Looking for an inexpensive way to update old Christmas ornaments? Instead of buying all new ornaments, I used spray paint and glitter to completely change the colour scheme of ours.
This is a really simple Christmas DIY and a great way to reuse ornaments you already have. You can choose spray paint colours that match your Christmas decor, add glitter to some of them, and even combine colours to make two-toned ornaments.
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Supplies You’ll Need
- Old or inexpensive ornaments
- Spray paint (Rust-Oleum is one of my favorites and comes in lots of different colors)
- Glitter spray paint
- Spray adhesive
- Loose glitter
Old Christmas Ornaments
We have had the same Christmas ornaments for almost ten years. We bought some very inexpensive ornaments when we were first married, and I have always done the blue and silver tree. Now four houses and four children later, I wanted to do something different.
The Colorful Plan
This year I wanted to create a colorful tree that would be fun for the kids. We are totally at the Christmas tree stage where it’s full of handmade and sentimental ornaments, and I love it. I’m embracing it this year, and going all out with the color.
If you’re like me, you probably have oodles of half empty spray paint cans in your collection that you can use up. I chose to do different shades of blue, green, pink, yellow, and maroon.
How to Spray Paint Christmas Ornament
Remove the ornament caps before painting. Set up your ornaments in a well-ventilated area on a protected surface.
Apply several light coats of spray paint rather than one heavy coat, allowing the paint to dry between coats. Light coats will give you a smoother finish and help prevent drips.
The ornaments can roll around while you’re spraying them, which makes painting a little awkward. If I were doing this again, I’d find a way to keep each ornament supported while still being able to spray around it.
How to Make Two-Toned Spray Painted Ornaments
I ran out of a few colors before I was finished, so I started mixing colors. That ended up being a happy accident because the ones with multiple colors are actually some of my favorites.
To get the two-toned look, I sprayed one color over part of the ornament and then added a second color from another direction, letting the colors overlap slightly.
How to Add Glitter to Christmas Ornaments
I also had a can of glitter spray paint that I used on most of the ornaments. I ran out of that can too, so on a few of them I used spray adhesive and dipped the bottom half of the ornaments in sparkly glitter.
A Few Tips I Learned
My biggest challenge was keeping the ornaments from rolling around while the paint dried. A few also ended up with drips when I sprayed the paint too heavily. If you’re trying this project, use several very light coats and give each coat time to dry before adding the next one.
This was a really inexpensive way to give our old Christmas ornaments a completely different look. I only bought two extra cans of spray paint, and I managed to empty three cans from my collection!
I’d love to know what you think of my spray painted Christmas tree ornaments! Have you ever tried something like this?
Check out my colorful Christmas Home Tour! (click here)
Love the look of the two toned colors!
Those are my favorite!
New to your blog! Great project I have so many ornaments I dont use anymore and now I can give them life again. Look forward to reading more, keep up the great work!
Thanks samantha! I always love having new readers, thanks for stopping by
I do love the two-toned effect! What a great up-cycling craft!! Pinned.
wow … I have so many ornaments that I don’t use …. what a fabulous idea. Love your Blog
Thanks a lot, that’s always nice to hear!
You are just the smartest little gal! These are billiant. Thanks to you, my sad sack of outdated ornaments will have a new life. Not promising I can get them painted before Christmas this year, but this idea is staying on my radar. Thanks so much for sharing. Your photos are fab! ~~ Susie from The Chelsea Project
Oh thanks so much!
This is one of those why didn’t I think of that moments for me! Love this idea and those two-toned ones!!!
Love that idea! And the colors you picked are great. Thanks for sharing at our link party!
Can I just say that you are a GENIOUS!!! These ornaments look so amazing and I never would have thought about spray painting them. I will pin this right away and plan on doing it in the future, too. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks habiba!!
I would have put the ornaments in a box that way they would not have rolled around when painted?
What a BRILLIANT!! idea. I love ALL of your colors; my favorite colors however, are Gem colors. I am soooooooooo going to HomeDepoI. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!.
Love it❤️❤️❤️ I’m going to use clothespins to hang from twine so they will be still or even feed them on the twine. Maybe hanging them will help! Definitely love the colors you chose!!!
In a word? WOW!
You are just the smartest little gal! These are brilliant. Thanks to you, my sad sack of outdated ornaments will have a new life. Not promising I can get them painted before Christmas this year, but this idea is staying on my radar. Thanks so much for sharing.