Oriental Trading Company is a really fun resource for Christmas shopping.  They’re an especially good source for stocking stuffers, decorations, and Christmas craft supplies.

In particular, I was excited to learn that they have a good selection of clear Ornaments, and at good prices.  They come in varying package sizes (so you can buy based on how many you need), and in several sizes/styles.  I was provided with a credit to facilitate this post, and I chose to order some 4-inch clear plastic ornaments (these are huge!), some 2-1/4″ clear plastic ornaments, and some 2-1/2″ clear glass ornaments.  (They also have “dome-shaped” — kind of pill-shaped — ornaments, heart-shaped ones, terrarium ornaments, and photo ornaments.)

I’ve rounded up more than 50 ways these ornaments can be used/decorated, grouped into several different categories, and sprinkled throughout you’ll find pictures of some of the options we tried out.

A couple quick tips before we get started:

1. The plastic ornaments I purchased split in half kind of like plastic Easter eggs.  This is really handy because it makes a nice big opening for adding filler.  If the contents are lightweight enough, they will stay together on their own once reassembled.  If the contents are heavy at all, though, they like to “break” back open.  If you’ve filled them with something permanent (for use on a tree), you can glue them shut, and I’d recommend that.  If you’re using them as gift packaging, you will, of course, not want them permanently glued shut.  In this case, you might try something like washi tape.
2. The glass ornaments (and certain styles of plastic ornaments) don’t split open, but they have “caps” on the top you have to remove for filling.  To get these off, pinch the loop area together so the wires inside the ornament are closer together, and pull.  It can take a little finagling, but you’ll get the hang of it after an ornament or two.

Clear Ornaments As Gift Packaging

Ornaments make fun packaging for small gifts.  With something that “flows,” you’ll probably want to choose an ornament that doesn’t separate in the center.  With more “solid” gifts, you can also add tissue paper.  I found this to be easiest if I laid the two halves of an ornament side-by-side, scrunched the tissue paper in, then added the gift and closed it all up almost as though it were hinged.

• hot cocoa
• other mixes (like soups, dip mixes, or seasonings)
• candy
• school/office supplies (erasers, paper clips, etc. — These could make cute teacher gifts.)
  
  
• hardware (nuts, bolts, nails, screws…)
• potpourri
• gift cards (A typical gift card is about 3-3/4″ across, so you’ll need a larger ornament.)
• tickets
• cash
• socks
  
• LEGOs
• play dough
• tea blends
• nail or lip care
  
• sewing kit
• small puzzle (bonus points if the puzzle is a special note or letter)
• jewelry
• essential oils

Easy Fillers

These “fillers” are ways you can decorate the ornament by placing something inside it.  There are so many options!

• rolled paper
• jingle bells
• sprigs of greenery or other silk plants (Consider using part of a bridal bouquet for an extra-special ornament.)
• baby socks
• graduation tassel (You can just drop it in, or you can suspend it inside the ornament.)
• photos
• children’s drawings (the actual drawings, or copied/reduced versions)
• small shells (with or without sand)
• fabric
• small keepsakes (tickets, dried flower petals from corsages, hospital bracelets, pebbles from vacation destinations, etc.)
• beads (the same size, or a variety of sizes — I even used Mardis Gras-style bead strings here.)
  
• ribbon
  
• sequins, rhinestones, etc.
  
• short lengths of Christmas tree garland
• miniatures (for instance, those found in Safari Toobs)
• water beads
• feathers
• tiny origami figures
• game pieces
• bullet casings
• paper punchies or table scatter
• keys
• pom poms
• wooden cutouts
• printed transparencies (Stand these upright in the center of the ornament.)

Easy Decoration

Some of these decorations are done to the inside of an ornament; others to the outside.  Many of these options can be mixed-and-matched with the filler options above, to produce an even greater variety of options.

• snowman faces, Santa or elf bellies, gingerbread men, etc.  (Fill with shred in the “background” color, then add details on the outside.)
• Swirl the inside with paint.
  For this ornament, I first painted the green and blue, then let it dry completely (or so I thought) before going back to paint with the gold.  It wasn’t quite as dry as I thought, though, so there is some mingling of the gold with the colors.
  
• Swirl the inside with glue, and coat with glitter, sprinkles, sand, etc.   (The same technique is used here.)
• alcohol ink (looks similar to stained glass)
• or use glass paint & liquid leading for a more traditional stained-glass look
• coat in epsom salts
• stickers
• adhesive vinyl cutouts (like from a Silhouette or Cricut)
• glass etching (This is a bit more involved and, obviously, only for glass ornaments, not plastic.)
• puffy paint (for texture)
• temporary tattoos (try the metallic kind, too)
• melted crayon
  Okay, now I tried the tutorial here, and it said to use little broken chunks of crayon.  That gave me good coverage, but it left big chunks of crayon inside that were pretty ugly, and when I tried to pop them loose to shake them out, the ornament just broke.
  
  
  I found that shavings worked much better (although I probably should have used more shavings than I did).
  
• specialty spray paints (sea glass spray paint, metallics, etc.)
• nail polish
  This worked pretty well for me, although I’d like to experiment with using a greater volume of polish for more swirling and less of a “dripped” look.
  
  
• decoupage with tissue paper or fabric

Fancy-Schmancy Embellishment (Takes Skills!)

Most of the previous options will work for those who have minimal specific craft skills.  The embellishments in this section require more skill, but produce some really beautiful and/or creative results.

• beaded drapes (like this or this)
• crocheted covers (like this or this)
• add on parts, so the round ornaments become the round part of gumball machines, snow globes, hot air balloons, etc.

Other Uses for Clear Ornaments

These are some particularly out-of-the-box ideas that don’t make use of the ornaments as ornaments at all.

• molding bath bombs (You want the kind that separates into two.)
• molding soaps (This would be especially fun for snowball soap.  If you like, you can roll the still-moist soap in large-grained salt for a sparkly effect.)
• dome tops for canning jars
• molding candy
• miniature vase or terrarium (Use the kind that doesn’t separate.)
• chandelier

50+ Ways to Use Clear Ornaments is a post from: Titus 2 Homemaker

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