DIY Ornament Ideas – How to Paint Alcohol Inks on Glass

Super fun glass Christmas ornaments painted with Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks

Raise your hand if you love Christmas crafting! And, don’t you just love making lots of different ornaments not just for the tree but for all over the house Holiday decorations?

Well, let me show you my all time favorite craft to do for the season: super creative, totally unique glass Christmas ornaments painted with RANGER-Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks.

I have been searching around for some new and fun DIY Ornament Ideas and after experimenting with Alcohol Inks, I want to show you how easy it is to paint colorful, unique glass ornaments.

Not sure if you have noticed, but I’m sort of obsessed with Alcohol Inks lately. The colors are amazing!

You can create such gorgeous, painterly effects with alcohol ink. Honestly, they’re very much like watercolor paints but better somehow, brighter.

Plus, once again Christmas is right around the corner so now is the perfect time to make some hand painted ornaments for your tree or to give as one of a kind, handmade gifts.

Also, if you are looking for ideas for ornaments or decorations to make and sell, these little beauties would do really well at a Christmas Bazaar or Craft Show.

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My kids and I used to decorate glass ornaments by pouring different color paints inside and letting them swirl.

Really, those are still some of my absolute favorite Christmas tree ornaments. As the paints blend together, the ornaments end up with a marbled look.

This time, I decided to try painting the glass ornaments with Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks on the outside. That turned out to be a little bit trickier than I expected because these paints are translucent.

The first ornament I painted with only alcohol ink and while it was pretty, the colors didn’t stand out on the clear glass.

After some pondering, I decided to try painting a white background with acrylic paint first. But, instead of painting the outside of the globe, I poured the white paint inside the globe and now the alcohol colors pop!

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For more crafting fun, you may like how to make a Christmas Wreath with Ball Ornaments

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Love Alcohol Inks? You’ll also love my Alcohol Ink Switch Plate Covers

Painting the ornaments – step by step:

Preparing the Glass

First, you need to remove the hanger from a glass ornament and set aside. Now, open your bottle of white acrylic paint. Carefully, squeeze a small amount of white paint into the globe.

Gently, turn the globe to distribute the paint evenly inside the globe. Add more paint, if needed, a little bit at a time and continue turning the ornament.

You want to make sure and cover the entire inside of the glove with white paint.

Once the entire inside of the ornament is covered with white paint, you will need to remove the excess. (Otherwise, the paint will take too long to dry)

The easiest that way I have found to remove the extra paint is to turn the glass ornament upside down on an old container where the opening is smaller than the globe such as an old tomato paste can or similar. The extra paint will drip out into the can.

Applying the Alcohol Inks

Before you begin, cover your work surface. Then, pour some rubbing alcohol in the disposable cup. Since these inks dry quickly go ahead and open all of your alcohol ink bottles.

Now you want to dip a paint brush in the rubbing alcohol and wipe on a part of the ornament. Next, pick up one of the bottles of alcohol ink and drip a small amount onto the rubbing alcohol. Less is more here!

Slowly turn your glass ornament and watch the ink flow. You can also blow on the ink to make it move. Give it a minute or two before adding more ink. These inks are hard to control but there’s really no wrong way here.

Pick a second color of alcohol ink and drip onto the ornament. Let the colors flow together and blend.

Now, add a third color of ink to the ball and repeat the process. Allow the colors to flow and blend together.

Isn’t it cool how the colors are swirling and blending to make new colors? Continue adding color until you are happy with your ornament.

Note, it does not have to be completely covered with alcohol inks. The white paint can show through here and there to highlight the other colors.

Finishing the ornament

Once you are happy with your alcohol ink ornament, carefully re-insert the metal hanger. Take an old paint brush (or similar) and thread it through the hook and hang your ornament to dry.

For best results, let your ornament dry overnight. You don’t want to seal the ornament until the inks are as dry as possible.

How do you seal Alcohol Ink on glass?

Now, the only thing left to do is to seal in the paints so that they will not smudge or rub off. You can easily do this with an alcohol ink sealer such as Acrylic Spray Sealer.

Simply, spray on two or three light coats, letting the sealer dry between each application. I found that it helps to hold the spray can about a foot or more away from the ornament to keep the inks from moving too much.

While all of these colors coordinate beautifully, I have found it best to use no more than 3 per piece. Otherwise, they tend to combine too much and become muddy.

And the really cool part is, if you are not completely happy with your alcohol ink ornament, you can simply wipe off the inks with the rubbing alcohol and start over. Obviously, that has to be done before sealing it.

This painting technique works great on all different glass objects from the various Christmas ornament shapes to picture frames.

Does Alcohol Ink wash off glass?

The alcohol ink will not wash off, once it has been sealed properly. That is why I recommend you spray on more than one coat of sealer.

Just keep in mind that the paint won’t hold up to rigorous handling. And, even though we sealed the alcohol ink ornament, the paint can still be scratched.

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Do you want more DIY ornament ideas for decorating glass globes? Here is a great article with loads of clever projects from HGTV.

Enjoy!

If you try this project, please send me a photo of your creation. I would love to know how it turned out.

Make sure and stay tuned … I have an entire post on great DIY ornament ideas coming up soon.
Peace,
Annette

Learn how to make a Make Your Own Christmas Wreath with Wool

For more alcohol ink crafts, see how I painted these switch place covers with these same colors of ink.

DIY Ornament Ideas – How to make Alcohol Ink Ornaments