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Love seeing all those cute DIY glitter ornaments? Learn how to make glitter ornaments with a step by step and video tutorial. Glitter ornaments make a perfect gift for kids, family, coworkers, teachers, etc. This post was updated on September 25, 2019.
They say when in doubt, just add glitter, right? Amen! I would add glitter to everything if I could. That extra sparkle just makes me smile.Except I’m not really loving glitter all over my floor, in my hair, and on my dogs (well, maybe I secretly do!). When I started seeing the glitter ornaments pop up on Pinterest, I knew I had to make some.
They were super easy to make and these would be amazing gifts since you can personalize them in so many different ways! They are also perfect ornaments to make at a craft party.
If you like crafting during this time of year, make sure to browse through my other DIY Christmas decor tutorials!
Let’s get started… this project is pretty quick! I also made a quick DIY glitter ornaments video tutorial if you prefer to watch rather than read. Make sure to watch it at the top of the post. There are also printable directions for the Christmas glitter ornaments at the bottom.
Instructions for the Grinch ornament is closer to the bottom.
Materials for DIY Glitter Ornaments
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- Glass or plastic clear ornaments – I got mine here and here. Craft stores sometimes will carry them too.
- Polycrylic Water Based Protective Finish
- Extra Fine Glitter – I used Ruby, gold and green but you can use any color. For the white ornament, I used white embossing powder.
- Cricut cutting machine – found on Amazon here or Cricut.com here
- Optional – Vinyl decals or stickers
I’ve heard of other ways to do this with pledge or mop and glow, but from what I’ve heard the glitter doesn’t stay stuck as long with those so I recommend using the polyacrylic protective finish. There are also a few different ways to add it into the ornament – you can use a funnel or a dropper or even a nose suction thingy!
There are also printable instructions at the bottom of the post if you love to print everything to have it on hand like I do!
How to Make Glitter Ornaments with Polycrylic
Take the lid off the ornament and add a bit of polyacrylic inside. It doesn’t have to be a lot, maybe about 1/4 of the ornament.
Gently rotate the ornament all the way around so the polyacrylic covers the entire inside of the ornament. I keep rotating it while I turn it upside down.
Then let the rest of the solution drain out back into a container. Gently tap the sides a few time and try to get all the extra solution out – it can take 30 seconds or so.
Adding Glitter in Clear Ornaments!
Then turn the ornament over and add a bunch of glitter into the ornament. Again rotate the ornament around so the glitter covers the entire inside. You will see it stick to it.
Just rotate while slowly turning it to the upside-down direction. Then I put my finger over the opening and gently shake the glitter inside towards your finger upside down so it covers the whole top part.
I put a piece of wax paper underneath and then dump the extra glitter on it. Tap the ornament to get the extra out. Then make sure to pick up the paper and use it to pour the glitter back in its container. Never waste glitter!!
Glitter Ornament DIY Decal Application
For the vinyl decals, I design mine in Cricut Design Space and use my favorite tool, my Cricut Explore. I cut them all out of adhesive vinyl, weed them, and this is what they look like.
If you’d like to find out what more you can make with a Cricut, hop on over to my Cricut projects page.
To apply the vinyl, make sure you clean the outside of the ornaments with rubbing alcohol to get all the grease off. Put transfer paper over it and line it up where you want it.
On a curved surface, it’s best to cut a bunch of slits on the sides so you can lay them down easier. You can find my full tutorial on applying vinyl by clicking here. Pull the transfer paper off and you’re done! 
You can also use Cricut’s print and cut function to print out any picture you’d like to add to an ornament.
Finished Glitter Ornaments DIY with Vinyl Decals
I love the way this one turned out!! I used embossing powder instead of glitter and it adds cool glitter specks throughout it!
That’s it!! There are so many things you can design and make for glitter ornaments DIY. You can use stickers on them or paint. Even using your child’s fingerprint.
You can even make glitter ornaments that light up and get a FREE Joy to the World cut file (click the link for the tutorial!).
I’ve also made some cute personalized floating DIY Christmas ornaments for my kiddos.
Make sure to check out my roundup of over 150 DIY Christmas ornaments to make using all different kinds of crafting supplies!
These are what I’ve come up with so far!
I have a two-pack of Believe cut files in my SHOP.
Grinch Ornaments!
I made two different sizes of Grinch ornaments. One was a large plastic ornament from the Dollar Tree and the other one was one of the flatter glass ornaments listed above. I used a regular green glitter in the ornament instead of an extra fine.
