Show off painted ornaments in see-through packaging. Tuck them into a box meant for cupcakes. Or make a tube of acetate, and wrap it in cellophane.

Tools and Materials

• Narrow-tip and wide-tip squeeze bottles
• High-gloss craft paints
• Gloss finish
• Wooden skewers
• Foam board
• Clear glass ornaments
• Small paintbrush

Glass Ornaments How-To

1. Fill squeeze bottles with paints. Add gloss finish as desired to thin color and make it more translucent. Make a drying rack by inserting wooden skewers into foam board. Remove caps from ornaments.
2. For speckled ornaments: Use a narrow-tip bottle to squirt paint upward into an ornament so it spatters. Let dry upside down for 1 day on rack. Then add a second layer: Squeeze a small amount of new color into ornament so it runs down sides, then rotate ornament to spread the paint. Repeat as needed for desired effect.
3. For streaked ornaments: Repeat previous steps, but don't let the first color dry. Add second layer right away so colors swirl together.
4. For solid ornaments: Use a wide-tip bottle to squeeze paint into the ornament so it runs down the sides, then rotate ornament to spread paint. Repeat to achieve desired look.
5. Let all ornaments dry for 1 day on drying rack. Paint caps with paintbrush, and let dry.

High-gloss paint and gloss finish, by Martha Stewart Crafts, from michaels.com. Glass ornaments, sunshinecrafts.com.

Cupcake box, clearenvelopes.com. Acetate, 9 inches by 12 inches by 0.005 inch, by Grafix, from dickblick.com. Clear cellophane, 20-inch-by-100-foot roll, nashvillewraps.com.