Custom Christmas Ornaments

Jack & Ginger Etched Silver Christmas Ornament

Custom Christmas Ornaments

Custom Christmas ornaments are a wonderful heirloom gift that will be cherished and enjoyed for many holidays to come. Not only is a sterling silver Christmas ornament a lasting, quality present, but it is an extremely memorable one. These beauties sparkle and shine with merriment on the Christmas tree and embody the holiday spirit.

The process of etching a textured design into sterling silver has been an integral aspect of my artwork over the years and one fun application of the technique has been for custom Christmas ornament designs. I get so many inquiries about the process and options, so I decided to highlight a couple of past designs and describe the handcrafted technique.

Hand painting and drawing the design onto the silver

First, I hand draw the design in my sketchbook and use it for reference to draw onto the silver shape, which I hand cut from sheet silver. The next step is to paint a black tar like substance called resist over the areas I want to remain smooth. The resist protects the silver surface from the acid etching chemical. The resist can be messy, so I refine the details and lines with a steel pencil as shown in the image above. Once the design is completed, it is submerged in the acid, which eats into the silver surface and creates texture in the exposed silver areas.

Jack & Ginger Etched Silver Christmas Ornament

After the silver is polished to a high shine, the textured design and lines contrast beautifully with the smooth surface. The amount of detail and refinement that can be achieved with the process is quite significant!

Old Exchange Building Etched Silver Christmas Ornament

I have been commissioned to create a wide variety of etched Christmas ornaments and the possibilities are endless for design options. Some past projects include buildings, houses, a lighthouse, and even a private plane! Shown above is the historic Old Exchange Building in downtown Charleston, which was very detailed with the number of straight lines and architectural embellishments. To view more of my original Christmas ornament designs, view the Christmas Ornaments page in my website Portfolio Archive.

I welcome you to get in touch with your own idea for a custom Christmas ornament! I so enjoy those projects and it is always exciting to see what new, creative concept someone will bring to me. Custom commission information can be found on my website Commission Work page and details on how to commission your own design is posted on the Commission Policy page.

The Jack & Ginger ornament I created last year for a very special person inspired my 2020 Christmas ornaments…..coming soon!!