Upcycle Christmas Baubles – Zentangle Inspired

Baubles are easily picked up in a charity shop / thrift store and are perfect for upcycling in so many different ways, from acrylic paint, to decoupage with text from old books, to crochet covers. Today I am sharing how to upcycle christmas baubles with doodling.

Old ornaments can be given a new lease of life to look like new ornaments, with creative thought. This festive season put your doodling to use, be inspired by the practice of zentangle to bring new life to old baubles. This simple idea is so relaxing to do too, a very mindful activity this christmas time.

Choose the colour schemes to add to a rustic look or your decorating scheme, go for classic colors such as white and red, or white and blue for your Christmas ball ornaments.

DIY Christmas Decorations

Step-By-Step Instructions

First let’s play with the paints and pens you have to hand. I initially tried spray paint to provide a mat chalk paint surface to the old decorations but failed to cover them evenly with no drips – you may have a more even hand at spraying than myself. If you wish to try this method I strongly recommend thin light coats of spray paint built up to avoid the drips.

Alternatively, you can paint with chalk paint, again thin layers are best. Allow to dry before painting a second time, I found door handles useful to hang drying baubles from. I have used Rustoleum chalk paint as I had this to hand.

Once you have a nice matt surface which is fully dry experiment with different pens on one bauble. As you can see different pens work to variable effect.

The pens I tried were:

• Faber Castell Fiobre artist pen – went onto the surface well but was not very vibrant, with not as much contrast as I was looking for
• Permanent markers -Sharpies and Pilot. Both initially looked promising but quickly decided they did not like the surface of the chalk paint, which is a shame as they dry instantly.
• Pilot Pintor – this pen has a nib which refills with ink when you press down to draw and by far outshone the rest. The only downside is it does not dry as quickly so there is a risk of smudging.

Now the fun part – play with doodling ideas onto your baubles. Here are some ideas to get you started.

A great way to get started is by dividing your bauble into zones and then add different patterns to each zoned area.

Gradually build your patterns up until you feel happy with the overall look.

Doodling is an interesting way to give a new look, to create homemade decorations. There are endless possibilities. This is such an easy way to give new life to baubles that have seen better days.

These DIY Christmas ornaments can be used on a Christmas wreath, hung in an embroidery hoop as a decoration, fill a bowl of zentangle inspired baubles for your Christmas table as a centre piece, or simply hung as Christmas tree ornaments.

Do check out many other Christmas craft projects on the blog.