Glass Float Ornaments

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Glass floats are beautiful blown glass buoys used traditionally by Asian fisherman to float their fishing nets.  They have found their way out of the sea and into our homes and into a hot decorating trend! Read about Glass Float Decorating to see how to use floats. This year I’m having a Coastal Christmas theme in my home and wanted to incorporate glass floats by making Glass Float Ornaments out of simple clear glass ones you find at a craft store.

The floats are made with just a few items and are oh so easy! You can make any color you choose but traditionally floats are in shades of blues and greens.

How to Make Glass Float Ornaments

You only need a few items to make the ornaments:

• Clear glass ornaments
• Blue and green food coloring (I used paste in Sky Blue & Leaf Green)
• white glue or Mod Podge
• Decorative fish netting (available at craft stores)
• Sisal twine
• cups, a small funnel, and a cupcake pan

In a small bowl combine a few tablespoons of glue or Mod Podge, food coloring and a few drops of water. Experiment with the color combinations. The darker your mixed color, the darker your glass float ornament will be.

Next, remove the ornament top and place on a cup. Using a small funnel, pour the glue into the ornament. The glass ornaments I had bought ten years ago!! Seriously, they’ve been sitting in a bag in the attic. So they look a little dusty inside in these pictures. I’m telling myself it will give character and a vintage look to the ornaments!

Swirl the ornament around so the glue will coat the inside completely. Be patient, this takes some time. See that dark blue spot? You do NOT want that, it will not disappear, I discovered later. If that does happen, insert a chop stick and stir the color blob until it dissolves.

Once the ornament is completely coated, rest it upside down on a cup to drain.

I caught my youngest trying to get a “taste” of the beautiful colored balls! When I asked what he was doing, he said, “But mom, they look da-wish-is (delicious), like snow cones!” He loves snow cones, and I have to admit they do look good! No worries, he didn’t take a bite!!!

Pull out an old cupcake pan. This is one I use for crafts. Set all the ornament upside down on the pan and place in a 200 degree oven. Keep then in the oven until they are dry and translucent. This process can take anywhere from half and hour to over an hour depending on how much glue you had inside your ornaments. Glue will drain out of your ornaments into the pan. It washes out easily afterwards. I turned my ornaments upward, half way through the drying process. If you have a ton of streaking, keep it in the oven longer. There is the possibility that some streaking may remain. Each glass float ornament is different.

Remove them from the oven and allow to cool. Look at that gorgeous translucent color! Isn’t it beautiful? You have the start of a glass float! Now you need a little netting. Cut enough netting to cover the glass float. Pull it up and around the float, and start weaving a piece of twine in and out the the netting and then tie a knot.

Once your knot is tied, trim off all excess netting. You now have a beautiful glass float ornament!

Pair the glass float ornaments with starfish, mercury glass ornaments, and natural elements for a stunning Coastal Christmas Tree!

You have a little sneak peak of my Coastal Christmas Tree. The entire tree will be shown soon, I’m still working on a few final touches, so stay tuned! If you like Coastal decorating, then take a look at my simple Coastal Holiday Wreath  or Capiz Shell Christmas Tree tutorials.

Kim

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