When you look at a bunch of greeting cards, you’ll notice that some of the cards with pictures on them have glitter applied to them to enhance the design. In this project, I’ll show you how to take images cut from cards and add metallic paint, glitter, and plastic jewels to make them into sparkly ornaments.

Tools and Materials

Assortment of old greeting cards
An assortment of cardstock and scrap chipboard in different colors
Glue stick
Scissors
Paint water container
Paint well tray or small recycled containers for mixing paint and glitter blends
Clear-drying glue in a bottle with a squeeze tip that will hold a line, such as Diamond Glaze, 3D Crystal Lacquer, Turbo Tacky Glue, or Elmer’s.
Glitter glue pens
Glitter colors
A selection of small paintbrushes
Metallic and pearlescent paint such as Lumiere
Glue-on or press-on plastic jewels
Hole punch
String, cord or thin ribbon for hanging

Instructions

Get out the old greeting cards and look for distinct objects and characters to cut out. Cut them by hand with a scissors, then mount them onto a piece of cardstock for extra thickness and give the cut-out shape a border.

Look for areas on on the image to highlight with glitter. The easiest to start with is probably white, because you can use it to emphasize snow, white highlights and other white areas.

I found that my effects were more exciting if I painted on some metallic or pearlescent paint in the same color range of the glitter as an intermediate step before applying the glitter. I brushed pearl white Lumiere paint on the white areas and I let them dry.

If you want to, you can highlight other colors in the image, instead of white or in addition to white.

Decide how many glitter colors you would like on your ornament. I used one, two or three different colors on each of mine depending on the size and design.

Wherever you would like glitter, squeeze out lines or drops of glue. I added an outline of glitter and glue around the edge of each shape. Sprinkle the glitter over the glue, press down very lightly, then shake off. Let dry between colors so you don’t get your glitter color areas mixed up.

This craft is easy enough for a kid to do, as long as they are old enough to safely handle the small pieces. I guess you could say I learned the rudiments from the kits I had as a kid, involving sprinkled flocking, sand or colored stones one color at a time to make a design. Glitter is fun for kids or adults. I experimented with making glitter blends to create more sophisticated colors. Glitter particles of different sizes and some opalescent colors really add interest.

If you would like to add flat-back plastic jewels, attach them with tiny drops of glue and let dry.

Punch a hole in the top and add cord or thin ribbon for hanging. You’re done!