Clear fillable ornaments have become one of my favorite craft foundations because there are so many ways to use them. Just like me, most people tend to think of them as something to use to make Christmas ornaments, but we discovered projects that make them useful all year long for all sorts of things such as keepsakes, candy holders, wall hangings, party favors, wedding decorations, floral picks, memory projects, home décor, and much more.
The more ideas we came up with, the more uses we discovered. One idea almost always led to another. We found some really cool ways to use both halves together as well as using only one half of the ornament for completely different project. They make wonderful little display domes, memory keepsakes, candy holders, and decorative accents.
What started out as a simple Christmas ornament project has turned into a growing collection of craft ideas. Some are quick and easy enough for children to make, while others would make beautiful gifts, memory keepsakes and even home décor pieces. We found ourselves looking at everyday items such as shells, buttons, lace pieces, small toys, figurines and other miniature stuff and wondering what that would look like inside an ornament.
This page is where we'll share our discoveries, along with a few ideas that are still floating around in our heads waiting to be made. Hopefully they'll inspire a few ideas of your own!
Note: This is a work in progress. We should be finished with it in a day or 2 but it's definitely worth the wait!
Note: For your convenience and to assist you in being able to locate the material required for this project, some (or all) of the materials listed may be linked to other websites or contain affiliate links. All will open into a new window so that you don't lose this pattern page.
When I started writing out a materials list for this page it quickly became a small book! So many different things can be used so I did away with the list. But for the most part you can pretty much see the kinds of materials that were used and if you are looking for any theme in particular you probably already have those materials assembled. If you come across an ornament that you want to make and you can't figure out give us a holler.
I don't know what it is about miniature things, but they're just plain fun! We discovered that clear fillable ornaments are the perfect little display domes for fairy gardens and miniature scenes. They provide a wonderful effect when you add little tiny cottages, flowers, moss, mushrooms, and other whimsical embellishments. It feels like you are on the outside of their little world looking in.
These four ornaments were created with miniature fairy garden accessories and are displayed in flower pots and garden planters. We hung one on an ornament display stand and situated it in the middle of the plant which we think turned out really well too. Imagine one of these tucked into a wreath, or sitting on a plant shelf. You could even situate the ornament on top of a block of painted wood, a cool looking rock, a jar lid or mason jar ring... just about anything that you have laying around.
The clear acrylic ornament acts like a little window into another world. Just fill the bottom with moss, tiny pebbles, or faux grass and then begin decorating. Get creative and if you don't find the right pieces at the craft store think about in the doll house section or your favorite online stop.
Potpourri ornaments can be made from so many pretty things sitting around in your craft room. Ours all turned out so pretty and can be displayed anywhere around the house.
Fillable ornaments are perfect for holding dried flowers, botanicals, spices, and other fragrant embellishments. Depending on the colors and materials you choose, they can be dressed up for the holidays or used year-round as part of your home décor.
You can add a ribbon or cord to the top or wrap some organza ribbons around the outside like we did for a different look.
Since these ornaments don't have holes we heated the tip of an ice pick and melted a few small holes near the top of the ornament to allow the fragrance to escape. The holes are hardly noticeable once the ornament is decorated, but they make a big difference in how well the fragrance travels.
You don't have to limit yourself to traditional potpourri either. Dried lavender, rose petals, cinnamon sticks, cloves, dried orange slices, eucalyptus, tiny pine cones, and even scented wood shavings would all make beautiful displays.
These would make great original hostess gifts and are so easy to customize.
I came across a miniature statue of a dog while I was looking for something else and it reminded me of my son's hunting dog, Copper. And with that the next idea for a fillable ornament theme was born.
These ornaments can be personalized with your pet's name and decorated to match their personality. Add a favorite photograph, a collar charm, miniature toys, dried flowers, or other embellishments that remind you of your faithful companion.
Celebrate a new puppy, commemorate a pet adoption, or simply honor a beloved companion.
This was a fun project inspired by reading about teacher appreciation week and remembering a wooden apple that I knew I had. From there I looked across my desk at a pencil and the rest just began to fall into place.
The books are made from pieces of an old wooden ruler, cut, sanded and painted to look like books. The pencil is a full size, sharpened to a nub. A piece of black chalk paper and a few toothpicks became a chalkboard and frame.
Sometimes the most fun part of a project is figuring out what everyday things can become when you look at them a little differently.
Though I didn't do one I can picture this being a great gift for others besides just teachers. Nurses, bus drivers, Sunday school teachers, coaches, daycare workers, librarians, scout leaders, piano teachers, grandparents... I guess just about any person you wanted to make a gift for.
Valentine's Day was probably one of the first holidays that came to mind when we started brainstorming fillable ornament ideas. There are just so many fun little valentine-y things that work well as fillers in a clear ornament.
Conversation hearts, ribbon roses, pearls, lace, dried flowers, love notes, and tiny charms work, mini stuffed animals, paper hearts, rhinestones, all work beautifully in Valentine's Day themes. And if you walk down the Valentine's day aisle you are sure to find more than plenty of other things that appeals to you. The hardest part is deciding whether you want your ornament to be playful, elegant, romantic, or sweet.
This was a fun one but we stopped after making 4, and we didn't even put a dent in our valentine stash.
Weddings are another category that seemed to grow the longer we thought about it. We started with a bride and groom inside an ornament and before long ideas for guest tables, wedding keepsakes, centerpieces, and bridal shower decorations began piling in.
Pretty little things like flowers, pearls, ribbons, lace, miniature rings, photographs, and keepsakes all work well in fillable ornaments and can easily be matched to the colors and style of the wedding. Here's what we came up with.
There are so many ways these could be used and filled. Other things we thought about but didn't try were
I don't know who had more fun making these, the kids or the adults. There is just something about turning candy and craft supplies into silly little critters that makes it hard to stop at making only one.
