Makin' Bacon Ornaments

A while ago I posted a picture of these funny Bacon Ornaments. 

Apparently, people thought they were pretty darn clever. So, here are the instructions on how to make them. 

First, fry up some bacon. Make it nice and crispy, but not burnt. Caution: the sight of a pan full of bacon sizzling on the stove will tempt onlookers who might just think the bacon is for them. (What an amazing wife—to cook a skillet FULL of bacon strips just for them. Awesome.)

Shoo the drooling gawker out of the kitchen with promises of  bacon-onion-cheeseburgers "later" then lay out the cooked bacon on paper towels to get out excess fat. Or at least dab off the surface. 

When the bacon is cool, attach it to a cord or string of some kind. This will be for hanging the ornament and for drying it when we get the high gloss finish applied. Caution: you don't want to have the bacon fall off while drying and your dog eats it with sticky high gloss finish on it. I found cute tiny clothespins at the craft store. Perfect. Just like hanging tiny laundry.

Now, we are ready for the pour-on high gloss finish. Caution: the product I use preserves and beautifies, one thick coat equals 50 coats of varnish, heat and alcohol resistant. waterproof, no polishing required AND very very HARMFUL if misused. DANGER and CAUTION are printed all over the containers of epoxy resin and polyamine hardener. 

"May produce allergic reaction by ingestion or skin contact." 

"May cause permanent eye damage." 

"May be harmful by skin contact or breathing vapors/mists." 

Needless to say, protective gloves and goggles are recommended along with exhaust fans for super-duper ventilation.

bacon ornaments hanging to dry

If you are still ready to give it a go, then get some EnviroTex Lite, put on your haz-mat suit and get stirring. I mixed enough in a large cup so the bacon strips could be dipped into the epoxy and completely encase the bacon. We want these babies to last!

When completely dry, you are good to go with shiny new Bacon Ornaments. Hang them on the Christmas tree. Decorate a room. Add a pin and wear on your jacket. I have mine hanging from the rear view mirror in the Jeep. Rusty, the Good Collie won't touch it. He probably read the label that said "harmful if ingested". 

My sister, Sandy and I used to make jewelry out of paper. We hand painted the designs and then coated the pins and earrings with EnviroTex. If they weren't drying quickly enough, we'd pop them in a warm oven. Hmm? I wonder if that has something to do with Sandy's unexplained allergic reaction to cold.  

What were we thinking????? It's amazing that we and our children lived to tell the story. We risk it all for our art (and crafts).