Julie Nutting Christmas Ornaments

Have you seen these cute little Julie Nutting Wood Ornaments in the New Arrivals section!! I don't know how there are still some of these left....they look gorgeous decorated, and would be a great Christmas activity to share with the kids. 

They are totally customise-able (is that a word? It is now!!) and so much fun to play with. I have decorated mine (''Joy'') to match this year's Christmas colours at our house - red, white and gold.

First up the wooden pieces, the centre and two wings, had a coat of white primer and a light sand to prepare them for other media. Starting with the wings I added a few coats of gold metallic paint and followed that when it was almost but not quite dry, with a dry brush and a coat of Gold Perfect Pearls. This last powder coat gave the colour a smoother look and added a lovely shimmer.

On top of that I added a fairly thick, but deliberately uneven coat of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I love the old, antique look of crackle and wanted this for my ornament. While the crackle was still wet I sprinkled a little Stampendous Champagne Glass Glitter onto the top. Christmas should have a little bling ;) The back of the wings is exactly the same.

While I was waiting for the wings to dry and the crackle to activate I painted the bauble element. I just used ordinary acrylic paint - nothing fancy or expensive. There are a couple of coats of each colour, mostly to minimise the brush strokes and get an even coverage. The wood is etched quite deeply, so it's pretty easy to paint inside the lines. The entire back is painted with the darker red as well.

Loving the delicate shimmer of the Gold Perfect Pearls on the wings, I brushed Forever Red Perfect Pearls over the darker red section of the front, and over the whole back. 

I was still waiting for the wings to dry, so a little bling was added - five tiny Red Rhinestones around the neck of my ''Joy''s dress and a length of Gold Rhinestone Cup Chain circling the cut out centre of the bauble.

And STILL waiting for the wings to dry (it was a dampish sort of day down here in Sydney and some of my crackle paint was quite thick), I coated the back of the bauble with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. Then I did the front as well and left it all overnight.

This is what it looked like when the pieces were finally dry.

Assembly and decoration was the easy bit. The wings are attached to the centre bauble with Hot Glue - they are a bit too heavy for Glossy Accents. The ribbon and tassel are both included in the kit. Colouring the silver cap on the tassel with a yellow Copic Marker made it gold. Copics are alcohol based, so they colour metal and rhinestones easily.

Gold Toned Jump Rings and Gold Iron Chain hang from both the top and the bottom, decorated with Christmas Charms. Tracy sent me these pretty dangles a couple of Christmases ago, made  using Golden Eye Pins, Gold Bead Caps, Gold Rhinestone Rondelle Beads, Golden Stardust Beads, a Christmas Holly Charm, and a Small Gold Star Charm.
Small Red Roses cover the middle of the bow and decorate our Christmas ''Joy"'s hair.

You could also cover these pieces with patterned paper and use distress inks and stains. How about adding some feathers for fun?
I've seen the kit divided up and made into two separate ornaments too - one made from the centre section, and one made of just the two wings...drill a hole through the top and hang them together, slightly offset.

Have fun!