Make your own christmas decoration ideas - Bubbablue and me
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Easy DIY Christmas baubles – upcycling decoration ideas

Christmas might not be here just yet, but if you’re into crafting, it’s never too soon to start. Especially if you want to get children involved. In the past, each year we’ve made a new Christmas tree decoration, but last year we ran out of time and got lazy. But there’s so many decorations you can make which don’t take lots of time. Why not upcycle and make your own Christmas baubles.

If you’re someone who changes your Christmas decoration colours regularly, these ideas could be for you. Just upcycle and reuse old baubles.

Make your own christmas decoration ideas - Bubbablue and me

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Bling your baubles: easy make your own Christmas baubles

You need:

Baubles
Depending on the look you want, will depend on the colour you use.

  • Light colours or pale metallics are good for adding bright colours. Or add metallics to dark coloured baubles.
  • Clear baubles that open up – these can be used to fill or colour
  • Glass or perspex discs or shapes
  • Wooden discs or shapes
  • (less environmentally friendly), polystyrene or decopatch baubles or shapes. These will allow you to stick pins in.

Materials to colour and design – a variety of mediums can be used, from paints, to pens, to glue and glitter, to nail polish.

Glue or a glue gun

A stand to dry baubles on – ideally hang them over a horizontal bar or branch from their hoops.

Bauble decoration ideas:

1, Fingerprint baubles

Dip fingers in suitable paints and make your design. Add extra detail with pen as required. Depending on the size of the bauble you can easily use fingerprints for robins, snowmen and reindeer. As an alternative, why not try using other items to make the painted shapes – e.g make up brushes of different shapes, sponges, or the ends of kitchen utensils.

2, Chalk pens / paint pens

You could use paints, but chalk pens have the same look and feel, but are easier to use. Create patterns or pictures.

You could even have a brown bauble, paint on glue over the top as though it’s dribbling down, then add white or yellow glitter, and add a sprig of holly to the top to create a Christmas pudding bauble.

christmas pudding bauble
Christmas pudding bauble

3, Glitter

Go freestyle or more ordered. Put fine glitter in a bowl, brush PVA glue on the bauble, then either drop over the glitter or literally dip the bauble in the glitter. Try an ombre look of shades of one colour, cover the whole bauble or just do stripes or spots.

4, Nail Polish

On clear discs or shapes, nail polish can work really well. Be careful not to smudge it, but if you’ve got a Christmas twig or branch rather than a tree to hang them off with lights shining on them, it can look really effective. You can also try marbling with water.

5, Beads

Using a normal glass bauble, add glue then roll it in a layer of really fine beads. You could also try double sided sticky tape, This won’t be as smooth as glue but can work well with stripes or zig zag patterns where you need to be more precise.

If you’ve got polystyrene or a decopatch bauble, try pinning beads into patterns.

6, Sequins

You can get ‘ribbons’ or lengths of sequins and these can work well gluing them on – hot glue guns are best for this. Alternatively, on polystyrene or soft baubles, use pins to place and hold the sequins on. This way will be slower, but you’ll be able to mix up your colours and create more interesting colour patterns. Baubles look really impactful covered all over in sequins of one colour, or mix them up.

7, Decopatch

If your decorations have a neutral scandi theme of reds and whites, try decopatching. This is a good one for children to help with as they can’t really go wrong. Go with Christmas themed paper, or try whatever colours or patterns you fancy.

green and blue decopatch bauble
Decopatch bauble

8, Spray

Get some suitable spray paints, wait for a dry day so you can do the spraying outside, and recolour your baubles. This is a good way of changing the base colour if you want to then add alternative designs over the top.

9, Add texture

Add strips of fabric to cover – tartan or paisley works well. Stick with a glue gun, or if using polystyrene baubles just pin all the strips top and bottom. Alternatively get the children to make characters.

superhero bauble design

Make a ‘snow globe’ style decoration

Just adding some figures and then glitter or snow will make some really sweet decorations. If you choose plastic fillable baubles they’ll be light enough for the tree, or use glass and create snow scenes on a mantle piece or shelf. Or use larger versions for table centrepieces.

N was really keen to have a go at these, so we each chose a ‘bauble’ to fill and some figures. We decided on snow rather than glitter, and got out the glue gun.

setting out props for baubles
using the glue gun on house decoration
adding fake snow to decoration
stick in christmas figures

Once filled, we just had to seal the lids with glue. They looked really cute, and will look great in Christmas displays.

homemade snow globe style decoration

Do you make your own Christmas baubles? Or have you upcycled any old decorations?

Try one of these related posts

homemade treats
christmas tree cones
sports kids gift guide
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