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Frosty Christmas Baubles

A new look for your Christmas tree

Is there such a thing as a Christmas tree without Christmas baubles? I think not. Or at least it would be a shame if the tree was bare of those beautiful round balls, that seem to be a universal symbol for Christmas trees all over the world. But baubles year in and year out, that gets old too. That is until you read further and learn about our Innovative Christmas Bauble project where we took the humble Christmas bauble to the next level. This is bound to become your next favorite Christmas project!

Materials used:

How it was done:

Here is an idea without reinventing the wheel; a new style of Christmas bauble. “Great” you may say to yourself but the Christmas bauble has been around for as long as the Christmas tree and everything has been done before. Not exactly… Our Innovative Christmas Bauble project was fueled by exactly this challenge.

The same round form, and a new way to dress it up. All we needed was the new Montana GOLD Fluorescent color F6200 Active Cyan, Montana PRIMER Universal, and some Montana MARBLE Effect in the color white. Our two designs were a Frosty bauble and a Glow under-UV light fluoro bauble.

The Frosty Bauble

The frosty bauble is a stroke of simple genius. We had white plastic baubles of various sizes to work with and knew that we wanted a sleek and timeless finish. But if you have colored baubles, it is no problem as the first coat of paint will color them white. Already having put on our gloves and mask in our covered painting area, the first step apart from buying some Montana PRIMER Universal and some Montana MARBLE in the color white, was to shake all our cans vigorously for 2-3 minutes till we could hear the mixing ball moving freely.

Then by turning the can upside down and removing the nozzle, we allowed the black safety ring to fall out from under the cap and re-attached it to the valve of the can. A quick spray away from any objects and the can was ready to go.

While holding one bauble at a time, take your Montana PRIMER Universal and evenly coat the whole ball. Spray the bauble with gentle even strokes at about 15 to 20 centimeters distance to prevent too much paint from landing in one spot and forming drips. Once dry repeat the process, but this time with the Montana MARBLE spray. Allow the white strands of marble a little more distance from the bauble so they can organically land on it forming a white-on-white frosted look. The closer the spray is to the bauble, the closer together the strands will be. And that’s it! All you need to do is let them dry and hang them on the tree. And what a beautiful discreet look they now have.

The UV Fluor Bauble

The key to our glowing baubles is the Montana GOLD Fluorescent color Active Cyan, and a UV light. As mentioned, our baubles were white, to begin with. If yours aren’t, that is nothing that a coat of Montana PRIMER Universal or Montana GOLD Shock White can’t fix. After having shaken your cans and gone through the preparation procedures, apply your paint in thin even layers trying to avoid drips. Then let it dry overnight.

Normally the fast drying characteristics of most Montana cans would allow the application of new colors relatively quickly. But in the case of our UV fluoro baubles, we need to apply rubber bands to the surface which requires strong cured paint. If your balls are white to start with, this doesn’t apply. Taking your rubber bands, apply them in various directions around the bauble so that they sit tight against the bauble. Add as many as you wish overlapping them as desired.

Where the rubber bands are, no paint will attach to the bauble leaving interesting lines of varied strengths. Having prepared your Active Cyan can spray thin even coats to your bauble so it is all covered yet avoiding drips. Allow drying. And if you have the time, allow drying overnight.

Once the paint is at least touch-dry, carefully remove all the rubber bands. What is left is Active Cyan baubles with white varying lines that have soft and hard edges. They look very suave as they are in natural daylight. But the magic really happens when they are exposed to ultraviolet light and they glow in the dark. The darker the room or space, the more intense the glowing effect will be.

This is a super simple project with two very unique and innovative results. You and your guests will no longer ignore the Christmas tree in the loungeroom as these beautiful baubles will demand your attention and celebration. A contemporary touch to classic Christmas decor. And it only took less than 5 minutes of actual work time. To make this project even more appealing, it can be done by anyone old enough to use spray paint at any skill level.

All that is left to do now is enjoy Christmas and see what else is under the tree.

Merry Christmas and Happy Crafting.