Gold and Glitter Feather Gift Toppers (or Ornaments!)

We’re just sneaking in holiday DIYs right down to the deadline here. But I’m sure you’re not done all your wrapping, are you? I don’t know that I’ve had a Christmas yet where I’m not wrapping the night before Christmas- no matter how planned and prepared I think I am. If you’re anything like me, this is a fun (and so speedy!) DIY to help dress up your gifts. Or- they can make a rad gift, strung with a ribbon to hang on a tree as an ornament. So really, I’m just giving you a solution for all your last minute holiday needs. Except for what to cook- I can’t help you there, I’m a dinner attendee not host when it comes to Christmas!

Now let’s talk a little bit about these gold and glitter feather gift toppers and ornaments. I had so much fun playing with different ways to dress up these lovely feathers. I gilded some, glittered some, and then my favourites- mixed gilding and glitter on some. But I don’t need to even talk about it, I can show you- because Shaw TV filmed the whole DIY for you. Let’s watch- shall we?

So simple, right! I love when a craft is as simple as I think it will be in my head. The hardest part of this whole thing was stringing the ones I did for ornaments- those feathers are TOUGH! Anyways, if you’re sitting at work- or the doctors office, and can’t watch the video right now, here’s the how-to.

To make these feather gift toppers and ornaments, you’ll need:

• Stiff feathers (not the wispy ones… those would be meeeessssy) in your choice of colour
• Liquid gold leaf (can you tell that I live by this stuff)
• White glue
• Paint brushes
• Glitter
• Ribbon and large needle to string into ornaments

For the gilded feathers, just get to painting! I painted both the front and the back of the feathers for this technique. I love how it gives the feathers a dipped look. You can stripe or dot or paint the whole thing- it’s all up to you. For the Glittered feathers… do the same thing but with white glue before sprinkling with glitter. Use your fingers to press the glitter into the glue. Last but not least… the mix (my favourite!). Gild them… THEN when it’s dry, paint glue over top and sprinkle with glitter. I did this kind of ombre- so there was more glitter at one end and it faded into the gilded look. I really love the way this one turned out and want to make a bunch that look just like this.

I also did some tribal looking ones in the video that I totally missed photographing. That’s the thing with gift toppers… you give them away with gifts and THEN you think about how rad it would have been to photograph them. C’est la vie. Are you still crafting for the holidays or have you put your feet up by now?