Christmas is my favorite holiday. Every year I try to decorate the tree a little differently and last year I decided to add a little of my Mexican culture to my Christmas tree with these Mexican Barro Christmas Ornaments . After all, Christmas colors are the colors of the Mexican flag. I DIYed these Mexican Barro Ornaments with some craft paint and a few ornaments I found on sale at Michael’s!
Supplies I used for this craft project (You can get on Amazon or pick up at a Michael’s):
- Clear Ornaments (Or you can paint old ornaments)
- Amsterdam Acrylic Paint (Bronze)
- Paint for accents (I used samples I had of a dark gray and white)
- Craft paint brushes
- Cotton swabs or something circular to paint the dots
- Sticks, dowels or straws (to hold up your ornaments while they dry)
Prep before Paint
One of the things I suggest you do before you start, is to decide how you are going to lay your ornaments out to dry. I took a used amazon box and flipped it upside down and punched holes into the box so I could stick the dowels into the box and set the ornaments down once I was done painting. Remember you need enough space around the ornament so it doesn’t touch its neighbor.
Paint will adhere better to a clean surface so make sure your ornaments are clean before you start to paint. I removed the hooks that hold the top of the ornament in place and used the center of the ornament to hold the ornament out and try to avoid getting too much paint on my fingers.
Ready for Paint
This was my first time using Amsterdam Acrylic Paint and I was really happy with how easily the paint just glided over the ornament. It’s thicker paint than I’m used to but it is also very smooth and “creamy.” Made this task so much easier and enjoyable to do!
Truthfully, this was an experiment for me and I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, so I winged through it and decided to paint all the ornaments at once. Well I decided to at least paint the bronze base. They turned out pretty well!
Adding the Details
As you know I have done a good amount of DIYs and I have a good stash of leftover paint and paint samples. This was the perfect occasion to use them. I can’t really tell you what colors I used because I wasn’t too picky about the colors. I wanted a darker color for the accents and a shade of white. I picked out a couple of colors from my sample stash and they turned out to be exactly what I was looking for!
The Flor de Capulin is probably one of the easiest patterns to start with. If you decide to do this pattern, remember you don’t have to saturate the cotton swab. Just dab it in the paint color, otherwise you may end up with a really large “dab”. Take your time and enjoy the process. It’s so fun when you start seeing it come together!
Let your Creativity Run Wild
After I made a few ornaments with the Flor de Capulin pattern I decided to be a little daring and give a talavera pattern a shot. The first tries were not my best but some of them actually turned out better than I thought they would! Again, it’s all about letting your creativity flow!
Final Reveal
I absolutely love how these turned out! It was such a fun and easy DIY and I’m excited about making more of these in the near future. Hope you found this tutorial helpful and if you want to watch the reel I shared about making these, you can find it on my Instagram.
If you’re looking for an idea for a unique Christmas gift, check out this blog post : How to make a Faux Succulent Planter.
Happy Christmas DIYing!!
