Totally Not Crochet

For years I painted hand-blown glass tree ornaments, purchased for a few bucks each at Pier 1 Imports but once they were painted they were fabulous gifts. I did most of them in college in the 90's, you know, before I had kids...when I actually had time!!! I would paint at least a dozen each year for aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, friends, etc. Funny thing though, during the mad rush to finish them all before Christmas each year I would skip making one for myself! I have a handful of them, like some Ukranian Eggs and other crafty ones but only one or two painted bulbs. Well, this year my mom decided to give me all of hers! I know this sounds crazy but we rarely celebrate Christmas at her house any more and she wants them to hang somewhere where they can be enjoyed! Here are a few of my favorites:


front/back Winnie the Pooh theme. I also did some Dr. Suess' Grinch bulbs and many other favorite cartoon characters.

My all time favorites are the top two in this shot.

The top two bulbs in this shot were some of my first, before I found the handblown bulbs. I didn't have ideas other than throwing a bunch of Christmas-related items on the bulb:)
The bottom bulb is the Earth with continents painted specific colors to match the globes in Montessori classrooms.

Finally, a couple Ukranian Eggs I made using a kit I bought from the University Bookstore. This is a very fun project, you should try it!

The bulbs are all painted with acrylic-enamels, hard to find little bottles, Ben Franklin has them. They are better than plain acrylics because they really fuse on and if you paint things that can go in the oven, like terra cotta pots, you can bake them to really set them permanently! A friend of mine recently told me about painting wooden Easter eggs each year, these paints would also be perfect for that....maybe that will be my next new Easter craft:)