Folk Art Color Shift Christmas Ornament Tutorial

I found that the new  "Folk Art Color Shift" paint line is perfect for making last-minute Christmas Ornaments.  They have a fun finish that works so well with the clear glass ornaments that can be found at my local Michael's Craft Store.  My dogs got a hold of the Christmass tree and managed to break some of the ornaments, so I figured I would make some inexpensive replacements and write out a brief tutorial on how I made them using the Folk Art Color Shift paints.

Here is the list of supplies I used:
Folk Art color shift Paint - Orange Flash
Folk Art Brushed Metal Paint - Brushed Antique Gold
Folk Art Junky Glitter in Gold
Clear Glass Ornaments
Christmas Tree Sparkle Stickers

Step 1:
I removed the metal bits from the ornament.  Since the paint, I am using is rather thick, I covered the end of the ornaments with a piece of aluminum foil so that I could reposition the balls out during the day to make the paint move onto different areas of the ball without letting the paint dry out right away. I did this with each ball.

Step 2:
I squeezed a bit of paint into the ball and let it swirl around. I did this to all the balls, using one paint at a time.

Step 3:
I allowed paint to dry before adding next color.

Note: this is how I did it but you could add the paint while the other is not dry to create some fun marbling techniques.

Step 4:
Once I used all the colors that I wanted on the balls, I allowed them to dry out completely.

Step 5:
Add a sticker

Step 6:
To finish I just put the metal top back onto the ornaments and hung them on the wreath and tree.

I really enjoyed working with the new color shift paints. They are pretty easy to use and you can get some fun effects with them. You can not really tell from my photos just how cool this paint really is. My daughter is trying them out on her comic con costume to see what results she can get from them. I will let you know how that works out.

Disclaimer:  This tutorial is not sponsored. I paid for everything except the color shift paint which was sent to me to test out by Plaid.

If you are interested in other Plaid products I have reviewed, please feel free to use the search key on this page and put in a search for "Plaid".  There is also a review of the plaid gallery glass window paints and folk art enamels.

My Review of the New Folk Art Ultra Dyes

Folk Art Ultra Dye comes in 14 Intense colors

If you love rich colorful fabric, art work and table top items, then you are going to enjoy

the new Folk Art Ultra Dyes which can be used on fabric, wood, and other natural fibers.

Beyond the beautiful 14 colors that the Folk Art Ultra Dye is available in, you can also mix the colors to create new colors and for creating Ombre Effects on natural fiber projects.  These colors are rich and a little goes a long way. I decided to paint the dyes on some unfinished wood die cuts to see how they applied and how opaque each color was.  

These are the different colors of the Folk Art Ultra Dyes that were sent to me.

I first saw these dyes in the Plaid Booth Winter at the 2016 CHA Mega Show.  The display for this dye was a beautiful selection of colorful objects that caught my eye as I walked by.

Look at how bright the Folk Art Ultra Dye is on these unfinished wicker balls

Below are some of the beautiful items on display that were dyed using the Folk Art Ultra Dye.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Fabric

I was so excited when I heard I going to be sent some bottles to test out.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Unfinished wood

The box came from Plaid and I was so excited to see they had sent me one of each color.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Wooden Hoops

The dyes are sold in 8 oz white bottles and are available at JoAnns, Hobby Lobby and AC Moore Stores.

The colors that I got are:

• 5601 Pucker Up
• 5602 solar power 
• 5603 Infrared 
• 5604 Hot Flash
• 5605 Turquoise
• 5606 Blue Bayou
• 5607 Rendezvous
• 5608 Purple Rain
• 5609 Hot Pink
• 5610 Venom
• 5611 Emerald City
• 5612 Lady Marmalade
• 5613 Raspberry Beret
• 5614 Tantalizing Teal
• 5618 Satin Varnis (a coat of this will protect the surface of the dyed project)

There may be more colors in the future but I have to say this are a pretty great selection.  The paints come in opaque bottles which is probably to protect the pigment in the dyes but don't quote me on that.  Anyway, these dyes are rich and really pigmented, as you can see below.

