Matte Christmas Ornaments

I don't usually start thinking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving but...

I was walking through Target the other week, fully intending on grabbing the couple items that I needed (aka how all Target trips start, right?), when I rounded the corner to find that the new Hearth and Hand (aka Joanna Gaines) line was out.  Luckily, I had only grabbed a basket and not a cart, or I'm pretty sure I could have purchased the whole shelf.  Anyone out there have the same problem?!  Everything looks so simple and cozy, and I like that the line is made up of smaller items (accessories) that are decently made, rather than cheap replicas of bigger pieces (furniture).

Anyway, it was before Halloween, and so I could not bring myself to purchase anything from the Christmas section of Hearth and Hand, but I really liked these ornaments:

                     

Source: Target (white and black) 

They are made with a matte finish, and I like the little x details.  They weren't terribly expensive ($13 for a 8), but I decided to try to make my own this time.

So, this is what I ended up with:

I bought both plastic and paper mache ornaments from Michael's along with gray (Ash Gray) and cream (Parchment) colored chalk paint.  The plastic ones were much more cost effective, and the chalk paint stuck to them, so I would recommend those.  I've linked to the supplies at the bottom of the post.

It took two coats of the base color, then I added little v's, sort of like the ones that I would draw as a kid for birds rather than hard angles.  

  
You can see that they are hand-made (or at least hand-painted), but I kind of like them that way.  The matte color will look nice with the wooden and metallic ornaments that I plan to hand them with.  The colors I chose were very neutral, but the same idea works in any color scheme.  And in case anyone needs to see them in place, here they are on a tree in my backyard. :)

  
Here's the source list:
Plastic Ornaments - on sale at the moment for $5 for 12
Parchment (Cream) Paint (I bought the 8oz bottle, but this 2oz would be plenty for a dozen ornaments) - $2
Ash Gray Paint (They only have it in the larger size, but you could buy this black and lighten it up a little with the parchment) $7.50 or $2

I realized later that I could have used some cheap old ornaments I had laying around and just painted those, so if you have some, consider that too!

Oh, and if you need some more holiday inspiration, you can check out some projects from past years here:

 

2014 Christmas 

2016 Christmas

2016 Outdoors

Have a great Thanksgiving!
~Amy