12 Days of Christmas, Day 1, "Rusty" Ornaments

'Tis the season...well, sort of.  If you are a crafter and creator, junker or self-decorator you are thinking Christmas.  And while my home's halls won't be decked until Thanksgiving weekend, I am busy creating for a Christmas show, which  by default means it is time for my annual 12 Days of Christmas.

The last few years I have questioned my sanity in doing this annual fun fest.  But the leaves fall off the trees, the snow starts to fly, cheesy Christmas movies (which I love) start showing on the Hallmark channel, and I decide I have holiday ideas to share with you all.  So, here we are.

A few changes from the past:  I will not be showing projects on consecutive days--there will be 2 or 3 days between projects and perhaps a non-Christmas project thrown in between every now and then, there will be a link party starting on the 12th day, and I will do my best to make most of the days a tutorial style project.  Okay, disclaimer over :).

As most junkers know, rust is a must and Christmas is no exception.  If you can't find the right rusty object, rust it yourself.  The best part, it doesn't have to be metal.  These ornaments started out this way--felt cutouts from the $1 bin at Michaels.

Start with orange, dark gray, and black paint.  

Stipple this on, using mostly the black and grey first and then the orange on top.

Next sprinkle some cinnamon on the wet paint

and use a brush to blend it in.

I wanted these to look like rusted white iron so I stippled off white paint over the dark, rusty paint when it was dry.  

I added a little more cinnamon if needed.

When they are dry, spray them with a clear coat to seal them.  I restrung them with jute.

I used the same technique on this paper mache deer.

Yep, rust is a must and with this easy technique anything can have a lovely, rusty patina.