Thrifted Mini Tin Mold Ornaments

Turn thrifted mini tin molds into adorable, retro-inspired ornaments with this easy DIY project. These handmade ornaments are made with a few festive touches and will add instant vintage charm to your Christmas tree.

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Even though we changed our Christmas tree theme this year, vintage holiday decor will always have my heart. Recently, I came across some cute, holiday DIY ideas using old tin tart and Jell-O molds. I loved the idea of turning them into mini diorama ornaments - and I just so happened to have two molds I found at the thrift store a year or two ago. I was immediately inspired to turn them into vintage-style ornaments for our Christmas tree.

I dug around in my craft stash and decided to fill them with a couple colorful mini bottle brush trees and a tiny mushroom. I also created a snowy base by pulling apart a cotton ball. I didn't want to paint the back of the molds - as you can certainly do - since I wanted to keep their original charm. But I did add a silver pipe cleaner around the rim of the molds for that extra vintage feel.

Thrifted Mini Tin Mold Ornaments

While you could glue a loop of ribbon or twine to the back of the molds, I wanted something sturdier to hold the weight of the ornament. So I carefully drilled a hole at the top of each mold (you could also use a hammer and nail to create a hole). Then, I strung ribbon through it and tied it into a loop for hanging.

With the holes drilled in my molds, I was ready to decorate them. So I heated my hot glue gun, grabbed a piece of the cotton ball I fluffed apart, and glued it inside the bottom of the molds.

After that, I created my snowy scene by gluing the bottle brush trees and mini mushrooms in place.

Once the inside of the molds were decorated, I added silver tinsel pipe cleaners around the rim of each mold, trimming any excess pipe cleaner.

Then, I took some ribbon and strung it through the hole I made, tied a knot to create a loop, and displayed the ornaments on my tree.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. If you're planning on adding a hole to the top of your molds, take a drill with a small drill bit and carefully drill a hole into the top of the mold. You can also carefully hammer a thick nail through the top to create a hole.
  2. Heat a hot glue gun. While the glue gun is heating, pull apart a cotton ball to create snow. Glue the cotton snow into the bottom of the mold.
  3. Next, glue the trees and mushroom in place. Then, glue a silver pipe cleaner around the rim of the mold. Cut any excess pipe cleaner.
  4. Glue a loop of ribbon onto the back of the mold for hanging. If you made a hole in the mold, string ribbon through the hole and tie to create a loop. Then, display on your tree.

I absolutely love how these turned out! They definitely have a retro, holiday vibe to them! I'm glad I was able to upcycle these thrift finds into something totally new! These mini tin molds are popular items at flea markets and thrift stores. You should be able to score them for under a dollar each!

Did you make this Thrifted Mini Tin Mold Ornaments project? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!

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