Alcohol Ink Decorative Ceramic Tile Christmas Ornaments


I love making Christmas Ornaments. I have more than I need, but, I just can't help myself. So, when I was at the hardware store and saw these tiles, I knew I had to get them to make ornaments.


They sell these "arabesque tiles" in sheets that are roughly 1 square foot. The sheet includes 18 tiles attached to a mesh backing.


I opened the package and peeled the tiles from the backing, so I could work with them individually.


Then I got out my alcohol inks, a craft mat, and a can of air. I knew I wanted to use the metallic inks (Ranger calls theirs mixatives) to give them a nice shimmer and shine. It felt like a festive choice.


I decided since I was adding the bling with metallics, that I'd stick with similar color shades as a base. So my first one was red. I chose a few shades of red and dripped them on the tile and blew them with the canned air.


I layered lighter and darker shades of red and gold ink until the tile was completely covered.


Next I tried some greens. I layered some lighter and darker shades and then blew them around with the canned air.


This time I tried some copper ink with my greens and blew that around, then I layered more green ink over top until I liked the mix and had covered the tile.


Next up were blues and silver. I repeated the same process with several other colors. I even used a foam paint brush to make sure the edges of the tiles got covered (I just squeezed a bit of the metallic ink color I used for that tile onto the foam brush and covered any white on the edges).


It would probably be a good idea to seal these with some kamar varnish or acrylic sealer, but I was impatient and knew that they wouldn't get handled too much since they are Christmas ornaments. So I threw caution to the wind and decided to work on the backs as soon as they dried. I pulled out my felt stash and amazingly had coordinating colors for all of my ornaments. I traced the ornament shape onto the felt and cut it out with a scissors.


I used a hot glue gun to attach a ribbon and then cover the backs of the tile in the felt I had cut out. The hot glue is a bit lumpy and difficult to work with, so it might work better to glue the ribbon with the hot glue and then glue the felt on with tacky glue (which I know works well on the backs of ceramic tiles from making coasters). I ended up using tacky glue to get the edges of the felt all glued down anywhere the hot glue didn't quite get.


After the glue had all dried, I trimmed any excess felt that was hanging over the edges of the ornaments.


These turned out so colorful and cute! Even if I was swearing at the hot glue gun a bit, I'm still happy with the finished product--they look great on my Christmas tree!


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