Recycled Christmas Bauble Snowball Ornaments

Instead of throwing out those old and tattered Christmas tree ornaments, recycle them to look like new again.



It's so easy and I'll show you how to recycle old Christmas baubles into personalized snowball ornaments. Plus you can take pride in knowing that your old ornaments won't end up in the landfill.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

Recycled Personalized Snowball Tree Ornaments

I'm excited to be joining a talented group of ladies in the Do It Over Designers group for the first time. Thank you to Ann The Apple Street Cottage for hosting this event and inviting me to join!



The Do It Over Designers is a group of talented bloggers who love to recycle, upcycle, and DIY. They come together on the fourth Saturday of every other month, making this the last blog hop of 2021. We'll see you back here in January.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

We've had these red tree ornaments since we got married in 1987. I haven't put them on the tree for several years because they'd obviously seen their better days.



They are not expensive ornaments by any means and as you can see in the photo below that one is missing. But I just couldn't get rid of them because of their sentimental value.



Here they are pictured below in their faded and scratched glory. I think we paid less than $4 for them back in the late 80s.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

The inspiration for my first project with our group happened while decorating our Christmas tree. There in the bottom of our decoration bin was the infamous box of ornaments. I opened the box and discovered another had broken. 



Then it dawned on me that the six remaining ornaments could represent our four grandchildren and two grown children. This was just the motivation I needed for our challenge this month to upcycle and personalize the sentimental ornaments.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

These are the supplies I used to transform the ornaments into glistening snowballs. The possibilities for how you embellish them are endless.



What You'll Need To Make It

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from any qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!


Supply List

Old Christmas Ball Ornaments
Matte White Paint
Snow-Tex
Fine Clear Glitter
1-Inch Wooden Letters
Holiday Red Craft Paint
Small Metal Snowflake Charms
Clear Craft Thread or Fishing Line
White Metallic Iridescent Cord String



How To Recycle Old Christmas Ball Ornaments

So let's get started. The first thing you'll need to do is remove the metal caps from the ornaments and set them aside. You'll also need some wooden skewers and styrofoam (or whatever you have on hand) to set the ball ornaments upright on the skewers.



Paint Old Ornaments White

Paint the ornaments with two or three coats of matte white paint, I used Behr Chalk Decorative Paint in the color Tin White.



Old and tattered red Christmas bauble ornaments painted white.

This step is completely optional but if your metal ornament caps are gold like mine, you may want to change them to a cool silver color.



To do that you can either spray paint them silver or use a small art brush and some silver metallic craft paint.



Changing the color on recycled Christmas bauble ornament metal caps from gold to silver with metallic craft paint.

Cover Old Ornaments With Faux Snow

For this next step, it's important that the last coat of white paint is completely dry before we turn the ornaments into snowballs.



Brush a generous amount of Snow-Tex over the painted ornaments with a small paintbrush, the same way you would apply paint.



Try not to get any on the stem of the ornament so the metal cap still fits. Take your brush and stipple over the wet Snow-Tex to add texture, like pictured below.



Turning old and tattered red Christmas ball ornaments into snowball decorations with Snow-Tex.

I love this stuff and go through a jar every holiday season. It dries rock hard so it's durable for holiday decor. You can see how it looks like realistic fallen snow on this large snowflake ornament and on the roof of this Christmas Countdown Santa Cottage.



Make Faux Snowball Ornaments Glisten

Now let's make the snow glisten with fine clear glitter. First, place a tray or something to catch the glitter on your worktable. While the Snow-Tex is still wet, hold the ornament over the tray and sprinkle with fine clear glitter.



Give the ornament a little shake to remove the excess glitter. Set the glittered snowball ornaments back onto the wooden skewers and let the Snow-Tex dry for several hours (I let mine dry overnight).



Pour the extra glitter that fell into the tray back into the jar to reuse for another craft. Nothing goes to waste around here!



Alternatively, you could skip this step and use this glitter snow instead. I've never used it but I know others who have and had great success.



Make the faux snow covered recycled Christmas bauble ornaments glisten with fine clear glitter.

Personalize Snowball Ornaments

This step is completely optional for personalizing the snowball ornaments. As mentioned earlier, I'm personalizing mine with the initials of our two grown children and four grandchildren.



