For my second blog post, I
decided to make something that is an essential part of my annual Christmas
traditions. Putting up a tree and decorating it with ornaments is something I
enjoy doing every year. Luckily, in Artful
Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects, there was a craft idea allowing me to
be creative and make my own ornament designs.
The
materials needed were clear plastic or glass ornaments, nail polish in a
variety of colors, and a large bowl or tub. By slightly mixing several colors of
nail polish in water and dipping the clear ornaments in the mix, I could create
unique designs and add a handmade touch to my plain, store-bought tree.
The book
advised me to “Fill the bowl with water almost to the brim [and] drip one color
of nail polish onto the surface of the water” (Wasinger 36). As I attempted
this step, I had to be especially careful because if I dripped the polish too
directly or from too high, it would sink to the bottom of the bowl, and thus
become unusable. Also,
the book cautioned that using more than four different colors of nail polish would
result in a muddy-looking liquid (Wasinger 37). I only used two shades of polish
for each ornament to avoid a messy mix of colors.
For me,
the hardest part of making this craft was actually dragging the ornament around
in the mixture and covering each part because I tried not to touch the cap or overlap
the liquid on one side of the ornament. I used pliers to grasp the opening of the ornament.
Most
of the ornaments turned out to be decent and the patterns were nice, but one
thing I need to improve on is covering the whole surface of each ornament and
not leaving any blank spaces.
Overall,
this craft project was fun and enjoyable, and I would recommend this idea to anyone who wants to make their Christmas tree a little more special and unique!
How do you decorate
your Christmas tree? Are any of your ornaments handmade?
Wasinger, Susan. Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects. Lark, 2014
