The Fan Zone - DIY Holiday Ornaments

Hey there!

My daughter has her very own 3 foot pink and purple Christmas tree. She decorates it each year exactly the way she wants to. I have a good friend that has a shoe Christmas tree. She has cute boot and heel ornaments adorning her tree. A customary red and green tree with regular ornaments you bought at your local store is fine for the holidays, but don’t you want to step up your game? Don’t you want a few ornaments that are different and shows off your love of the game?

Add some sports ornaments to your tree this year!

You can find generic sports ornaments in the stores. You can find simple football or basketball ball ornaments. If you live in the area where your sports team plays, you can find ornaments specific to your team and have a complete sports tree for your city. If you don’t live in the same town as your team have no fear! You can create ornaments for your sports tree.

These ornaments are simple to make and aren’t expensive.

What you will need is...

Clear ornament bulbs

Paint

Paint brush

Paper plates (2 or 3 to use as drip pans)

The paint and paintbrush can be found in the craft aisle of your favorite big box store. You know what else you can find there? The bulbs you want to decorate! So many stores are adding DIY project items to their shelves. You can find almost everything that you are looking for. I found my bulbs at the Target dollar spot but I saw different types of DIY bulbs at several craft stores that I went to. I’ve even heard that Dollar Tree sells them!

Take the top off of your bulb and squeeze a dollop of paint inside. Turn it carefully in order to coat the inside of your bulb. You may have to squeeze more paint inside once you turn and tap and let the paint drip down.

When most of the inside of your bulb is coated in paint, turn it upside down and let the extra paint drip out. I let mine dry overnight then let the pooled paint drip out and gave it several additional hours to dry.

Once your bulbs have dried you can use your small paintbrush to decorate the outside of your ornament. I went back and touched up after it dried because acrylic paint doesn’t always play well with plastic.

You can decorate your ornament with your favorite teams or players. I chose to make plain ornaments. It wasn’t difficult to add different colored lines to create a football, a basketball and a baseball. They may be plain but they are definitely handmade!

You can make these ornaments for your tree or as decoration for your mantle or bookshelf. You can also create them for friends. Or, if you are having a holiday party or a sports brunch, set up an ornament decorating station and let your friends create their own! When you do, make sure to tag #CleatSheet on Instagram so we can see your fantastic DIY ornaments!