Vintage Christmas decor is very popular this year, so why not make your traditional glass Christmas ornaments look more vintage?
You can distress ornaments you already own, or you can purchase new ornaments to distress.
Here are a few ways to make new Christmas ornaments look vintage.
Nail Polish Remover
You can use nail polish remover on a cotton ball to distress new glass Christmas ornaments and make them look old.
Start by blotting a less visible area of your ornament, typically the bottom, with the cotton ball to see how the ornament will react to the nail polish remover.
The shiny red ornament above responded very quickly to the nail polish remover, however the purple ornament above was unaffected.
You can remove as little or as much coloring as you wish. The matte red ornament above was dabbed just enough to make the paint color more inconsistent, but the blue ornament had more paint taken off so the silver color underneath is more visible.
Typically, silver ornaments will not show much change with nail polish remover since they are usually silver underneath the paint.
Wire Brush
If your Christmas ornament is unaffected by nail polish remover, or you just want a different look, you can rub the ornament with a wire brush (see purple ornament above).
The brush should scrape off little bits of paint to give it a distressed look.
Paint
There are several painting methods you can use to make your Christmas ornaments look vintage.
First, you can water down white paint and black paint separately and sponge on a very light amount to an ornament.
Another option is to use mirrored spray paint and let it dry, then mist it lightly with vinegar and wipe off some (not all) of the paint.
Vinegar and Water
You can use a vinegar and water bath to remove some of the paint on Christmas ornaments.
Simply make a mixture of half vinegar and half water then put your ornaments in the mixture for about 30 seconds.
Rinse afterward and the vinegar should have dissolved some of the ornament's painted surface.
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