Then for the Grinch DIY glitter ornament, you get a green feather boa from a craft store and hot glue it around the top. (It’s long so you can cut it to make a bunch!) I also have a FREE Grinch face SVG file.
If you like The Grinch ornaments, you’ll probably love my roundup of Grinch crafts and my Dollar Store Mr. Grinch decorations made out of glass bowls.
Make sure to watch the video tutorial at the top to see the whole process in action!
Do you love glitter as much as I do? I could add it to everything! If you’d like to see a roundup of how to add even more glitter to Christmas go here.
If you want to learn all sorts of ways to use a Cricut, make sure to check out my Ultimate Resource guide for the Cricut ideas that you can read here.
If you like glitter and easy Dollar Store crafts, hop on over to my easy glitter light-up snowman tutorial and free SVG by clicking here!
If you want to save this tutorial for later, simply hover over the top left of the image below and PIN It now!
Here are printable directions if you’d like!
DIY Glitter Ornaments
Make your own DIY glitter ornaments! Create your own personal vinyl decal or paint on whatever you'd like. Adding glitter inside the ornament is super easy!
Materials
- Glass or plastic clear ornaments
- Polyacrylic Water Based Protective Finish
- Extra Fine Glitter – I used Ruby, gold and green but you can use any color. For the white ornament, I used white embossing powder.
Instructions
- Take the lid off the ornament and add a bit of polyacrylic inside. It doesn’t have to be a lot, maybe about 1/4 of the ornament.
- Gently rotate the ornament all the way around so the polyacrylic covers the entire inside of the ornament. I keep rotating it while I turn it upside down.
- Then let the rest of the solution drain out back into a container. Gently tap the sides a few time and try to get all the extra solution out – it take can 30 seconds or so.
- Then turn the ornament over and add a bunch of glitter into the ornament. Again rotate the ornament around so the glitter covers the whole inside.
- Just rotate while slowly turning it to the upside down direction. Then I put my finger over the opening and gently shake the glitter inside towards your finger upside down so it covers the whole top part.
- I put a piece of wax paper underneath and then dump the extra glitter on it. Tap the ornament to get the extra out. Then make sure to pick up the paper and use it to pour the glitter back in its container
- For the vinyl decals, I design mine in Cricut Design Space and use my favorite tool to cut them out, my Cricut Explore
- To apply the vinyl, make sure you clean the outside of the ornaments with rubbing alcohol to get all the grease off. Put transfer paper over it and line it up where you want it. On a curved surface, it’s best to cut a bunch of slits on the sides so you can lay them down easier.
- Pull the transfer paper off and you’re done!
Recommended Products
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Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful holiday season and a creative day!
Ashley Turner says
When I was making ornaments some of the vinyl would not lay down flat on the ornaments. Do you have any suggestions? Mine were similar to the Ravenclaw ornament that you have posted.
Leap of Faith Crafting says
Sometimes it’s a bit tricky with the curved surfaces. I like to make small slits in my transfer tape all the way around the vinyl so I can maneuver it better. Sometimes I’ll have to peel up the vinyl and lay it back down. It definitely takes practice to figure out the trick you like!
Cherish Hartings says
I love your Faith Hope and Love and the for unto us a child is born svg. Can I purchase them or do you have a download of them?
Leap of Faith Crafting says
Hi, sorry, but those are not my files to share. I think I got them from a FB group a few years ago. Have a great day!
Leslie says
When I put the silver top back in the ornament, the wires chipped the glitter inside. How do I fix it? How do I avoid it?
Thanks!
Leap of Faith Crafting says
Ugh, I know, that does happen sometimes! Letting it dry as long as you can and then squeezing those things hard to stick them all the way in. That’s one reason I like adding a bow to the top to cover that up if it happens!
Margaret says
Love this….can you tell me what the font is you used please and could I sell these? Thank you….
Leap of Faith Crafting says
Hi, which font are you wondering about??
Dolly Hamilton says
Hello! So beautiful! Can I use mod podge inside the ornament?
Leap of Faith Crafting says
Hi Dolly! Thanks so much! Honestly, I don’t know. I use mod podge and glitter on a lot of my other projects but that’s when I can put it on with a brush. I feel like it might be too thick to roll around inside. If you try it,,please let me know!! I have also heard people use pledge but it doesn’t hold the glitter as long.