How to Make Glitter Ornaments That Light Up!

Learn how to make glitter ornaments from Dollar Store clear ornament and vinyl. These light up ornaments DIY will add sparkle to any Christmas tree!

Decorating a tree shouldn’t have to cost a lot of money.  I love strolling through the Dollar Store and checking out their Christmas decor. 

There is a lot of cute stuff that you can turn into really cute stuff!

Last week I was doing my weekly stroll and came upon these cute clear cheap ornaments and a light bulb went off.  I could actually make these ones light up!

They are cute with a tea light on their own but, being a glitter lover, I knew I needed to make them sparkle too!

I’ve made a bunch of DIY glitter ornaments, Santa cam ornaments, and glitter acrylic ornaments before, which have been one of my most popular posts, but I was never able to light them up.  But now I am and it’s super easy… happy dance!

Let’s get started on how to make glitter ornaments with a Cricut and glitter.

Materials Needed for Light Up Glitter Ornaments

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon, Shareasale, and/or Cricut.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text).

• ornaments – I got these from The Dollar Tree
• polyacrylic
• glitter
• tea light
• Cricut cutting machine– always check prices between Cricut.com and Amazon (click links to compare!)
• vinyl
• cricut tools and transfer tapedrill and hot glue (optional)
• FREE Joy to the World cut files – see below

How to Make Glitter Ornaments that Light Up

Make sure to watch the video at the top of the post to see the easy steps in action in making these Dollar Tree glitter ornaments.  There are also printable instructions for these Cricut glitter ornaments at the bottom of the post.

These Dollar Store cheap glitter ornaments are quick to make.  You can definitely make multiple at a time while the others are drying.

When I made the smaller ornaments, I was able to dry them upside down in the packaging or an egg carton.  With the bigger opening of this ornament, I couldn’t get it stable.

So, I just copied the opening size onto a piece of cardboard from a box and cut it out.  Place it on top of the poly can while draining or over a container when drying the glitter.

1. The first thing you’ll want to do is remove the top of the ornament and tape it off with painter’s tape.  Or you could probably put on a glove and use your finger if you’re coordinated!
2. Pour some polyacrylic inside the ornament and rotate it around.  Make sure it evenly coats the whole ornament. I rotate horizontally to vertically and then let the extra drain back into the container.  Tap gently.
3. Dry upside down for a minute or so.  Tap again.
4. Dump glitter inside and again rotate so it covers the inside.  Drain extra glitter back into the glitter container or onto wax paper.
5. Dry upside down for about an hour.
6. If you would like to access the tea light easily, drill a hole in the lid.  I put a dot of dry erase marker on the switch and pressed it onto the lid.  This will leave a little mark on where the hole should be.  Drill a hole big enough to move the switch.  I started with a smaller drill bit and worked up bigger.  Attach in place with a bit of hot glue.  (I tried other ways so it would be easier to remove, but couldn’t get it to hold strong enough.  Let me know if you figure something else out!)  

• While drying, cut out vinyl with Cricut and weed off the extra vinyl.

As with all my files, these are for personal use only.  If you would like to purchase a commercial use license, click here.

Sometimes the file will look blurry when you first open it, but once you download it, the SVG will open up clearly.

If it doesn’t automatically download, you might need to right-click on it and Save As. If you need additional help, make sure to check out my post on how to download and upload files to CDS.

Or check out my Cricut Design Space 101 series for even more tutorials.

DOWNLOAD PNG FILE HERE

   8.  Clean off the front of the ornament with rubbing alcohol.  Apply transfer tape to the vinyl and place it on the ornament.  Press down firmly and then peel off transfer tape.

   9.  Screw in the bottom and insert top back in.  That’s it.  Enjoy your new Cricut glitter ornament with the light on or off!

Tea light off…

Light on during the day and you can still see the glitter in ornaments…

You could also paint the bottom piece or add a bow if you want even fancier DIY light up ornaments.

Light on at night…

If you love making DIY Christmas decor, make sure to check out my tutorials on how to make buffalo plaid handmade ornaments, personalized floating ornaments, and a ton of other Cricut Christmas ideas!

Here are some printable directions on how to make do it yourself glitter ornaments if you prefer to have a hard copy.

If you’d like to save this tutorial on making DIY light up Christmas ornaments for later, PIN it now!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a creative day!