Before long our craft table was covered with feathers, foam sheets, candies, and googly eyes and we were trying to decide what animal to make next.
These were pretty easy to put together. You only use half of the ornament so one ornament will make two candy animal pops. The hardest part was probably deciding which to make and figuring out the pattern. We cut the hanger off of the ornament half, figured out the critter shape and traced the shape onto a foam sheet to create the backing, added the candies, then glued the backing onto the ornament half. We then glued on a tongue depressor or craft stick and finished them with whatever decorations seemed to fit the character we were making. The candies can be color coordinated with the color of your animal or creature.
We used foam sheets, matching candies, wiggle eyes, chenille stems (pipe cleaners), craft feathers, tongue depressors, pom poms, cotton balls, beads and a little imagination to make these. Other things you could use are acrylic paints, felt, buttons, construction paper, ribbon, glitter foam, sequins, stickers, rhinestones or miniature flowers.
(Cut the tail off of the black dragon and it becomes a bat!)
One fillable ornament makes two animal critters, which would certainly help if you're making twenty-four of them for a scout project, birthday party, Halloween giveaways, classroom school project, Valentine's party or Sunday school class.
I think if I had to say which category was my favorite it would be these candy critters. (Can't you tell from all the ones we did?)
With a lot of baby miniatures laying around we decided to give the subject a try. Baby showers, birth announcements, nursery decorations, and baby's first Christmas all seemed like a natural fit for fillable ornaments and keepsakes.
After doing the half ornament candy pops we found ourselves still thinking about half ornaments and came up with something I thought was really special, half ornaments used on framed birth announcements holding the baby's hospital bracelet. We also did a few full ornaments, newborn photo ornaments for family members, one for a baby shower, and another as a Christmas ornament to celebrate baby's first holiday season.
There are so many baby keepsakes that could be displayed with the fillable ornaments and you can make them as simple or elaborate as you'd like, using things like photographs, hospital bracelets, baby booties, birth statistics, a lock of hair, adding tiny embellishments that help tell the story of a very special little person.
Easter gave us another excuse to pull out the flowers, moss, miniatures, and pastel colors. Some of these ideas lean more toward spring decorating while others would make cute Easter basket fillers, table decorations, or classroom projects. We also changed things up a little and grabbed a few mason jar collars and painted them which became great display bases.
Easter took us in several directions. We used bunnies, chicks, Easter baskets, Easter trees, spring flowers, candy critters and even made a wonderful Resurrection Sunday keepsake.
These types of Easter decorations don't have to be put up with the other Easter decorations. Flowers, butterflies, baby animals and spring colors work just as well throughout the entire season.
These fillable ornaments don't celebrate a holiday or special occasion but they were just plain fun to do. Everyone has a favorite hobby, sport, place, or interest. These decorations can sit on a shelf, windowsill, desk, or countertop all year long.
Golf, music, the beach, favorite cars, and pretty home décor pieces were all easy to turn into fillable ornament displays. They also make thoughtful gifts when you're trying to come up with something a little different for someone who's hard to shop for.
They also make fun decorations for bedrooms, offices, craft rooms, dorm rooms, she sheds and man caves. This category is probably one of the easiest to personalize because almost everyone has a favorite something.
This particular topic goes in all directions. You can create something for anyone for any occasion.
Halloween was one of the harder categories for us to come up with ideas for. Hanging ornaments just don't seem to fit the holiday as naturally as they do for Christmas. Then we started thinking more about table decorations, bowls of fall colored potpourri, miniature scenes and spooky little displays and things began to come together.
The fall decorations were easy. Leaves, pinecones, acorns, raffia ribbon and warm autumn colors practically decorate themselves. Fillable ornaments fit right in sitting in decorative bowls or nestled among other seasonal decorations. We were particularly pleased with the "potions tray". A few common items inside a fillable ornament, add a potion sounding name tag on each, lay them on a black tray with some fairy lights and voilà! Instant Halloween decoration.
Some occasions don't really fit into the holiday or home décor categories. Sometimes you're just proud of someone and want to celebrate a special moment or accomplishment.
Sports photographs, Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts, school activities and special milestones all work well as fillable ornament keepsakes. These are the kinds of decorations that are fun to pull out years later and remember.
I can also picture grandparents displaying several of these together of each of their children and grandchildren.
This category was easy and difficult at the same time. The colors were a given but there aren't nearly as many miniature accessories available for Independence Day as there are for some of the other holidays. Fortunately, red, white and blue do most of the work for you.
The ornament with the metallic foil streamers hanging from the top is made almost entirely from red, white and blue pom poms. Sometimes simple really does work best. The metallic foil streamers reminded us of fireworks bursting in the night sky and turned out to be one of our favorite patriotic decorations.
You don't have to just stick with the usual flags, stars, patriotic ribbon, military themes and summertime decorations, anything red, white and blue work for this category.
And now, we've finally reached the group of fillable ornaments that started out being where I expected this craft to go. Christmas ornaments can be elegant, cutesy, sentimental, personalized, or simply fun. Pretty much every idea on this page could be done with a Christmas flair with a little ribbon and some holiday colors.
Here are some ideas we came up with.
If you are interested and in case it isn't obvious, the top of the gum ball machine is a red soda bottle cap with a slit for the hanger (Yay no painted needed). The base of the gum ball machine is a "red solo cup" with the bottom portion cut off (again, no paint needed). The dispenser mechanism is a pull tab from a soda can.
The nature of a fillable ornament, round and fillable with a hanger on top, automatically says Christmas. But after all of the ideas for weddings, babies, Easter, Halloween, and everything in between, we, or at least I, don't see them that way anymore and I'm not sure at what point I began seeing them as being useful for so much more.
