Glass Ball Ornament Ideas

• Painted glass ball ornaments can be year round decorations.Christmas Glass Ball Ornament image by Thorsten Schnier from Fotolia.com
  
  Glass ball ornaments are not just for holiday tree decorations. You can embellish glass ball ornaments for year round home decor. Fill a bowl with painted glass ball ornaments to use as a table top centerpiece. Hang beaded or painted glass ball ornaments as part of a bay window decor. Plain glass ball ornaments are a blank slate for crafters and artists; explore your creativity and make decorative glass art for your home.
  
  

Marbleized Ornaments

• Paint the inside of clear glass ball ornaments with at least three different colors of translucent glass paint to create a marbleized effect. If you squirt the paint onto the inside of a tilted glass ball ornament, the paint will flow over the side. Swirl the paint by turning the ornament. When one color dries, repeat the process with another color until the inside of the glass ball ornament is covered.
  
  

Stained Glass Ornament

• Paint a decorative stained glass design onto the outside of a clear glass ball ornament using self-adhesive leading strips and stained glass paint. The leading strips create the separations between the paint colors and simulate leading in a real stained glass work of art. Apply the strips in a random pattern to section the outside of the glass ball ornament into small segments. The segments can be any shape that you'd like in a variety of sizes. Fill in the segments with different colors of stained glass paint.
  
  

Beaded Ornaments

• Make a beaded ornament cover using seed beads and crystal beads to fit over any color of glass ball ornament. Net beading patterns are available from beading magazines, craft stores and online resources specifically for decorating glass ball ornaments. Beaded net ornament covers can fall halfway down the glass ball ornament, or they can drape several inches beneath the bottom of the ornament.
  
  

Painted Ornament Scenes

• Paint a landscape scene onto the outside of a glass ball ornament using acrylic paints. Transfer the outline of the design onto the glass ball using stencils or templates and a grease pencil, paint pen or marker. Fill in the outline with acrylics to bring the landscape to life. You can also paint ornaments with acrylics to create themed holiday and special event decorations.
  
  

Etched Glass Ornament

• Customize glass ball ornaments with etching cream and self-adhesive stencils. Attach the stencil to the outside of the glass ball, fill in with the etching cream, let it sit according to the manufacturer's directions and then rinse it off with tap water. The etching cream eats into the glass ball ornament to create the design. Make sure to follow all recommended etching cream safety precautions.