I found the small wooden letters at the dollar store and painted them on both sides with Holiday Red craft paint. I chose red both for the high contrast and it's the accent color of our holiday decor. A pretty silver metallic paint would be lovely too.



Once the painted wood letters are dry, punch small holes on the top of each letter to hang them from the snowball ornaments. To do this, gently tap an awl or a nail with a small hammer once on both sides.



Personalize recycled Christmas bauble ornaments with personalized wooden initials.

Finishing Touches To Snowball Ornament

Now we're ready to embellish the recycled snowball ornaments with a small snowflake charm and wood initial.



If your snowflake charm doesn't have a hanger like mine, then tie an 18-inch strand of clear craft thread (or fishing line) around one point of the snowflake. Then tie it onto the metal ornament hook, leaving the remaining thread for the next step.



A small metal snowflake charm hung from clear craft thread onto recycled tree ornament hook.

Thread the remaining strand of clear craft thread through the hole on the wood letter, tie a double knot, and cut the remaining thread.



Snowflake and wooden letter initial charms hanging from recycled Christmas bauble snowball ornaments.

Cut an 18-inch strand of white metallic cording or narrow ribbon.



Hang recycled Christmas bauble ornament with white metallic cording.

Fold the cording in half and tie a simple slip loop knot onto the ornament hook. Tie the cording in a knot for the ornament hanger and the remaining strands into a small bow.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

Enjoy your personalized snowball ornaments! These would make adorable guest favors for your holiday gatherings too.



I took pride in knowing our old tree ornaments didn't end up in the landfill and can now be enjoyed for another 34 years, God willing.



How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies.

Speaking of snowballs, I also recycled a small wooden crate into an adorable indoor snowball fight holder. It's a cute holiday decoration OR can be used for its intended purpose. We did and had a blast with the grandkids!



Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this idea for recycling old tree ornaments.



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If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!



If you enjoyed this recycled Christmas ornament snowballs idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your favorite board on Pinterest.




How to recycle your old and tattered Christmas tree baubles into adorable personalized snowball ornaments and it is so easy with just a few supplies. #recycledchristmasornaments #snowballornamentsdiy #christmasbaubleideas

Now let's head over to the Do It Over Designers blogs to see what projects they are sharing this month. Just click on the links below.



Do It Over Designers recycle, upcycle, or DIY project blog hop for November 2021.

The Apple Street Cottage
Birdz Of A Feather
Unique Creations By Anita
Exquisitely Unremarkable
My Hubbard Home
Purple Hues & Me
Modern On Monticello
Southern Sunflowers
Pandora's Box



I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.



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Comments

  1. Love these Marie! This is one of those crafts that was meant to be; I mean how cool is it that you had just enough for your kids and grandkids! Now when the 80's calls, you don't have to give these back lol!

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    1. Right! When I had the realization that the six surviving ornaments could represent our kids and grandkids, well there was no turning back.

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  2. These are fabulous, Marie! What a creative way to keep those old ornaments and turn them into family keepsakes.

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    1. Thank you Kim! I now have them hanging on our Christmas tree and will cherish them always.

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  3. What a creative way to upcycle old ornaments! I love snowtex and use it a lot during this season but never gave this any thought! Well done!

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    1. You too, huh! I go through a tub every holiday season. LOL I'm glad you like this idea for old ornaments, Patti and thanks for stopping by. 😀

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  4. What a wonderful idea to update old ornaments, Marie! You did a fabulous job in painting and using snow-tex to decorate them! What a transformation! It certainly is a pleasure having you join us in this 'do over' blog hop! You always have amazing projects!

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  5. I love how your ornaments represent your children and grandchildren, Marie. I think we all have some of those old ornaments at the bottom of the box! Great idea!

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    1. Thank you very much, Ann! I'm thrilled to be part of your awesome Do It Over team and looking forward to joining you all again in 2022. xo

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  6. Marie, I too have old ornaments that I cannot get rid of! I like your idea of turning them into diy snow ball orbs. Even more, is that you created personalized Christmas ornaments for your family. These are the memories we carry with us through the years!

    Merry Christmas sweet lady!
    RR

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    1. They sure are, Rachelle! Thank you so much and Merry Christmas to you as well.

