Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments

Come see how to make these glass tinted gold leaf ornaments to make your Christmas tree sparkle. They are beautiful, vintage looking and easy to make! Save this to Pinterest now so you can always find it!

Originally, I was not going to share these ornaments. I started out wanting them to be simple glass tinted ornaments. The craft became Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments as a way for me to cover up something I did not love about these – drippy glue. After showing a few friends who absolutely loved them, I decided I might as well hang them on my tree. And you know what? When they were up on the tree I feel in love!

The problem with glass tinted ornaments

When you are making glass tinted ornaments, you have to use glue and food coloring. They they have to be baked in order to get the glue to properly adhere. But no matter which side you bake on, you end up with a spot where the glue pools. Some people who have also made these said to turn the ornament while baking. Well, that just makes the glue drip in an unattractive way. I just was not okay with the look. It was sloppy and anything but pretty. 

Thank you, gold leaf!

Then I came across gold leaf in the craft aisle as I was looking at things for Christmas and thought I could use it to help me save this craft. So I tried it and it worked! Now the Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments look beautiful on my tree. In fact, I think they pull the whole thing together. I also believe the glass tinted gold leaf ornaments would look beautiful in a bowl or a vase too. What do you think? 

Supplies for the glass tinted gold leaf ornaments

Here are all the supplies you will need to make the glass tinted gold leaf ornaments. If you want to see a full supply list, you can find my Amazon list {HERE}. Be aware there are several gold leaf options on here so you can decide if you prefer a set or want to buy things individually. 

• Glass, clear ornaments – You must use glass for this. You cannot use plastic because they have to go into the oven. 
• Food coloring – You can come up with a variety of color combinations for the ornaments with a basic set of food coloring. I used red, green and yellow to make the colors on my tree. 
• Modge podge or Elmer’s glue – Using modge podge will give you deeper colors while Elmer’s glue creates lighter colors. 
• A brush for mixing the glue and the food coloring – You will destroy this so make sure it is something you do not care about. 
• A mixing container with a pour spout – This will not really clean well again so make sure you can dedicate whatever you use to crafting. 
• Glasses to drain the glue into – I used random glass jars I had sitting around and small mason jars. 
• Cupcake tin – Please make sure this is just for crafting and you do not use it for food again. 
• Gold leaf/Bronze Leaf
• Gold Leaf adhesive
• Two paint brushes – These should be cheap because you will not get either of them back. 
• Paper towels
• Gold Spray paint or acrylic paint for the ornament caps

Steps for making the glass tinted gold leaf ornaments

Step 1

Remove the ornament caps and set aside. You can wither spray paint them outside or paint them now. Or you can do this at the end.

Step 2

Mix together the modge podge/glue with the food coloring in the mixing/pour container. You will have to experiment with this to get colors that you want. Everything will bake together darker than the glue mix. For my brown/amber colored ornaments, I used a mostly red base then added some drops of green and a coupe drops of yellow. For the more green ones, I used mostly a base of green with a few drops of red and yellow. 

Step 3

Pour the glue into the ornament opening and move it around in order to get the glue to cover the whole surface. Do a little at a time until you understand how the glue moves and takes up space. 

Step 4

Place the ornament upside down in a glass or paper cup with the opening facing into the cup to allow the excess glue to drip off. Give it about 5 minutes upside down each. You can go 10 if you want but what I found is that some of the glue will end up dripping out completely. Place them into the 

Step 5

Place them into the cupcake tin when they are done. Know that whichever way you place them, you will end up with a dark circle there. This is fine and you can use the gold leaf later to mask it. Or, if the circle is in a place that does not bother you (like the bottom) you can use the ornament. I have some on my tree that I decided not to gold leaf and left. The spots are either towards the back of the tree or on the bottom. You can make out some of them in the photos above. 

Step 6

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and then bake the ornaments for about 45 minutes. (Again, they must be glass. Do not use plastic ornaments for this project.) Let them cool completely. 

Step 7

When they are cooled, use a brush to apply the gold leaf adhesive to the outside of the ornaments. Place the golf leaf on the ornaments where you want it. I liked to randomly brush the adhesive and then kind of wrap the ornament in the gold leaf. 

Step 8

Give them a few minutes to dry and then pull the larger pieces of gold leaf away. Use a brush to brush off the gold leaf in additional spots or to mar the surface of it so it looks older and a little more vintage. 

Step 9

Cover all the gold leaf on the ornament in another layer of adhesive as if you were modge dodging it on. Then let them dry. 

Step 10

Add the painted hangers back on and place on the tree! 

Tips for working making there Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments

• If you are unsure about the color of the ornament you will get from the glue, you can make one or two to test it before moving forward. However, make sure to cover the glue in the mixing container or it will dry out. 
• You can reuse the paint that drips into the cups from each ornament in subsequent ornaments. I made a lot of these so this was especially nice for conserving the paint. 
• Gold leaf can take some time to get used to the process of applying it. I did not apply my in any particular fashion (except for placing a nice large piece over the spot of glue) and just kind of went with it as it broke and flaked. 
• These will stay tacky for a time from working with the gold leaf adhesive. I did not wait for that to stop and just hung them on the tree. I figured they would fully dry and cure on the tree.
• If these are still tacky when you go to store them for some reason, do not wrap them in paper. I am reusing the containers the ornaments came in. Since they are glass they have a slot for each one. 

Looking for more DIY ornaments?

If you love to DIY the holidays and enjoy my Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments, try these posts too. 

• Faux rusty vintage ornaments {HERE}
• How to make Dried Orange Slices {HERE}
• Floral Vintage Bird Ornaments {HERE}
• Paper Bag Stars {HERE}
• Vanilla and Peppermint Salt Scrub {HERE}
• Dried Flower Fire Starters {HERE}
• Coffee Stained Nutcrackers {HERE}

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Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope you love my DIY Glass Tinted Gold Leaf Ornaments and they inspire you this season for creating a little charm in your home. Happy Crafting!

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