Art Project #55-- Swirl Painted Ornaments

We make a lot of Christmas crafts and ornaments each December.  I know we'll be cranking through this 100 Day Challenge as we make our way through December.

It can get tough to keep coming up with new ideas.  We often repeat favorite projects from past years but every now and then I come across a project I had set aside for when the boys were older.

This was one of those projects!

While this is easily simple enough that young kids could do it, I was always too worried that something would get ruined with the acrylic paints to attempt it before now.

My boys had so much fun making these swirl painted ornaments and no one got any paint anywhere except for inside the ornaments!

What you will need:

• Glass ornaments (with the hanging end removed)
• 3-4 colors of acrylic paint

That's it!  (Though we did use some napkins and disposable cups too)


First we pulled out our paints.  We like the multi- surface paints from Folk Art but they are a bit thicker than other acrylic paint so we had a bit of a hard time getting the paint to swirl at first.

Then we each picked a few colors we liked and started squirting paint into the opening of the glass ornaments.  

To help the paints swirl and mix just a bit better we put a crumbled napkin over the hole and shook it gently.  Until we had a pattern we liked.

We added more  paint if we had areas that were not covered (though Evan chose to leave his green one with a blank side so people could see inside and look at the designs the paint had made).

Once our ornaments were done we did set them in disposable plastic cups to dry.  After 23 hours I checked on them and then put the in the cups with the open side facing down to drain out any paint that was still not dry.  If paint was coming out of them (two of ours were dry and two were still wet), I let them dry another 24 hours. 

Our finished ornaments!

Can you see inside Evan's ornament?

Other Projects in this series:

 

Project 1: Painting with Hexbugs

Project 2: Tissue paper flowers

Project 3: Star Wars Crafts

Project 4: Watercolor compass circles

Project 5: Floral pens

Project 6: Watercolor outlines

Project 7: Scratch art jellyfish

Project 8: Oil pastel flowers
Project 9: Fingerprint dandelions 
Project 10: Beaded Sun Catchers
Project 11: Bird crafts and snacks
Project 12: Symmetrical, color mixing, butterflies

Project 13: Water gun art

Project 14: Watercolor Kits

Project 15: Dragonfly Silhouettes 

Project 16: Painting pet rocks 

Project 17: Spray Paint Resist

Project 18: Water bottle windsock

Project 19: Stained glass made easy crafting kit 

Project 20: Tin can windsock 

Project 21: Firework glue art
Project 22: Qixel art kit

Project 23: Makit Bakit Kits 
Project 24: Wood burning cutting board

Project 25: Making our own rafts 

Project 26: Spray Painted Canvas

Project 27: Paper bowl jellyfish 

Project 28: Tin Foil Art

Project 29: Oil Pastel Bubbles 

Project 30: Chalk Pastel painting 

Project 31: Washi Tape Votive holders 

Project 32: Drip Painted Pots

Project 33: Sun Art 

Project 34: Tissue paper transfer 

Project 35: Stained Glass dragonfly

Project 36: Art Museum field trip. 

Project 37: Taking a Family Art Class

Project 38: Painting Minecraft T-Shirts

Project 39: Painting Pikachu 

Project 40: How to Draw Books

Project 41: Wax resist Watercolors

Project 42: Splatter Paint Canvas

Project 43: Fine line fall leaves 

Project 44: Fairy Village field trip

Project 45: Oil Pastel Resist Leaves

Project 46: Tissue Paper Leaf Art

Project 47: Bat Silhouette Painting 

Project 48: Beginner Photography

Project 49: Making Harry Potter Wands

Project 50: Drawing Cat Faces 

Project 51: Making Homemade cards

Project 52:  Learning the Art of Zentangle

Project 53: 3-D printing 

Project 54: Gingerbread Train

Project 55: Paint Swirled Ornaments 

Project 56: Loom band ornaments and bracelets 

Project 57: Candy trees 

Project 58: Strand of light chalk drawings

Projects 59-64: Christmas Crafting Kits from Oriental Trading

Project 65: Painting Ceramic Village Pieces 

Project 66: Washi Tape Cookie Cutter Ornaments
Project 67: Learning Origami 
Project 68: Art Books and Artist Study
Project 69: Playing Go Fish Art
Project 70: Edible Chocolate Art
Project 71: Geometric Hearts 
Project 72: Marble Swirled Hearts
Project 73: Solid Tempera Paint Drawings
Project 74: Qixels 3-D Maker
Project 75: Making Cupcakes
Project 76: Window Marker Art
Project 77: Shamrock Zentangles on Scratch Paper
Project 78: Painted Pandas 
Project 79: Minecraft Digital Art
Project 80: Charcoal Drawings
Project 81: Chalk Pastel Lighthouse Drawings
Project 82: Dying Easter Eggs With Bleeding Tissue Paper
Project 83: Painting Pottery
Project 84: Drawing En Plein Air
Project 85: African Savannah Paintings
Project 86: Woven CD Garden Decoration
Project 87: Working with Clay
Project 88: Art Lessons with Art Academy
Project 89: Melted Bead Wind Chimes
Project 90: Perler Bead Projects
Project 91: Ivory Soap Carvings
Project 92: Ice Cube Tie Dye
Project 93: String Art
Project 94: Multimedia Ocean Paintings 
Project 95: Balloon Splatter Painting
Project 96: Making Mosaic Stepping Stones
Project 97: Glass Bead and Glue Sun Catchers 
Project 98: Coloring Book Art
Project 99: Metal Stamped Bookmarks

Project 100: Water Balloon Art