A project that would please anyone on your gift list :)

I asked my mom if she had any ideas for the leftover clear ornaments.  I bought a box of 12 to decorate for my JMU tree, but only decorated 2.  That leaves a lot just sitting in a box collecting dust...luckily she had an idea ready for me.  She had made a William and Mary themed ornament for my brother and his wife for Christmas and suggested I make something similar for my tree.  Good idea!

It's so easy to do, and you can modify this ornament using any color theme so it would make a great gift for anyone on your list.  You can use colors representing their favorite sports team, wedding, alma mater, house decor, Christmas tree theme and already-owned ornaments - the options are endless!

All you need for this project is clear ornaments that have been washed and dried, acrylic paint in your choice of 2 or 3 colors, and plastic or paper cups to help drain the excess paint.    I chose purple, white, and metallic gold to match my tree.

We found that Starbucks cups (tall size) worked best.  We had plenty laying around from this weekend - the red Solo cups were a bit too bit, even when we cut them down to the nub.

Pick a color (they'll all blend together eventually so it doesn't matter which one is used first) and squeeze some paint into the ornament.  I tilted the ornament to one side and then squeezed the paint onto the side that was on the bottom - that way the paint doesn't just fall straight to the bottom of the ornament like if you poured it right in...make sense?  Twist the ornament as you pour in the paint so you create this stripe effect:

Then repeat those steps for the second color filling in some of the blank space:

And again with the third color:

 

It's ok if you still have a little blank space after you pour in the third color because the next step is to start twirling the ornament slowly to combine all the colors.  This will get rid of any empty space.

See the marbling already starting to develop:

Keep twirling for 10 minutes or so until you can see the colors combining and then put your ornament on your paper cup or in a bowl (pick one that won't make you cry if it gets paint on it) so the ornament doesn't roll around - I put mine in the cup at an angle to let the paint swirl itself side to side instead of up and down.  Every hour or so, rotate the ball a little to shift the paint around and help the marbling process.

After 24 hours, turn the ornament upside down and put it back onto the cup to allow any paint that hasn't dried to drip out of it.  Here's what you end up with once all the wet paint has dripped out: