Crackle Paint Those Christmas Balls For Halloween!

Since I discovered the easy peasy way to make a crackle paint effect with Elmer's glue, I've used it on just about everything. Christmas balls redone for Halloween are no exception. There are lots of pics in this post, but it's a fun project so read on...

I buy Christmas balls all year long when they are cheaper than cheap cheap. I'll be watching for more in different colors but my favorites for this project are silver and gold.

Ooh aaah!

Here is how you do it.

Pop the top off the ball and insert a pen or dowel or paint brush handle so that you can hold the ball without touching it. Trust me, this makes everything easier.Go into your stash and grab the Elmer's glue. This technique works with both the school glue and glue all by Elmer's.

Brush a thick coat of glue all over the ball. Not thick enough to run and drip but still, get a good coat of glue on there. Prop it up and let it dry for 5 to 10 minutes until the glue is tacky but not wet. Do NOT let the glue dry completely, but IF you do, just apply a new layer of glue over the top and let that layer get tacky.

Using a soft paintbrush, apply acrylic craft paint in long smooth strokes in one direction. I used gloss black. After I painted all one direction I did a few soft random crosswise strokes just to see what it would look like. Do not go back and forth with your brush, you will drag the glue layer. Prop that ball up and let it dry. 

Five minutes layer my paint was starting to crackle. I LOVE this part! See the crosswise crackle? That is from the soft sideways stroke I tried. I like the interesting pattern it made.

Let the ball dry completely. Once it is dry (and gloss craft paint takes a long time to dry, so be patient if you use it) you can use your wonderful crackled ball as is or seal it with acrylic spray.

And here is what this effect looks like on colored balls!

Here are a few orange over gold balls on my Halloween tree.

And a few more in a vintage wire basket.

So now my brain is churning out ideas for Christmas decor. Wouldn't white crackle over silver balls be a beautiful shabby chic look? Gotta try it! Or red paint over silver. Or white over red. Man, I am going to be doing this again and again in the coming weeks just to see what different combos look like.

So try it, you'll like it! It's easy and cheap and oh so fun to do. You'll never have so much fun watching paint dry than with this project, I guarantee it!

Here's a link to my uber popular post on crackle paint with Elmer's glue with LOADS of painted examples on different surfaces....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

I'll be joining the parties on my sidebar. Come visit and check out all the neat ideas!