21+ ways to upcycle old Christmas Baubles
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Sometime in the next month or so most people who celebrate Christmas will be getting out and putting up their Christmas decorations. I’m a big fan of putting up the old favourites year after year. I like to see the old decorations that we’ve accumulated over the years, it’s like meeting up with old friends to get them out of their boxes again!
But sometimes plain old Christmas baubles can get a bit tired looking, scratched and dull or damaged. There is no need to throw them away though, they are a perfect base for some Christmas crafting. They can be upgraded, upcycled and given a whole new look.
You can paint them, cover them, glue things to them, dip them, the options are endless!
I’ve collected some ideas together for you, with lots of different styles and colour schemes so there should be something here to suit all decors and tastes. So when you are ready to get your decorations out of the loft or attic, from under the stairs or wherever else you keep them maybe take a second look at some of the tattier ones and see if a crafty upgrade is possible.
If you don’t have old and tatty baubles already you can always have a look in charity shops or thrift stores, garage sales, car boot sales etc and see what you can pick up inexpensively. Let your friends know you are in the market for their sad old deckies for a craft project, ask in a local facebook group if anyone is throwing any out etc.
For some of these tutorials the original craft blogger has bought a new polystyrene ball, a ceramic bauble or a clear plastic ornament for their craft but I have been careful only to pick out ideas where I think they would work perfectly on those old plain baubles from your box of decorations too. You might need a coat of a primer if your old baubles are very shiny but I’ve found acrylic paint, emulsion/latex paint and pva glue has stuck just fine when I’ve tried it.
Upcycled Christmas bauble ideas
21: Pompom Christmas bauble upcycle
22: Vintage satin ornament from The Apple Street Cottage
23: Easy Upcycled Crochet Christmas baubles from Sew Crafty Crochet
24: Chinoiserie Ornaments from Southern Sunflowers
The ideas above are mostly festive. Lots of ways to upgrade old or tatty Christmas bauble ornaments so they can still be used on your Christmas tree, although some are suitable You could always try upcycling those old baubles in a different, non festive way and use them all year round:
Here I took an old bauble that had lost it’s hanging bit and gave it a new look with Mod Podge and a pretty paper napkin.
White House Crafts has made pretty flowers with Christmas Bauble centres.
Using and reusing what you already have is better for the environment and for your pocket, it just feels like win win!
Are you inspired to breath new life into any of your sad looking Christmas baubles? Or maybe you just want to change up the colour scheme or look of your Christmas tree but don’t want to spend a fortune doing it. Time to look at your decorations with new eyes and see if the ones you don’t love anymore have any upcycling potential.
Julie
I’ll be sharing this round up at some of these link ups
