apple

To dispel worries about the first day of school, have your child greet the teacher with a crackled apple ornament. This quick project is made from a recycled glass Christmas ornament. The original gold color of the ornament peeks through the cracks of the restyled apple ornament, making the apple resemble an award of honor. The teacher will love it, and it couldn’t hurt to have a few brownie points racked up for the beginning of the year either. 😉

Things You Will Need:

Craft wire
Ruler
Wire cutters
2-inch gold Christmas ball
Crackle medium
Paintbrush
Red acrylic paint
Brown acrylic paint
Silk flower stem or two silk flower leaves
Hot glue gun
Raffia
Scissors
Red embroidery floss

What To Do:

Step 1
Cut a 12-inch length of craft wire using wire cutters. Thread the wire through the wire hanger on a 2-inch gold, glass, Christmas ball. Twist one end around the hanger. Allow the rest of the wire to hang free. You will use this wire to hang your ornament while paint applications are drying.

Step 2
Apply a layer of crackle medium to the surface of the ball ornament. Allow the medium to dry to a tacky feel.

Step 3
Apply a layer of red acrylic paint over the tacky crackle medium. Work quickly. Do not paint over any section more than once or you may run the risk of smudging the crackling.

Step 4
Wrap the extended craft wire around a cupboard knob or clothes hanger. As the paint dries, it will crackle, showing the gold of the ball through the separating cracks.

Step 5
Paint the cap of the Christmas ball’s hanger using brown acrylic paint. This is the apple stem. Allow the paint to dry.

Step 6
Peel two silk leaves from a silk flower stem. Arrange the leaves at the bottom edge of the stem and hot glue to secure. Wrap a strand of raffia around the stem and tie the ends in a knot. Trim the ends to the desired length.

Step 7
Cut an 8-inch length of red embroidery floss. Remove the craft wire from the ornament’s hanger. Thread the floss through the hanger. Bring the ends together and tie in an overhand knot 1 inch from the end.

You can further personalize the ornament by writing the teacher’s name on the front of the ornament using a black paint pen. Dip the tip of a toothpick in black paint and dot the points of each letter to give even the worst handwriting a custom finish.

If you’re looking ahead to Halloween, check out my Witch Ball Ornament here.

Enjoy!

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