Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Ornaments

How to Make Glass Ball Pumpkin Ornaments

I think these jack-o-lantern ornaments are very handsome indeed! I like to make several at a time, using different sized balls and different shades of orange. That way, I end up with a veritable pumpkin patch of fabulous Halloween jack-o-lantern ornaments.

You will need to draw quite a bit of detail on the outside of the bulb. If you do not have a steady hand, this may be somewhat challenging. But if your lines do end up a bit wobbly -- so what?! Most of the lines are supposed to be a little wobbly anyway.

These Halloween jack-o-lantern ornaments are not quick ones to make. For one thing, the jack-o-lantern ornament needs to be painted on the inside, which requires you to wait at least 24 hours for the paint to dry.

Also, to avoid smearing, you will need to do the detail work in small areas, then wait for it to dry before continuing.

However, I really do think this stunning ornament is worth the extra effort. I am certain you will too!

Handmade ornaments do make such fun Halloween arts and crafts projects! Here is how to make the Halloween jack-o-lantern ornaments.

Materials

Clear glass ball ornament (any size)

• For the jack-o-lantern ornament shown in the top photo, I used a 100 mm glass ball.
• For the ornament shown in the instruction photos below, I used a 67 mm glass ball.
• The bulbs used for the four jack-o-lantern ornaments hanging on the ornament tree in the photo at the bottom of the page are 55 mm, 67 mm, 83 mm, and 100 mm.

Orange acrylic craft paint

Dark green acrylic craft paint

Black opaque paint marker (extra-fine or fine)

• I used extra-fine for the ornament shown in photo at top of page and fine for the ornament shown in photos in instructions below.

White opaque paint marker (extra-fine)

Ribbon

Empty container, such as small pudding container

Instructions

Remove cap from the glass ball.

Paint inside of the glass ball using orange paint.

Click this link for detailed directions on how to paint inside of glass ornament balls. You will use the empty container for this step.

When the paint inside the ball is dry, proceed as follows:

Pumpkin stem

Paint cap and wire with green paint. Let dry.

Paint area around the hole at the top with green paint to resemble a pumpkin stem. Let dry.

Replace cap. Using green paint, touch up any areas of the cap, wire, and pumpkin stem area that may need it. Let dry.

Using black opaque paint marker, outline the base of pumpkin stem. Let dry.

Then draw a few lines in the green stem area. Let dry.

Using the black paint marker, make a small dot at the very bottom of the ornament ball.

Draw lines from the dot to the edge of the pumpkin stem. These lines create the sections of the pumpkin.

• You can start at the dot and draw the line upwards to the "stem" or start at the base of the "stem" and draw the line downwards to the dot, whichever works best for you.

• The lines should be approximately the same distance apart.

• For a more realistic looking pumpkin, draw the lines a bit wiggly as opposed to perfectly straight.

• To avoid smearing, draw a few lines, then wait for the paint to dry before drawing more lines.

After you have drawn all the lines, add tiny dots on each side of the lines, from top to bottom. Space the dots to suit yourself. Stop and let dry as needed to avoid smearing.

Using black paint marker, draw a "carved" jack-o'-lantern face. (Later you will tie a bow on the wire hanger. The bow goes on the front of the ornament, so be sure to draw the face so the wire hanger is positioned as shown in photos below.)

First, just draw outline of the facial features and allow paint to dry.

Then fill in eyes, nose, and mouth with black paint marker. Let dry.

With white opaque paint marker, partially outline the eyes, nose, and mouth. Let dry. These accents help add depth and make the features "pop."

Using black paint marker, draw a horizontal line around the ball above the eyes. Let dry. This line represents the knife cut made to remove the top of a pumpkin before hollowing it out.

(Draw whatever face you want. You may want a scarier face than I drew.)

Do you need some help drawing a face for your Halloween jack-o-lantern ornament? I have found a wonderful website www.how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com that can really help you out -- and provide a lot of fun to boot!
Practice this Jack O Lantern Drawing on paper, and in no time you will be ready to proceed with confidence using your opaque paint markers on the glass ornament.

Tie a ribbon through the hanger wire to hang it. Knot it good and tight.

Using a different but complimentary ribbon, tie a bow on the hanger wire.

Hang these Halloween jack-o-lantern ornaments around your house to get in the Halloween mood!

I hang my Halloween jack-o-lantern ornaments on an ornament tree.

More Halloween projects and terrific ornaments can be found on the Halloween Arts and Crafts and Handmade Ornaments pages.

Please feel free to link to this page! Here is what your link will look like:

To make stunning Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Ornaments like this one, see the step-by-step tutorial and photos on the How To Arts and Crafts.com website.

Just copy the HTML text that is inside the scroll box below and paste it anywhere in your website or blog: