How to make DIY glitter ornaments with the biggest sparkle and prettiest graphics in this tutorial! I put three popular adhesives head to head to find the best one… PLUS I show you how to layer vinyl around a curved surface!
I will confess right up front I’m not a fan of glitter. It’s not that I don’t think it’s pretty, it’s that the darn stuff gets everywhere! My Snow Globe Top Mason Jars taught me that! But I will admit that a glitter ornament is a sight to behold, and worth a little glitter mess. I personalized these DIY glitter ornaments with my Cricut and I couldn’t be happier with them!
- Minwax Polycrylic: Takes longer to coat, but fastest to glitter, inexpensive and readily available, and BEST coat
- Beacon Glitter-It!: Fast to coat but bubbles may form, must wait longer to glitter, harder to find and more expensive, and OK coat
- Mop and Glo floor wax: Fast to coat (no bubbles detected), must wait longer to glitter, easy to find and inexpensive, and OK coat
So the best glitter ornament adhesive in my book is Minwax Polycrylic. But if you had to do a lot of them, I’d probably just go with Mop & Glo floor wax, since it’s the least expensive and it worked just fine.
See exactly how to make my DIY glitter ornaments with layered vinyl in this tutorial video below:
It’s time to glitter bomb this craft room and make some glitter ornaments! This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy.
Materials for the DIY Glitter Ornaments with Layered Vinyl
- Glass or plastic ornaments — I used the 70mm (2.5″) size, but you could definitely go larger (I wouldn’t go smaller unless you put on very simple designs)
- Fine or extra fine glitter
- One of these adhesives: Polycrylic, Glitter-It!, or Mop and Glo (I recommend Polycrylic for the best coverage)
- Permanent vinyl
- Transfer tape
- Small plastic cups (plastic shot glasses work well) to drain your ornaments
- Ribbon or string to hang your ornaments
- A way to cut and score your vinyl (I used the amazing Cricut)
- Design #115 – My free SVG/DXF/PDF cut files/patterns (available in my free resource library—get the password at the bottom of this post)
How to Make DIY Glitter Ornaments with Layered Vinyl
First, you need to glitter your ornaments! They’ll need at least 24 hours to drain and dry, so best to get started as soon as possible. Begin by removing the aluminum cap from the top of the ornament (it pulls right off).
Now pour in your adhesive — just a bit — and gently swirl it around so it coats the entire interior surface. DO NOT shake it vigorously, as this just adds bubbles and uneven coating. I swirled it from the bottom to the top.
Set the ornament coated with adhesive upside down in a plastic cup to drain.
Now give the adhesive some time to drain out of the ornament. The polycrylic ornaments were ready almost right away, whereas the Glitter-It and Mop & Glo ornaments took about 10-15 minutes. Don’t wait any longer than is necessary, though, or your glitter won’t stick. Just wait until you see now more adhesive draining out.
Pour a small amount of glitter into your ornament. If your glitter container doesn’t have a good way to pour it, you can make a small funnel from a piece of paper.
Just like you did with the adhesive, gently swirl the glitter inside your ornament so it coats the entire thing. Again, it’s best to work from the bottom to the top, then tip the ornament into a cup upside-down.
Look at how pretty this DIY glitter ornament is!
Be sure to let your DIY glitter ornaments dry for 24 hours before putting the little caps back on. You can layer them with vinyl before that, however, so let me show you!
To get my nine free ornament designs (Design #115), download them from my free resource library (you can get a password for it at the bottom of this page). If you’re going to cut the vinyl out on your cutting machine, upload the file to your design software. If you’re not sure how to upload an SVG cut file to Cricut Design Space, watch this helpful video training series I made. If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, here’s how to download and upload SVG files to the Cricut Design Space app.
If you’d like to personalize the snowflakes, add a name in and resize it before you cut out your vinyl.
Note: My designs have a lot of different colors and Design Space will separate these out into many different mats.
If you end up with just a few things on each mat, consolidate them into other mats by clicking the three dots in the upper left corner of an object when you’re in mat preview mode and choose “Move to another mat.”
I put all of my various cuts onto one mat as you can see here:
And then I just make a note of where I placed each thing on my mat preview and do the same on my mat. If I have to use the Maker on the other side of the room instead of the Explore next to my computer, I take a photo of the mat preview screen with my phone and take it over to my Maker to line everything up properly. It takes out the guesswork!
