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!

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.

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!

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xx,

Lily