I imagine if you haven’t packed down your Christmas tree yet, you’re thinking about doing it soon… and if you’re in the same situation I was in last year, then you’re thinking what can you do with the older plastic baubles that have faded over many Christmases and are starting to look tired (without just tossing them all and buying a bunch of new ones).
Our tree used to be all red and gold, and last year I decided after Christmas that it was time for a change, and I settled on a new colour scheme of green and white and natural. But I didn’t want to throw everything away into landfill, so I did some research and made a plan.
I decided on making a new wooden bead garland to go around the tree to replace the plastic one that all the colours had come off, and to replace the tinsel. I also made some wooden beaded stars and hanging droplet decorations using the same beads. (Here is a link to the beaded star tutorial https://pin.it/4u4lqTn)
I bought a couple of packets of the dark green baubles I wanted but couldn’t find any white ones that looked nice and that gave me the brilliant idea to paint my old ones, and it was way simpler than I imagined it would be.
Firstly I mixed acrylic paint with some bicarb soda to form a paste, and then I popped the baubles (with the little hanging clips taken off) upside down on skewers in a cardboard box. Then I painted away! It took 2 coats over the red baubles but easily covered the gold. They made for a beautiful white textured decoration.
After doing this I also found other really cool ways to upcycle your old baubles, so I’ll list 5 more different upcycles below to inspire you!
