Getting Ready for Christmas

Hi.....it's been awhile, hasn't it?!! Life just kind of took over and there just wasn't enough time for everything! Sorry I haven't posted in so long. With my Mom just getting settled, a new job....in retail!....and getting ready for Christmas....well, life has been hectic! Although I haven't posted in some time, I have not forgotten you!

So, here we are, just 5 days away from the big day....are YOU ready? I am almost there! House is decorated, tree is up, gifts are purchased, wrapped and under the tree......baking is done. Now, I just need to get ready for the clan to come on Christmas day....not sure how many are coming. It will likely be somewhere between 18-25 people! Always chaotic, but oh, so much fun! And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way! I just LOVE having my family all together for the holidays. My siblings (most of them) will be here with their spouses and kids and Mom will be here for the festivities as well. Can't wait.

In the last few weeks, I've also been making some Christmas items. The first I want to share are some ornaments. Now, this idea has been around for the last few years, but I only just tried them myself recently. They are so pretty....if I may say so!....so sparkly and glittery. You KNOW I'm not really a glitter gal, but I happen to have some in my stash....most has retired, so this was a fabulous way to use a bit of it and really show it off!

Don't you just LOVE them? I used clear glass ornaments purchased last year at one of the craft stores around here.....but I couldn't find the same ones again this year. Probably looked too late! Anyway, these two are my favorites of all I made.

The blue ornament has one of our rub ons....from the Icicles collection. They are just so pretty....and perfect for embellishing and creating your own ornaments! The blue glitter is kind of iridescent...but sadly, this glitter has retired. The red ornament showcases the Flurry collection from the SU Home Decor line. These images are much more bold than the rub ons and look fabulous against the glittered glass ball....but many of them are really LARGE....too large for the balls I had!

OK, so by now you are probably wondering HOW to create these...right?!! These are so much less tedious and much quicker than I expected....which is why it took me so long to try them! You'll need the following:

-a clear glass "ball" These come in various shapes, so, any shape you choose...round is easiest to work with.

-re-inker

-glitter

-funnel or scrap cardstock

-rubber glove, if you don't want to wear your ink!

-a disposable cup

While making these I learned that if you closely match the re-inker to your glitter, you'll end up with a richer color. If you contrast it, you can "muddy" the glitter color, but it will still come out. For instance, I used gold glitter, but used Pretty in Pink re-inker....this seemed to tame the gold and give it a softer, slightly pinkish cast. Pretty. On another, I used Sahara Sand re-inker and gold glitter.....(don't know what I was thinking!), and the end result was kind of a garish gold. It still worked, but I like the softer gold so much better!

OK, what you'll want to do, is remove the topper from the ball....you know the part that has the loop for the hanger....and set aside. Now pour about 15 drops of re-inker into your clear ball. Carefully, swirl around until the entire inside is covered with color....you may need to add a couple more drops of ink. Then carefully add in up to 1/2 tsp of glitter....it's best to add just a bit at a time, because you cannot reuse the extra glitter from these projects. The easiest way to add the glitter is with a funnel.....I didn't have one that was small enough to fit into the opening, so I used some scrap cardstock to create my own funnel.....Very Vanilla or Whisper White are the easiest to work with for this! Place a finger over the opening and gently shake until all surfaces are coated with glitter....add a bit more glitter as needed.

Here's the important part.....although you are technically done, you need to let the inside of the ball dry. So you need to place it upside down in a disposable cup, so that any extra ink doesn't puddle and settle at the bottom of your ball. Let dry overnight and decorate as desired. Although it doesn't seem possible that the glitter will stay put as the ink dries, it does! I was given a glitter ball 2 years ago by my upline and it is still lovely and perfect as it was the day I received it!

Have fun making your ornaments! And thanks for stopping by.