Mickey Ornaments
Do you know someone who is in love with Disney decor?
Working on a budget?
These wallet-friendly, DIY Mickey ornaments will have you saying, “Oh Boy!”
…and you’d never guess they were made from Dollar Store bulbs!
Getting in the holiday spirit…in September!
I know that some of you are thinking but bear with me here.
For years, I fought the urge to start decorating for the holidays before December. I used to get annoyed when stores would put out their Christmas decor in October. It felt like stores were trying to end one holiday before it even began.
I didn’t want to plan Halloween at the end of summer and Christmas while I was working on a Halloween costume. I couldn’t understand why the stores seemed to bring out their holiday items earlier and earlier each year.
After years of crafting, I have finally discovered the reason…
CRAFTERS are the reason the holiday items come out as early as August each year.
I was actively contributing to my own annoyance; but if these items didn’t come out in October, I wouldn’t have enough time to finish any handmade gift for Christmas! Okay, to be fair, I could probably finish them in time, but I would be covered head to toe in glitter and glue by the time Christmas day rolled around (so would my children, and probably the dog too)!
So I decided to embrace the stores’ supplies meeting my demands. I started visiting my local stores to see what finds I could scoop up before they became picked over by other crafters.
This brings me to this week’s DIY: The Mickey Ornaments. These ornaments could easily sell for $5-$6 a pair, but I’m going to show you how I made them for a fraction of the cost.
If you are interested in reading about things I would do differently next time, hot tips, and other ideas for this project, read on after my instructions.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure for more info.
List of Supplies:
Makes 12 bulbs in 3 colorways or if you get 6 tubes of small bulbs you can make 21 bulbs.
Estimated Time: 2-4 hours plus dry time and overnight drying for the acrylic sealer.
***I bought my supplies from the Dollar Store, so you may need more or less depending on where you get your supplies.***
3 Tubes of small plastic bulbs
3 Tubes of medium plastic bulbs
Glitter of your choice (I used extra fine glitter)
Pair of needle nose plyers
Mod Podge (Gloss)
Foam Brush
Hot glue gun
E6000 (optional)
Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer (Gloss)
How to make Mickey Ear ornaments…
Step 1:
Remove all the hook holders from the small plastic bulbs. To do this, I used the center of my needle nose plyers to cut the tops from the bulbs.
Make sure you clear off any jagged edges left behind. You should be left with a small, clear hole in the top of your ornament. We will be using this as our placement guide for the next step.
Use the wire cutter section to clip off the hook holder top.
Step 2:
Glue two (2) small bulbs to one (1) of the medium bulbs.
To do this, I used a combination of E6000 and hot glue.
I placed a small ring of E6000 around the hole I made when removing the top from the small bulbs. I followed this with a ring of hot glue and then placed it on the medium bulb using the hook holder and seem line as a reference point. ***My bulbs had a faint seam line which helped with placement.***
I found that the hot glue provided an instant hold on a slippery surface, while the E6000 provided a stronger and more durable grip. You can skip the E6000 or opt for the glue of your choice to help hold the bulbs together.
When you are finished your bulbs should look like this:
Step 3:
Apply glitter to your ornaments.
To do this, I used a foam brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge across the surface of the ornament and then sprinkled glitter over the entire ornament.
***Note: If you choose a glitter that does not match the original color of the bulb, then you will need to apply glue to the entire bulb. You can see the color difference between the gold bulb and glitter I used.
Step 4:
Seal your bulbs. To do this, I placed my bulbs on a hook and sprayed them with some Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer.
This is an optional step, but one that I highly recommend to keep the glitter from rubbing off of the bulb.
If you do not have an acrylic sealer, you can do one of two options:
Use your foam brush and paint on another thin layer of Mod Podge. This will seal the glitter just as well as an acrylic spray. ***Make sure it is a gloss otherwise your glitter will be dull.***
Use hair spray to seal. I have used this trick when I was in a pinch on a couple of different projects. This does not provide a strong or lasting hold, but it will do the job.
Your Mickey Ornaments are complete!
You can use your Mickey ears to decorate a wreath (like I did), to trim your tree, to use as special gift swag, to create a garland, or whatever else you can put them too!
Hot Tips
This project is best done with a lot of hanging space!!
Since you are coating the ornament in glitter, you will need a place for it to hang while it dries or you will have to do it in sections…
I used my chandelier and the wire shelf in the laundry room to hang the ornaments while they dried.
This project is good to do with friends! It helps to have an extra pair of hands when you are assembling the ears. While you are gluing, your partner can hold the other ear in place while it’s drying.
Use two pieces of paper (such as wax, parchment, printer, etc.) underneath you as you glitter each ornament. This way you can use the glitter that doesn’t stick on the next ornament. Plus it makes clean up a breeze! Just fold the paper in half and pour!
If you plan on attaching these to a wreath, use long pieces of floral wire instead of hooks. This way when your ornaments are dry you can just work them into your wreath or garland!
The Dollar Tree sells multiple sizes of bulbs. You can make these in various sizes just make sure you are finding bulbs that are appropriately sized for your project.
If you buy textured bulbs, you may see the texture underneath the glitter (like you can see the swirls in my ears on the wreath). You can change your glitter texture to change this appearance.
Things I would do different…
I enjoyed making these ears so much, that I have started to think of other ways I could use them.
First, I think these ornaments would look very unique in bright or pastel colors.
I tend to decorate with traditional Christmas colors (red, green, gold, and silver), but I believe their appearance would be exquisite in a bubblegum pink, a sky blue, a seafoam green, etc.
They can be transformed into a color pallet of your choice that matches your holiday theme. I could easily see them being placed as hidden Mickeys in a candy or ocean themed tree; maybe they could also have bits of candy or shells glued to them to really take them to the next level.
This brings me to my next ‘what I would do different…’
Second, I would play around with the size and texture of the glitter I applied to them.
I had a chunky green glitter in my hand, but my daughter refused to let me buy it! I love how these ornaments look coated in fine glitter. I think it gives them a very clean and sophisticated look, but now that I have decorated them in this style, I want to try others!
The bulbs that I used from the dollar store had designs carved into the plastic which allowed me to see a glimpse into the potential of these ornaments.
Imagine this bulb coated in rhinestones, seed beads, pom-poms, crushed up peppermint candy, sand… I mean your imagination and supplies are up to you!
Third, I would find a way to personalize them.
I think these would make great gifts that you could use as gift tags or on their own as a set.
I currently do not have a vinyl cutting machine, but I believe you could apply vinyl to the surface of the ornament after it was sealed. I imagine you could use paint or chalk pen to handwrite the names, year, message, etc. on to the bulb.
You could also tailor them to their recipient. If you know a couple who recently got married, you could make a black one and a white one, add a piece of white tulle and gemstone.
Or
If you know any super nerds (like myself) you could cut out wings from a poster board, paint them gold, glue them to the back of gold Mickey ears and you have a golden Mickey Snitch!
Overall, I enjoyed this project very much and there is not a whole lot I would change. I really just want to explore my decorating options!
I really hope you enjoyed this make! If you did please consider subscribing to my newsletter, so you never miss a new project!
If you make these ornaments, make sure you tag them with #DarkkFluriDIY so I can see your creations!