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  7. These are really fabulous, I love the rough texture. Is the rough surface hardy and will it take some handling. I would love to try this. Adding the initials is really cute too.

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    1. Thanks Anita, I'm glad you like them. The Snow Tex dries rock hard so there is no concern about handling the ornaments. I love this stuff and go through a tub every holiday season. LOL

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  8. Ok, you have me thinking about some old ornaments I just came across in the back of a closet! Thanks Marie! Pinned 😊

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    1. Yay, Cindy, happy to hear the snowball ornaments may have offered inspiration for your old ornaments too. Happy Snow Tex'ng!

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  9. Those are beautiful Marie! The personalization makes them so special! Hope you have a very Merry Christmas season! :)

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    1. Thank you so much Susan and wishing you a very Merry Christmas season too!

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  10. What a great makeover Marie! That Snow Tex is cool stuff, and I love that you added glitter, very festive! Now your ornaments are doubly special!
    Jenna

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    1. Thank you so much, Jenna! I can't go a holiday season without a tub of Snow Tex, it's snow magic in a jar. LOL . They are now hanging on our Christmas tree and I love the sentimental pops of white.

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  11. Wow, you really gave those 80's balls some pizzazz! They look awesome and I love how they will remain sentimental. And there I went and donated my balls last month. I don't have your vision lol!

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    1. Thank you Allyson! I'm so happy to have the ornaments back on the tree again and I'm loving the pops of white.

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  12. This is a wonderful idea. I pinned this post immediately when I saw the after photos. Can't wait to try it out. I love projects like this that keep things out of the landfill. Thanks for sharing it and joining the hop this month.

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    1. I'm glad to hear you like this idea for recycling old ornaments, Donna, and have fun updating yours!

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  13. I wouldn’t have thought of personalizing them… that’s such a nice touch! Going to check out some of the other ladies in your new group. They are lucky to have you my creative friend! XOXO 😘

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    1. You're so sweet my friend, thank you so much! I'm happy to have the ornaments back on the tree again, especially now that they were even more sentimental. Enjoy your visits to our talented group member's blogs! xoxo

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  14. How fun are these! They look great and it's such a good way to give the old ornaments new life.

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    1. Thank you Beverly! I'm thrilled to have the ornaments hanging back on the tree again and I'm loving the sentimental pops of white.

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  15. I love this idea, Marie. We don't have any old ornaments floating around but I do have a whole bunch of polystyrene balls that should work with a small tweak so they'll hang. Thanks for the inspo.

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    1. Absolutely! I have some styrofoam balls put aside for this purpose just in case our family expands more in the future (finger's crossed).

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  16. Oh how sweet, Marie. I love that you had a blast making a mess followed by beauty. These are treasures!

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    1. Thank you Larissa, I made it a game with the older grandkids to search the tree for each person's ornament.

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  17. What a great idea for updating old Christmas balls. Your grandchildren will cherish these.

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    1. Thank you Paula! I played a seek game with our six year old grandson to search the tree for each person's ornament. He had fun looking for them with our three year old granddaughter.

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  18. Marie these are absolutely adorable and what a wonderful keepsake to have. Happy Decorating. Have a great week ahead. xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Kris, I will cherish these ornaments always and am loving the pop of white (you inspired me) on our tree. Today I'm working on my dining table centerpiece. Happy Decorating to you as well and wishing you a fab week ahead too. xoxo

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  19. Love how your ornaments turned out Marie. I love snowtex!

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    1. Thank you,Tuula, I'm thrilled with the results! I go through a container of that snow magic in a jar every holiday season. Happy holidays!

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  20. love it! Pined for future! thank you for great idea!

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    1. You are most welcome, I'm glad you like this ornament recycle idea!

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  21. These are so pretty, and I love the recycling of old ornaments, Marie! Pinned, and I'm happy to be featuring you tomorrow at Tuesday Turn About!

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    1. I'm thrilled to hear they'll be featured, thank you so much Julie! xo

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  22. How fun Marie to turn something from the past into a sweet new ornament for now and you had just enough. These are really cute. Hope all is well. xoxo Kris

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    1. Thank you so much Kris! I'm so glad I was able to salvage these old ornaments because they've been with me for so long. Never did I think all those years ago that one day they would be upcycled and personalized with my grandchildren's names.

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