Easiest Way to Age New Christmas Ornaments

Here is the absolute easiest way to age new Christmas Ornaments to make them look like vintage shiny brites.

Y’all, I have been fortunate to find a good supply of Vintage Shiny Brite Ornaments, and I love using them at Christmas. However, I get so many questions about where I get my faded, rustic ornaments. They can be hard to find and are pretty pricey. Sooooo………

I have tried several methods I’ve seen online, and nothing worked well for me until the shiny light bulb in my brain finally went off. So here’s my ah-ha moment and how to do it!

These are my inspiration ornaments. I’ve been collecting these for several years, and they are the real deal.

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Why Age New Ornaments

I get so many questions about the ornaments on my Christmas Tree, which are all old and faded.

I love the look but finding real vintage shiny brite ornaments had become more expensive than when I started my collection. Therefore, I decided to see if I could make new ornaments look like the vintage version.

I love how they look and hope you do too.

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Supplies Needed To Age Ornaments

1. Matt Mod Podge
2. Black Craft Paint
3. Small Paint Brush
4. Paper Towels
5. New or semi new Glass Ornaments

Prep Work

First, protect your table or work area. Then remove the hangers from the ornaments and set them aside to add back once your ornaments are aged and dried.

Here is a small supply of new ornaments that are going to be aged.

Here I’ve added a few vintage ornaments for comparison and inspiration.

3 ornaments of each color are vintage and in second photo 2 gold vintage ornaments for inspiration

You can see the aging of this vintage ornament up close. This is the look we want to achieve by using this technique.

Due to the natural aging process, most of my vintage ornaments no longer have a smooth surface and are not as shiny as the new ones.

Paint

To age your new ornaments, you will want to add just a touch of black paint to your matt mod podge. However, you only need a touch of black to make a transparent, grayish appearance.

Then, brush over the entire surface of your ornament to apply an aged appearance to your new Christmas ornaments.

New Ornament Vs. Ornament covered in mod podge mixture.

Rub off any excess mod podge gently with a paper towel. The ornament will be practically dry at this point; however, place it on wax paper or another smooth surface to completely dry.

Cover the ornament completely and rub off any excess with a paper towel.

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New Ornament vs. covered in the mixture and then after wiping off with a paper towel.

The ornament on the left, in the below photo, is the original shiny brite vintage ornament, and the one on the right is the faux aged ornament. Hard to tell the difference.

Here are three gold ornaments that I started with. Can you tell which one has been aged with this easy technique? Hint: The new ornament doesn’t have its hanger replaced yet. LOL

The Aged Ornaments

Here are the vintage ornaments and the new ornaments that have been aged to look vintage.

Note: You will notice that some ornaments age easier than others. When wiping off the excess mixture from the ornaments, be cautious to rub gently until you see how the ornament reacts to the mod podge. You can see that the green decorations lost more color than the gold and blue. I could have removed most of the color if I had rubbed it vigorously.

Vintage and Aged Together

Here is a mix of vintage ornaments with faux aged ones, and it is hard to tell the difference.

Another project is to repurpose several old Christmas decorations, and you can see some of the results here.

In addition, here is an Easy 2 Step method to Flock a Christmas Tree.

This is such an easy project, and I hope you try it. Another easy project is how to make a dried fruit and herb garland and napkin decoupage ornaments.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I look forward to sharing my next adventure with you.

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