Once your vinyl is cut, you’ll need to remove the excess vinyl and WEED everything!
Do not put transfer tape on all your designs yet! As these are all layered designs, you first need to know the TRICK to layering vinyl. The key is to layer things before you put them on your material and use just one piece of transfer tape for the whole design!
So look at your vinyl layers and determine which is the TOP layer of your design. For the Santa Cam and Grinch Cam designs, the top layer is the white layer. So cut out a piece of transfer tape large enough for the entire design and place it on the white layer.
Now remove the backing from the white vinyl so the only the white vinyl is on the transfer tape.
Now position your vinyl and transfer tape over the next layer — in this case, it’s the red dot that is supposed to be the “ON” light of the cam. Once it’s positioned, burnish it and remove the backing.
Repeat for each successive layer of vinyl.
And here you have a layered vinyl decal for your DIY glitter ornaments!
Check back later today to learn how to apply this decal around the curved surface of your DIY glitter ornament (or watch the video!).
Get my free SVG cut files and patterns for the DIY Glitter Ornaments
If you make one of these sparkly glitter ornaments, please share a photo in our Facebook group, email it to me at [email protected], or tag me on social media with #makershowandtell.
See all of the projects, tutorials and free designs in The Great Maker Show and Tell Challenge!There is one for each day of the 25 Days of Christmas! This is my gift to you for the tremendous support, enthusiasm, and love you’ve shown to me and my little blog over the past two years. To “open” a gift, hover over the day’s image and click the download icon.
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Love,
Want to remember this? Save the DIY Glitter Ornaments with Layered Vinyl to Your Favorite DIY Pinterest Board!
The Santa Cam ornament is pure genius! Thank you for sharing these cute Christmas decorations 🙂
So glad you like it, Alice!
Thank you SOOOOOOOO MUCH for the tutorial on how to put the vinyl on the ornaments! I was “volunteered” to make my daughter’s volleyball team ornaments and I now feel confident I can do it! Whew…. you are an Angel!
These are so much fun – wish I’d found you sooner!
Thank you, Peggy!
Jennifer: I have listen to tutorial on glitter ornaments and I have gone through the page to find password and i still can’t find. Can you please help me for the free svg 9 glitter ornaments
Thank You
JJ
Hi JJ! Just use this link to get a free password emailed to you: https://jennifermaker.com/library/ If you receive my newsletters already, you can find the password at the bottom of each newsletter. You can also reach out to my team at [email protected] for assistance.
What’s the password for the svg files.. I’ve looked all over this page..
The password is at the bottom of every email from me! Thank you for asking!
Oh my gosh, thank you for the moving items to other mats info. What a timesaver!
I’m so glad you found this helpful!!
Does this work the same with plastic ornaments? My mother-in-law has 23 grandchildren and I’d love to do color coordinated ornaments for each family, but I’m afraid little fingers will break the glass ornaments.
Yes, this should work fine with plastic ornaments too! I can appreciate the concern with little fingers and glass!
Hi
I think you are so clever, and the reason I love your sight do much is your commitment to sharing all your crafting knowledge
So many others want something in return and your tutorials are easy to follow
I am new to the Cricut and it Will be some time till I
Am competent but it’s teachers like yourself that make it enjoyable learning
Thank you so much
Merry Christmas
Sally
Uk
I cannot find the password anywhere to get into the library. I’ve signed up everywhere I think you have but I am still at a loss.
Oh no! I do include the password at the bottom of every email I send out! Check one of my old emails at the very bottom for the password! Can’t wait to hear what you make first!
Awesome, thank you for the wonderful how to video!! Can’t wait to give it a try once I get
This house ready for sale!
Oh, that’s a big project in of itself! Good luck!
This is amazingly helpful! Do you have a favorite transfer tape that you use? thanks!
I don’t have a favorite, but I do default to the Cricut brand transfer tape as I’ve never had a problem with it!
Hi
Just tried it the first time. love it. thank you for the tutorial. I just need to add vinyl. oh and make more..
thank you JM
So glad you enjoyed the project!
I just purchased a cricut this past week and I’m excited to be able to make Christmas projects once I figure it out. I was happy to find your tutorial that was so full of tips and ideas I just had to subscribe. Thanks so much for all you do.
Awesome! Thank you, Elizabeth!!