How To Refurbish Old Christmas Ornaments

December is here!!! Christmas is just 25 days away, so don’t panic! If you haven’t had time or being thrifty to go for Christmas Tree ornament shopping, maybe this is a great tutorial for you…. turn your old ornaments into ones as good as new.

We did not follow the tradition; we didn’t have a Thanksgiving meal, we didn’t do any Thanksgiving activity, and no black Friday and Cyber Monday. Instead, I spent my day with my kids decorating a Christmas tree. I am thrifty and sentimental about certain things. My faux 5′ Christmas tree is as old as my seven-year-old daughter’s, and it is the same as the majority of the hanging ornaments.

Many ornaments became tarnished and spoiled after many years of reuse. Looking at how badly those ornaments have discolored and worn out, it’s time to uplift them. Of course, not all can be refurbished. I still have to throw away some broken pieces and add in some new ones, but at least I can keep it to a minimum.

As an example, I glittered an old candy cane to make it as good as new or even better and prettier.

How To Refurbish Old Christmas Ornaments

To be precise on the material for this example, I used:
1. Old plastic candy cane ornaments
2. Pearl white glitter
3. Craft glue
4. Red 1/4″ Ribbon
5. Gold hanging string
Tips: line your table with old newspaper to make cleaning easier after glittering.

Take out the damaged red plastic strip and hanging string from the candy cane.
Make sure the bare plastic candy cane is free from grease.
Brush a layer of craft glue to the candy cane.
Sprinkle the pearl white glitters onto the candy cane evenly.
Wait until it’s dry.
Apply a few drops of craft glue onto the wrong side of the red 1/4″ ribbon.
Wrap the ribbon around the candy cane.
Set aside until the glue dries.

With this method, you have a new glittered candy cane for your Christmas tree. Doesn’t it look better than the original one 🙂

You can try on other ornaments as well; I made another one with my discolored and oxidized jingle bell ornament.

If you are interested in making new Christmas ornaments, check out our tutorial on Yarn-Wrap Christmas Tree Ornaments, Salt Dough Ornaments, Snowman Ornaments, and other Christmas Crafts.