Christmas is in full swing over here and casa de Kailo Chic and I have been creating so many fun new ornaments this year. Yes, I realize that Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet, but once it does I get pretty busy with the whole making and selling my handbags and accessories that I always have to start a bit early with the Christmas decor. That being said, yesterday I created the cutest little mud cloth inspired ornaments for one of my many mini trees. After seeing these mud cloth pumpkins from Homey Oh My!, I just knew the technique would work perfectly for a set of ornaments. Thanks Amy for the inspiration!
The process is fairly simple and you only need to two things to make these fun DIY ornaments. Namely black matte ornaments and a white paint pen.
I found these black matte ornaments at At Home stores ($5.99 for 16 of them) and the white paint pen (such as an oil based sharpie or other white oil based paint pen) can be found at any craft or art supply store. I picked this one up at Michaels for around $2.
Then it is just a matter of using the pen to draw out your mud cloth design. I don’t have great penmanship, but I can certainly sketch the geometric lines, triangles, squares and dots that are common in mud cloth designs. Here is a good sample of different patterns you can use on your ornaments.
Image via ohmimola.blogspot.com
I tried to differ my design on each ornament by using both different patterns and drawing them in different directions. For some I started in the middle of the ornament with a pattern and then added to it on the top and bottom.
For others I started at the top and worked my way down covering most of the ornament with pattern.
And for others I started by making a vertical pattern all the way around the ornament.
This is where you get to let your creativity shine. Look at the pattern and get inspired to create your own unique look. Or, if you wish, simply copy mine. Whatever you choose, they look great when grouped together and any flaws in the drawing just make them look handmade which is what mud cloth was and is. And much as I love these displayed in my white faux tree, I think they look just as great in a white bowl as a coffee table centerpiece.
That wasn’t too bad now was it? You should definitely try these out this holiday season. And if you want to vary it up a bit, feel free to through in a few white ornaments decorated with a black paint pen, or even use a gold paint pen for a completely different look.
December 9th, 2019 at 8:51 am
Love this idea… I’ll be making these… thank you