Folk Art Ultra Dyes used on a Recollections Water Resist Cube

I used three of the dye colors on one of the new Recollections Water Resist Cubes and it worked great.

Here is what the paperwork says about the dyes:

• They are self-sealing.
• Great for dying wood, natural fibers and some porous surfaces.
• The brush on bold with vibrant color (pigment)
• They can be used to create ombre Effects.
• The dyes can be used for stenciling patterns
• The dyes are non-toxic

I can not wait to get started planning what items I am going to dye to test out some of the above claims.  I love colorful objects and these dyes are perfect for so many different types of projects.  I will be posting some projects using this dyes over the next few months.  Today I decided to test it out on some unfinished wood just to see what the coverage was like and I am impressed.

I found that the yellows were very light on the first application, however the color can be built up by adding more layers of the dye onto the wood.

The Orange color (5612 ) on the other hand, went on very rich and only required one application.

I found that a little goes a long way on these dyes, so in order to control how much dye poured out of the bottle I left the protecting metal piece.  I  then made a small hole in each lid and gently poured out a small amount.

A dime size amount was enough to paint the unfinished wood dye cut, a large piece of wood (24 x24) with quite a bit still left over (I decided to work on multiple projects at the same time to avoid wasting the dyes).

Some of the Folk Art Ultra Dye colors are more intense than others (like the 5607 versus 5603) but I found adding a small amount of water to the color would lighten the hue a bit.

The photo below has a piece of wood I painted with the dye and below it is a canvas that I painted with the same color of dye.

Folk Art Ultra Dyes painted onto Recollections Water Resist Cubes and Unfinished Wood

The difference is the intensity of the color.   I added water to the dye to lesson the intensity of the hue, which worked great. I love the lighter shade and it looked great on the Recollections Water Resist Cube.  I found that the Folk Art Ultra dyes are really versatile dyes and so easy to use.  Plaid recently put up a free ebook on how to use the Folk Art Ultra Dyes, so if you want to read more tips on how to use the Folk Art Ultra Dyes or see some Free Easy Folk Art Ultra Dye Projects, go check it out:  Plaids Beginner Guide to Ultra Dyes


Hint: Wear gloves while working with dyes to keep your hands from getting stained.  Also, clean up as you go so because these dyes will sink into any porous surface.  I used just a bit of water, paper towels and a baby wipe to keep my work area and tools clean while I tested the paints. Don't worry I did not throw out the paper towels, they are currently drying so that I can use them for a future project (why waste a now beautifully stained surface). The colors looks so great on the paper towels, I just knew I could use them for other projects.

They don't look like much in the picture above, but once I opened them up to let them dry, I realized these would be great for back grounds on cards and other projects.

  

Handmade Charlotte's New Cross Stitch Kits and Folk Art Stencil Lines

Rachel Faucett, of the Handmade Charlotte Blog, was on hand to give us a peek at her new "Bohemian Bazaar Stencil" line in the Plaid booth at the CHA Mega Show. These are really neat stencils that are globally inspired designs which you can see by looking at these Moorish and Tangier Patterns.

She used the Suzani Splendor patterned stencil to paint the surfaces of these plates.

The same stencils used on a flat wooden surface. These are really nice light weight stencils which make them flexible and perfect for using with both flat and curved surfaces.

Rachel was demonstrating how to use her stencils by doing a scarf "Make & Take" using the stencils and Folk Art Multi Surface paints.

The Bohemian Bazaar Stencils were so easy to use and the results were great.

If you look closely at the project in this picture, you can see that she used her Ikat patterned stencil to paint this project.

Rachel Faucett also has a new line of wooden cross stitch projects that are so cute and portable.

Each kit comes with a pre-cut wood shape, floss, needle and instructions.

The Handmade Charlotte Wooden Base Cross Stitch Projects are available and several different shapes making it a fun beginning cross stitch project.

Another advantage to these wooden cross stitch projects is that they can be displayed or used in a variety of ways.

For more inspiration, I recommend visiting the Plaid blog to see the various projects that Rachel Faucett has posted there.