Simple Snowflake Ball Ornament

Time is flying and I'm in a rush to cram in as many holiday projects as possible. That means that I get very excited over simple projects that don't take much time, are good for mass production, and inexpensive but look elegant and when you're done. That's how my simple snowflake ball ornament was born. I needed a project that matched all of the above criteria and since I'm always drawn to snowflake crafts, I started experimenting with a package of rub-ons that I picked up at Michaels. Here is how to create these lovelies:

First, gather your supplies. I used Delta Ceramcoat in Pearl but you can use any acrylic paint you like, a clear ball (note: works best if you clean the inside with a dab of alcohol first, but who has the time? I skip this step and rarely regret it), and some rub-ons. I used these snowflake rub-ons but the world of possibility is wide open on this one. Go bananas with whatever rub-ons you like.

Pour your paint into the ball. You need a goodly amount and I realize that isn't very specific but I would estimate that it takes 1 - 2 Tbs to coat the ball. This depends very much on the viscosity of your paint. If you have thin paint it won't take much but thick paint will require more to coat the ball. You may need to add more as you work on the next step. (Note: you can add more than one color of paint for a cool swirl effect. The kids love mixing colors. I'll post some of their work soon.)

Next you want to roll the paint around inside the ball to coat it completely.

Now turn the ball upside down on a disposable cup and let the excess paint drip out. I recommend walking away and letting it drip for an hour or so. At this point you can assess whether or not you're happy with the paint coat. If you are, you can move on to the rub-ons. If not, go ahead and reuse the paint that dripped out to add another coat of paint to the inside of the ball. I found that older paint that had thickened left with me perfect coverage from one coat and thinner paint required 2 or more coats to get nice even coverage.

I don't have a visual for putting the rub-on on the ball because I just didn't have enough hands to manage the photo, even with my helper (the helper is my daughter, if you hadn't guessed). All you need to do is select the rub-on you want to place on the outside, place it where you want it, hold it tight, and rub the heck out of it with your popsicle stick...er...craft stick. Getting it perfect on a round surface is tricky but if you hold it nice and tight and rub hard so it grabs the surface of the ball, you'll get it.

The final step is letting the inside of the ball dry completely, so leave it overnight if you can, right side up with the cap off. Then when you come back, stick the cap back on the ball and voila, you have lovely little snowflake ornaments!