Kick off the holiday season with a DIY Christmas Ornament Painting Party! Dollar Tree Ornaments & Craft Store paint keeps the budget low without skimping on the fun!
I know I turn into a little kid when the holidays come around, I want to decorate everything and hang lights and garlands off of anything that will stand still.
Get crafty with 24 Festive DIY Christmas Garlands
My kids are the same way and every year they really get into the DIY aspect of the holiday (what can I say, it’s genetic!). Most of my DIY Christmas projects skew to the easy side but they’re not all super kid-friendly.
In an effort to bring the younger ones into my frenzy of Christmas crafting, I decided to throw them a little DIY Ornament Painting party and I’m going to show you exactly how to do it (without spending a fortune!).
Ornament Painting Supplies
The secret weapon for any budget project is, of course, the Dollar Tree. They’ve always been a haven for crafters but in the last few years, they’ve really stepped it up, especially when it comes to the holidays.
Head to the holiday craft section and check out the wooden ornaments. Make sure you pay attention to the pack size, depending on the design you can get anywhere from 2-8 ornaments for $1.25.
When it comes to working with kids, wooden is the way to go. They’re easy to paint, you can’t shatter them into a million pieces and if they hate them, you can always add another layer!
I was planning for four kids, my feral offspring and their two best friends, so I picked up:
- Christmas Trees (8 pack)
- Snowman (8 pack)
- Snowflakes (8 pack)
- Santa Picture Frames (2 pack)
- Santa Bear Picture Frames (2 pack)
Each kid will get 7 ornaments to paint, which is right in the sweet spot of ‘done too quickly’ and ‘this is boring’.
Before I set them loose with the paint I had them write their names and the year on the back of the ornaments. My mom still has spray-painted pasta from when I was little and I love seeing it every year.
Also, and I can not stress this enough, grandparents love this kind of thing!
Another thing to pick up at the Dollar Tree is a roll of craft paper from the packing section. You can also use wrapping paper if you have some left over from a previous year.
One thing I’ve picked up over the course of many kid-centric craft parties is to have everything protected from the get-go.
You don’t need to go full Dexter but covering the entire table with a layer of paper you can toss at the end will make cleanup much easier!
Along with the ornaments you’ll need paint, paintbrushes, water cups, paper towels, and paper plates. You can get all of these at the Dollar Tree but I prefer getting my paints and brushes at Michael’s.
Their Craftsmart line is perfect for projects like this. It’s a great craft quality paint, very pigmented, easy to work with, and super cheap!
My paint supply has been decimated by creative children so I picked up a 24-pack of Satin Finish Craft paint (on sale at the time for $9.99!) and a pack of 24 brushes.
I have nice paintbrushes for myself but when it comes to kids, it’s better to let them destroy cheap ones!
When the kids got home from school I had them change into some painting clothing (or aprons) and set them loose.
I was expecting a lot of white snowmen and green trees but I should have known better!
When given the chance to do anything they will, and that’s great. The world needs more sunset snowmen and pastel-gradient Christmas trees.
If you happen to be… a control freak… about stuff like this I recommend setting things up and then walking away.
I know how hard it is to watch a kid mix the black and yellow paint on Frosty’s face but if you want them to have fun, just let it happen.
Personally, I don’t believe in loose glitter but if you’re a more adventurous person you can add some to the mix.
Another option is to pull out some glitter paint once the original paint dries to add some extra holiday sparkle.
When they were done painting I collected the ornaments and hid them from the cat so they could dry and we all enjoyed a little snack of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes.
To sum things up:
- Dollar Tree Paint
- Craft Store Paint
- Cover the table with paper
- Walk away and embrace the chaos
Check out my Christmas Page for more ideas or start here:
