My favorite thing about stencils is that it helps me get hand painted images in difficult spots. When I decided to create my own Christmas Ornaments I knew I had to use some creative stencils. So, here’s how I did it in this Christmas Art Activities Project – first in words and then follow along with me on a great video below.
I bought some of those inexpensive clear glass globes that you can find in boxes at the craft supply store or maybe even the dollar store. I poured acrylic craft paint into them by drizzling it around the opening and then rolling the globe until the inside was covered with color. Here you have the opportunity to create ornaments any color you want. You can stick to the traditional red or green but you can also use Magenta or Cyan or Fluorescent Yellow (for a unique Retro Look). It’s up to you so be different!
Then I printed the Poinsettia Stencil from Free Printable Christmas Stencils and prepared it for painting on my ornament. Hint: you’ll have to reduce the size to a very small Poinsettia to fit on the ornament. You can do this on a copy machine if you don’t have Photoshop or another program that will let you size an image on your computer.
I held the stencil onto the globe and with the stippling technique (pouncing up and down not back and forth) I layered on a coat of red acrylic paint. For this step you just want to get a coat of paint because when it dries you will have a good pattern to paint on the will allow paint to adhere better than on glass. To remove the stencil without smudging the paint, hold the globe at the bottom with the hand you have used to apply paint and lightly pinch up the stencil and pull straight up.
After the paint dries, use a thin artist’s brush to paint over the petals using two or more reds and pinks to create depth, shadows and highlights. When that dries dot a few spots of yellow in the center.
OK – That’s it in words. But wait! Wouldn’t it be great to see it in action? No problem! I put together this video so that you can join me as I work on this Christmas Art Activities Project. You’ll be creating before you know what happened.
