DIY Gumball Machine Christmas Ornaments

There’s just something about fun and colorful ornaments that makes me happy. One year I had a Christmas tree full of nothing but pink ornaments, mostly poodles. It was so much fun!

Gumball Machine Christmas Ornaments

This year I’ve been working on a handful of ornaments that are colorful and remind me of something happy. When I was little getting change for the gumball machine was so exciting.

Today I’m adding 3 little adorable gumball machines to my colorful Christmas tree.

Want to make your own?

Materials Needed for Gumball Machine Ornaments

• 3.14″ Clear Shatterproof Globe Christmas Ornaments
• Small Pompoms
• 2″ Clay Flower Pots
• Silver Permanent Vinyl (we used Oracal 651)
• Silver Polymer Clay
• Red Paint (we used Martha Stewart Satin in Lovebird)
• Cardboard or Chipboard
• Coin Slot SVG Cut File

Tools Needed for Gumball Ornaments

• Craft Knife/Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun
• Paint Brush

How to Make Gumball Machine Ornaments

Carefully remove the caps and hangers from your globe ornaments and set the wire hangers aside.

Remove the hangers from the ornaments and paint the metal or plastic cap with red paint.

Paint your clay pots red, also. Because terra cotta is porous the pots will quickly suck up the moisture from the paint. Apply the paint quickly with a smooth brush to prevent visible streaks. 2-3 coats will be needed for full coverage. Allow the pots plenty of time to dry, 24 hours is best.

Fill the inside of the ornaments with pompoms. We used multi-colored but red, green, and white would be seasonally appropriate and just and cute! If pulling poms from your stash, make sure they’re all the same size for the best look.

Trace the open end of your pot onto a piece of cardboard or chipboard. Cut just inside of this circle with sharp scissors or a craft knife. Test the circle cut out. You want it to fit snugly inside of the pot to create a flat bottom. Once happy with the shape and size, use that piece to trace and cut bottoms for each gumball machine ornament you are making.

Hot glue the bottoms in place and painted red to match. Allow time to dry.

If using a cutting machine, download the SVG file and cut coin slots out of silver permanent vinyl. (This cut file is for ornaments using 2″ clay pots. Size up or down accordingly if making larger or smaller gumball machine ornaments.) If cutting by hand mimics the shape above as much as possible.

Peel the backing paper from the permanent vinyl and attach to the pots like in the photo above.

Take a pinch of silver polymer clay and roll it into a ball. Repeat for each ornament and try to make the balls similar in size.

Roll each ball until smooth and free from cracks or visible lines. Roll the ball on a work surface to form a capsule pill-like shape. Pinch the inside of the capsule shape to begin forming a propeller-like shape.

With the seam in the propeller shape on top of your work surface, pinch the top center of the clay to thin it out further. Manipulate the clay on the sides to be as round as possible.

Bake the clay pieces according to package directions. Allow to fully cool.

The top of your clay pot likely has an indent in it. This is where you will apply hot glue to connect your globe ornaments. First test the fit of the ornaments on the top to figure out how to get it to sit nice and straight.

Fill this indent with hot glue and apply the ornament so that it sits correctly. Hold in place until the glue sets.

Hot glue the clay crank into place on top of the vinyl coin slot. Hold until the glue sets.

Add a string or metal ornament hanger and your too-cute gumball machine ornaments are complete!