Decopauge Reindeer Ornaments with a Vintage Twist!

I recently created a bunch of these ornaments......

I participate in an annual handmade ornament swap and every year there is a different theme.

This year's theme was "Traditional"and I knew I would go with a reindeer motif.....I am reindeer OBSESSED!

For me traditional means traditional icons (santa, trees, reindeer, elves, stars, etc) but also traditional materials.  So I incorporated antique book pages cut into strips to use as decopauge material.

Below is my step by step, along with tips/tricks (read: what I found the hard way is the wrong thing to do)

It would be so easy to put your own personal spin on this ornament - I already have plans to make more!

I think mongrammed ornaments would make a great personalized gift!

Gather:

• 3" Smoothfoam Balls
• Decoupage Medium 
• Glitter (I used Heidi Swapp Marquee Love, it is awesome to work with!)
• Ribbon / Twine (cut into 20" lengths)
• Jingle Bells
• Card stock scraps for image silhouette
• Vintage/antique book pages, sheet music or newspaper cut into small strips
• Spray Sealer (I used Krylon Satin Finish)

Tools:

• Paper cutter 
• Scissors
• Foam paint brushes
• Drill to make hole through styro ball
• Wooden BBQ Skewers to hold smoothfoam balls while decoupaging and drying (also used to push ribbon through hole in ornament

Optional:

• Baby wipes to clean your hands frequently and keep your project pristine!
• Mason jars - to hold in project in process
• Reindeer Die (I used Tim Holtz Mini Reindeer + 25 Die)
• Cuttlebug or other die cutting machine

Tip / Trick:  I used a die for my reindeer - - but it would be so easy and so very charming to hand cut a tree, star or over sized monogram to use on this ornament!  

I began this project by poking a BBQ skewer into my Smoothfoam styro ball - this gave me a way to hold the ball while working on it, and then also to put in a mason jar to hold while drying

Pour your decoupage medium in a  bowl and start brushing the decoupage medium onto your smoothfoam ball - - then start applying strips of book pages / newspaper.  After SEVERAL layers of book pages were applied, I let dry for about 10 minutes and then I applied my Christmas Icon in the same manor.

Tip/Trick:  I found it was much more efficient when I used my fingers to apply paper strips once the initial layer of decoupage medium was applied 

Tip/Trick #2:  I was originally going to use RED silhouettes on my ornaments, I quickly learned that the card stock I was using just bled all over the ornament (test your paper for "bleed") - - so I had to put another layer of book paper on and switch to a different card stock.

I let my decoupage dry overnight.  

Then it was time to drill.   I let my hubs drill a hole through the smoothfoam ball.  Not that I am not capable, but I tend to over think placement and it takes forever - - hubs drilled all of them in under 2 mins.

I then "strung" the ornaments on a long, thin dowel and took them outside.  I sprayed them with Krylon Satin Finish, sprinkled a good dash of glitter on them and then sprayed another heavy coat of the Krylon sealer.  I did this step a little at a time spray, sprinkle, spray - turn stick - spray sprinkle, spray, etc. until I had glitter on all sides.

While I let the sealer dry, I cut my ribbon into 20" lengths and strung them through the jingle bell.  Once the ornaments were ready, I placed the ribbon halves together and pushed from bottom of ornament to the top using the wooden skewer.  Once the ribbon was through the ornament I adjusted and pulled tight. I knotted the ribbon at the top of ornament and again at ends of ribbon, cut at an angle and applied Helmar Fray Stoppa to prevent ribbon from fraying.  With a lot of ribbons you can just run a lighter quickly across the cut ends to seal.

For packaging, I used a cellophane treat bag from the craft store, hemp twine and a pre-made tag from the candy / baking aisle of the craft store.  I created labels on the computer to attach to the tag and voila! easy and rustic wrap!

Thanks for stopping by - - next post will be recap of the ornaments I receive in the swap!