Hi everyone, today I’m sharing how I recycled my old ornaments into some beautiful distressed ones.
They have a rustic velvety finish which I absolutely love! Or you can also call them Felt ornaments!
What you’ll need:
Any old ornaments. I used plastic and foam ones.
You will need a recycled grocery bag and some brushes. You will also need craft paint and different colored powders. I needed brown powder for one of my ornaments and the only thing I could think of was cocoa powder. Any powder will work as long as it’s not toxic or dangerous.
Here’s all the colors I used for each ornament
tan ornaments –
- trail tan
- golden brown
- plaster of paris or cocoa powder
with plaster of paris
with cocoa powder
Concrete ornaments
- cavern moss – folk art
- concrete – folk art
- plaster of paris or silver embossing powder
here’s what the two colors will create + Plaster of paris
example of how the silver embossing powder vs plaster of paris looks with the same colors
black ornaments –
- Cavern moss
- black paint
- silver embossing powder
Mauve ornaments –
- golden brown
- magenta
- plaster of paris
holding the mauve colored ornaments those two colors create
INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE DISTRESSED ORNAMENTS !
The steps are pretty easy. You will need any craft paint as long as one is darker and one is lighter. It best if they’re not way too contrasting like white and black. White and gray would be better.First apply a layer of paint and let it dry completely. This could be the lighter or darker color. I went with my lighter tan first. This is a pretty quick process. Don’t be fooled by the brush. I’ve tried spray painting ornaments before and it takes way longer because you cannot get the same coverage on some ornaments as you can if you brush paint on.
creating depth in color
Once it’s dry take a bit of the grocery bag scrunch it up and dab it into the other color now. In my case the darker tan. I dabbed a bit of the paint off before applying the remainder of the paint onto the ornament in dabbing motions. The ideas is to add the paint sparsely so you can still see the other color through. I share more tips and tricks in my video for how to get the best distressed effect!
You’ll need to work fast when applying the second color because while it’s still wet I dip it into my choice of powder. It’s okay if the whole ornaments isn’t drenched in powder completely.
Finishing it off with a powder
Let the paint dry while the powder is on it. After about 10 minutes take a brush and remove any excess powder. That’s it! You can do this with any color paint and powder combo.
MORE VIDEOS YOU MIGHT LIKE
AIR DRY CLAY RECIPE (star garland)
Here’s how all my ornaments look!
close up of the concrete ornament with silver embossing powder
I’m in love! Have fun recycling ornaments! Tag me on instagram @ lilyardor if you make some. Can’t wait to see your creations! Merry Christmas!
GET MORE CHRISTMAS DIYS HERE
SIMILAR DIYS YOU MIGHT LIKE
15 EASY ORNAMENTS YOU CAN MAKE
RECYCLED DISTRESSED VINTAGE BELLS DIY
xx,
Lily
These are adorable! On my bucket list! Thanks for sharing!
These are gorgeous Lily! And the brown ones probably smell good too!
Thank you Diane they sure do 😀
No it stuck on pretty good. I didn’t notice a mess.
Oh my goodness!!!!! These are fabulous!!!!😍😍😍
I love the boho style so these would be perfect with shells? Beads or burlap added as well!
Thank you so much for sharing! ❤. I will add you on IG!
OOH I love that idea. Thank you I’m so happy to hear you loved these!
I just moved into my new home with cool neutral colors and these colors will go so well with what I already have in my decor. I so appreciate your talent and inspiration. Thank you for sharing, Lily!
Thank you so much Tari 🙂 You are too kind!
These are beautiful. I wonder what other powder you could use for the brown. I’m concerned cocoa powder could attract bugs into the tree or into the boxes during storage, as it is food. Are you worried about that? I remember making flour and cornstarch ornaments one year with a friend and hers got raided in the garage over the winter by mice.
These are absolutely gorgeous!! 🖤
Love these! Just one question…. Do the make a mess once done?
No 🙂
I am so happy to see this tutorial. I am going to make this wonderful decorations with my granddauther as soon as possible. Thank you for this!
AWE Happy to hear! Thank you
Genius 💞💞💞!!!
I just fell in love with your creation. Beautiful! May I ask all what colors for than blue & the white one . I may had missed those listed. Definitely doing the brown tone. My tree is woodland . Thank you so much
Thank you Malinda, I’m pretty sure the blue ones were cavern moss. Pictured with the two bottles of terra cotta brand. It looks gray in the bottle but the ornaments turned out slightly blue toned. LOVE a woodland theme! three will look so beautiful 🙂
What keeps the powder from coming off for storage or touching them?
Thank you so much for these great ideas! I appreciate you sharing. Can not wait to try them.
Your so welcome Anita! Happy to hear you liked these
I have two young ones at home and was wondering if any of the powders rub off since they’re not sealed?
I haven’t had that happening however I just had them hanging. You might wanna seal them if kids plan on playing with them.
These are beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us. Do we have to seal them at all? I’m worried they might chip/peel.
I didn’t seal mine and they held up great.
LOVE it the cinnamon probably smells so good in the house too!
I didn’t sand them down. Just applied paint over. You can add baking soda to your paint so it’s thicker and it’ll hide the pattern under more if needed.