There’s a moment in my ornament workshops each year when someone holds up what they just painted and goes, “Wait, I made this?!” I love that part SO much. Especially because a few minutes earlier we were figuring out how to balance a ceramic ball on a pencil without sending it rolling across the table. IYKYK.
The craft aisle can make this project feel more complicated than it is so I thought it was due time that I put the resources I've gathered over the years into one place. So here’s what I actually pull out when I sit down to paint ornaments, right down to the box lid I use as a drying rack. 😆
Start with an ornament you’re excited to paint
I use bisque ornaments, which is just the pottery word you’ll see for these unglazed ceramic blanks. They come in different shapes and sizes. And to be honest, I’d happily hang one of those retro curvy finial ornaments up with a couple of stripes and call it done because their shape is the real showstopper. 🤩 If you’d rather paint something that sits flat on the table, flat ornaments, bisque or wood, are great for that.
I don't want this to deter you because there are a lot of options, but I'll start with where I personally source my ceramic blanks, which is Bisque Imports. They require a wholesale account (stay with me, non-wholesale coming atcha in a moment).Here are the ones I keep going back for.
As far as non-wholesale accounts, here are a bunch of options sourced by students over the years who have been very happy with the results:
- 3-inch rounds (Walmart)
- 2.5-inch variety pack (Amazon)
- 3-inch rounds (Amazon)
- 2½-inch rounds (Oriental Trading)
- 3½-inch bells (Oriental Trading)
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4-inch flat rounds (Michaels)
If you’d rather pick one out in person, take a peek in the seasonal aisle or call your local paint-your-own pottery studio. Ask if they sell unglazed ceramic bisque ornaments.
Give shiny ornaments a matte finish
You know those shiny ornaments that somehow always end up at the bottom of the bin? You can paint those, too. Just mix a little baking soda into acrylic paint to give them a matte base. Two to three coats will do it. Important: Let each one dry before you go back in with the next.
Gather your paint and brushes
I love using acrylic gouache for painting ornaments, but if you already have regular acrylic or even traditional water-based gouache, go ahead and open that. For brushes, I keep two small-medium round brushes out. A size 6, 8, or 10 gets me through the bigger shapes, and a size 2 is handy for the smaller details. Add a jar of water and a rag or paper towel and you’re set. You can finish with a sealing spray if you’d like (I highly recommend doing this when using water-based gouache).
Make a drying rack out of whatever’s nearby (yes, seriously)
Here’s my very official setup (ahem). For hollow ornaments with removable caps, I stand a few skinny dowels or pencils (yep) in anything that can hold them. A heavy cup/vase works, but you can also stick them in dense foam or poke holes in a cardboard box, too.
Pop off a cap and make sure the opening fits over your stick before you paint. Once the ornament is wet, you can lower it onto the stick and let it dry there. This is how I keep my thumbprint out of the design and my ornaments from bumping into each other.
Finish with a beautiful ribbon
I use this organic peace silk ribbon. I like the sample pack because I get to play with a few colors and the pieces are already a good length for ornaments. If you’ve been saving a little scrap of ribbon for absolutely no identifiable reason, its time has come. Once the paint is dry, pop the cap back on and tie a loop through the hanger.
A few different shapes can feel like a set just by sharing a ribbon. I love the idea of a striped finial, a round ornament with a big painted bow, and a little wooden portrait all hanging from the same shade of pink. And if the ribbon I nearly put back turns out to be the one that makes the paint look better? Well, now I have to see it on all three.
If you’re making these for gifts, paint the year somewhere tiny and tuck a note in the box about why you picked that design.
