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Giant Christmas ornament with Americana Multi-Surface paints

How about a giant and whimsical - yet super lightweight - Christmas ornament to hang from a ceiling hook or in a doorway? I recently made this one for DecoArt, using their new Americana Multi-Surface Satin paints, which work beautifully with any surface.


- Americana Multi-Surface Satin paints
(Dark Scarlet, Green Beret, Gold)
- Americana Triple-Thick Gloss Glaze
- Smoothfoam balls – 6”, 3”, 2”
- Fine gold glitter
- Paper-lined ¼” wide adhesive tape
- Narrow holiday ribbon
- Wide wired ribbon
- White ball-head straight pins
- Floral wire, wire clippers
- Beads, filigree charms
- One small holiday charm
- Paintbrushes, pencil
- 12” wood skewer

1.  Push a skewer into the starter hole at one end of the 2” ball and slowly force it all the way through to the other side. Keep the skewer straight so it stays centered and twist it as you come out the other side to prevent cracking around the exit hole.  Repeat for the 3” ball. For the 6” ball, push the skewer in about halfway, then remove an push it in halfway from the other side until you have “drilled” a hole all the way through the ball.

2.   Paint the 3” ball with two coats of red and the 2” ball with 2 coats of green; allow the first coat to dry completely before adding 2nd coat.

3.  Press a strip of tape horizontally around the ball’s center seam. Peel off the paper liner and press a length of narrow ribbon to the tape and trim off the excess.

4.  Push  a row of straight pins around the red ball, above and below the ribbon. Clip off the pin tips if they are too long. Repeat for the green ball and set aside.

5.  Draw four “football” shaped ovals on the 6” ball with a pencil, from the top hole to the bottom hole. If you prefer, you can measure and cut the shapes from paper (use the edge of a dinner plate to trace curves) and tape the paper templates to the ball to trace.

6.  Place the ball on top of the tuna can to hold it steady as you paint the top half of the ball. Alternate the red and green to paint the four ovals along the pencil lines. Allow the first coat to dry, then add a second coat and allow to dry. Turn the ball over and repeat for the bottom half.

7.   Paint the spaces in between the ovals with one coat of gold and let dry, doing one half of the ball at a time.

8.  Brush a thin coat of glaze over the gold areas on the top half and cover with glitter. Tap off the excess and let dry. Brush away excess glitter from the red and green areas, then repeat for the bottom half. 9.  Apply strips of tape along all the lines – try to keep the adhesive mostly on the painted area  - it sticks better there than on the glittered area. Remove the paper liners and press narrow ribbon on to each strip. Trim off excess ribbon at the top and bottom of the ornament.

10.  Put the holiday charm on the end of the floral wire and twist the end of the wire up. Thread a few beads on to the wire above the charm, then the 2” ball, a few more beads, the 3” ball,  a few more beads, a round filigree charm (large enough to cover all the ribbon ends), the 6” ball, and lastly another filigree charm.

11.   Fold and twist a long length of wired ribbon into a large bow and pin it to the top of the 6” ball in front of the wire – be sure to decide which panel of the ball you want to call the front.

12.  Bend the remaining wire into a loop and coil the end around the base of the wire at the top of the ball and push a pin through the coil into the ball to secure the loop for hanging.