Most important news first: We finally got our tree last night! It wasn't nearly as romantic as cutting down our own tree or going to a tree farm as we've done in the past, and it did involve a trip to THREE suburban Christmas tree lots, but we have a tree, it is set up in our living room, and the whole house has that wonderful pine smell.
One small problem: Of our seven strands of Christmas tree lights, only two of them work. Last night's errands also involved trips to two big box retailers, neither of which have Christmas lights in stock. Ok, so they have Christmas lights in stock, but they're the garish colored lights that play music. Wop wop. Where can I get a few strands of plain ol' white twinkle lights?
Hopefully, the light problem is resolved quickly, because I can't wait to get our ornaments up on the tree - specifically, these modern hand-painted Scandinavian-ish wood balls:
These ornaments were the inspiration for this year's Scandinavian-themed tree and they are my favorite of all the ornaments I've made over the past few years. I first starting making them at the end of the summer and just finished painting a second batch this week. I love them so much that I considered selling them in my shop for holiday markets, but then realized I didn't want to spend the entire holiday season painting ornaments!
Materials | wood balls, screw-eyes, polyurethane (satin finish), paint pens, hemp twine
Instructions:
1. Screw the screw-eyes into the wood balls. I accomplished this using brute strength and a pair of pliers.
2. Snicker to yourself about screwing wood. And balls.
3. Thread the twine through the screw-eye and tie in a knot to create a hanging loop.
4. Dip the balls into polyurethane. Hang to dry. Dip a second time and allow to dry completely. The polyurethane provides a smooth finish to accept the paint and prevent it from soaking into the wood and bleeding. (As the balls are drying, be sure to wipe off the excess polyurethane that accumulates at the bottom of the ball to prevent the drip from drying.)
5. Draw geometric patterns on the balls with the paint pens and allow to dry.
8 comments:
Holy Shit.
So I have been following ZERO blogs for the last month. ZERO. So I decided to pop in and see what you were up to and I just about died.
At this point you probably thing I'm some crazy obsessed weirdo or something. But, I'm not. Promise. Your artwork and projects just really resonate with me. It's weird, but totally wonderful.
Anyway, my point is, your ornaments and holiday decoration are out of this world fan-freakin-tastic! I'm obsessed.
Okay, that is all. I love my Christmas cards BTW. I don't even want to give them away. Haha.
Awww! Thanks so much, Michael - what a great compliment! :)
Your ornaments are beautiful (they must be gorgeous actually if you got a "holy shit" from Mr. Wurm Jr. himself....), I've got this linked to my ball ornaments post too today - for inspiration!
Totally planning on making wooden ornaments this year. Can I just buy standard wooden balls from a hardware store? (or are they too heavy?). What size diameter did you end up purchasing for your ornaments?
Love everything holiday you've done - such amazing ideas!
Thanks
Carol
Totally planning on making wooden ornaments this year. Can I just buy standard wooden balls from a hardware store? (or are they too heavy?). What size diameter did you end up purchasing for your ornaments?
Love everything holiday you've done - such amazing ideas!
Thanks
Carol
Thanks so much, Carol! Yes, the wood balls are kind of heavy, which is why I ended up using smaller balls - mine are about 1 1/2"dia and they work perfectly. (I did buy some 2 1/2" dia balls, which is about the same size as a normal Christmas ball, but they are just too heavy.) Hope that helps!
What brand of paint pens did you use? These ornaments are awesome and this will be a fun craft to do worth my family!!
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