Unicornaments

Hello people! So last week was a busy week for me which is why there was just a quick little blog post, but today we are back in action with a really cute project that was a lot of work! So sit back, relax and enjoy the many steps of this super punny craft: unicornaments!

I had in my crafty stash some clear glass ornaments and decided it was time to do something with them. The first step to these ornaments was some glitter and floor polish. Yes. you heard me right. Floor polish. I learned this trick from my mother! Take off the metal attachment that holds the hanger to the ornament, pour a small amount of floor polish into the ornament and swish it around until all of the inside is covered with a thin layer. Then siphon in some glitter and twist the ornament around until glitter is caught in all of the polish. Tap out to extra glitter, replace the top of the ornament and let it dry! Below are all 12; I decided that unicorns could be whatever they wanted to be and went for all different colors.

The next step for these ornaments are the hangers and the little unicorn ears. I went with felt for both of these; I cut out felt strips to string and tie through the metal loop at the top of the ornaments and then cut the ears for each unicorn out of the same felt to match. I then cut out some smaller pieces of contrasting felt to work as the "inner ear." I attached the 2 felt pieces together with hot glue and then stuck the whole ear piece to the glass ornament with some high strength gel Gorilla Glue. I think superglue would have also worked, but it has such a small window before it dries and I wanted to have a few minutes to be able to move and reposition the ears before they were stuck on for good.

Once the ears were all set, the next step was where things got a little more complicated: the unicorn horns! I was originally going to buy the little horns already made on Etsy, but all the ones I could find were about 2 inches long and I needed something smaller given the size of the ornaments themselves. So I ended up buying a small unicorn horn mold off of Etsy as well as some oven-bake Polymer clay to make the horns out of. If you want the mold I used you can use the link below to check it out on Etsy. I was so cheap and great quality!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/577840971/unicorn-horn-silicone-mold-4-fondant?ga_search_query=unicorn&ref=shop_items_search_3

I think technically the mold was meant for Polymer clay to be baked in, but I am impatient and didn't want to wait for each horn to cook and cool before I moved on to the next one. So I just used the mold to shape each horn and baked them on a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray according to the directions for the clay.

After the horns cooled, I painted them a wide array of colors using some basic acrylic craft paint. After several coats of acryclic paint were dry, it was time for more of my favorite substance: GLITTER! Using a small a paintbrush, I painted some paper glue onto specific spots on the horns and sprinkled glitter over them quickly so that the glitter would only stick to the glued spots. Like so:

So I haven't fully finished glueing all the adorable little horns on the ornaments yet, but did try out one to see what it would look like! This process took a combination of 2 types of glue: superglue and more of the gel Gorilla glue. I put a sizable dot of Gorilla glue on the ornament because it will dry clear and very strong, but then also squeezed a tiny bit of superglue to keep the horn from sliding off the surface of the ornament before the slow-drying Gorilla glue took hold. Here is one all completed! 

I think as I continue to finish the rest of these ornaments off, I may go crazy and add a little more glitter to the base of the horn where it connects to the glass. What do you guys think? Leave a comment letting me know if you think these unicorns need a little more or if they are finished once I attach the horn! Overall these were quite a bit of work, but are coming together so well. Who doesn't love unicorns right? Here's a little hint for next week's blog: a craft made specifically for my boyfriend!

 - Rebecca