know to choose the right sealer for any painting project.
I hope you love these floral painted Christmas ornaments as much as I do!
Watch the full Floral Painted Christmas Ornament tutorial.
Post a picture and share what you learned on The Social Easel Facebook Page!
Stay creative and happy painting!
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