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Saturday, November 1, 2014

Handmade Christmas Ornaments...

It's November 1st and even though I think about Christmas all year long, from now on, I am in full holiday mode. My clip boards are out and the lists have started. I did a post about organizing for the Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, so if you missed that you can click HERE.

One of my clips boards is just about the 12 Christmas trees I put up in each room...what tree goes where and what the theme will be on each. I have been decorating multiple Christmas trees for most of my 27 married years, so I reuse old things I have in different ways. I also buy things at the end of the year or at clearance sales and that always inspires a new tree theme.

This year I was inspire by this basket I bought on sale at Michael's Craft store. I just love the red sweater fabric and the Scandinavian look. I already had the gray felt and red burlap, so a new tree is born.

handmade ornaments

Here are some of the things I made already for ornaments on the tree...

handmade ornaments

 This little ornament is so cute and easy to make. You can either sew it or hot glue it.

handmade ornaments

Easy step by step picture instructions too...


Here's how to start…

You will need 6 circles of felt. Theses are 3 inches wide across the center, but any size will work.

handmade ornaments

You can either trace something…

handmade ornaments

or use your die cutter if you have one.

handmade ornaments

Stack all 6 circles on top of each other.

Fold the last one in half to find the center.

handmade ornaments

Place that last one on and pin on the center line.

handmade ornaments

Now sew along that center line.

handmade ornaments

You can hand sew these down the center with an embroidery floss too.

I machine stitched all my centers, but hand sewed the rest of the steps.

handmade ornaments

Now take one left flap and one right flap…

handmade ornaments

and bring them up together.

handmade ornaments

I marked the center with a pin, so you could see where they need to be connected.


You can either hand whip the edge the center with a few stitches or a dab of hot glue would be quick too.

**** You are NOT attaching the whole flap, just a few stitches on the edge to secure.

handmade ornaments

Here's a red arrow to show you where with out the pin.

Now do that for all the other pieces. You should have 6 of theses little things that look like cannolis. lol

handmade ornaments

Here are 2 of the sewn center sections I marked in red.

Next, take your fingers and pinch together the bottom sections from each of the left and right sewn sets

Do the same for the top.

handmade ornaments

I marked those new attached areas in green.

Do this all the way around.

This will be much clearer when you have your own ornament in your hand to see it in person.

handmade ornaments

This is how I stitched mine…

I used red embroidery floss and just tied a double knot for all the intersections.

Here are all the centers.

handmade ornaments

 and here are all the top and bottom knots.

handmade ornaments

This is a picture of a hot glued one and a whipped stitched one with black thread.

I hot glued red beads on for accents.

handmade ornaments


I think stitching it with a contrasting thread is quicker, but totally up to you.

handmade ornaments

This is another work in progress project…Yarn Ball Garland


I bought these styrofoam balls at the dollar store last year and knew I would use them for something!

handmade ornaments

I am going to cover them all with yarn and then string them together for a garland.

handmade ornaments

I found that good old liquid school glue worked best.

handmade ornaments

Just squirt on the glue over half the ball and coil the yarn around.

handmade ornaments

More glue on the last bit and finish coiling the yarn. When the yarn is all on, place the ball in the palm of your hand and with your other hand give it a gentile squeeze (like you're making a meatball) to compress all the yarn into the glue.

handmade ornaments

You can just wrap the yarn around it like it was a true ball of yarn look too.

Attach string or ribbon to make ornaments or use a long sewing needle to string them into a garland.

handmade ornaments

This is a little letter to Santa envelope ornament.

I'll share this in a separate tutorial.

handmade ornaments

It's never too early to start making things for Christmas. These are great projects for sewing in front of the television too!!

Thanks for stopping by,
~Karen~

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16 comments:

  1. I dunno, Karen, it's not been Thanksgiving yet, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to start making Christmas decorations before then. :)
    P.S. Very clever idea - I'd love to see a garland of these. Not just for Christmas but in rainbow colours for every day.

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  2. I love your Christmas decorations, thanks for sharing, I think I'll try the bauble it looks fab

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  3. Oh my! I LOVE this monochromatic, honeycomb version! Really elegant work.

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  4. Awesome - I will have to try the grey circle ball :)

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  5. I love the grey cannoli ball but do you seriously put up 12 trees in each room???

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  6. i love those felt balls! I have the Olfa circle cutter and it will take no time at all to cut the circles. Thank you for this idea. and I must make the Santa envelope too.

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  7. Oh those felt balls are pretty. I'm picturing them in white with red ties or red with white. Thanks for the tutorial for how to make them and the yarn balls too.

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  8. My favorite line in this post is "like a meatball." ; )

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  9. So... here's a semi-related question - do you recommend any particular glue gun? I have never used one but I'm going to purchase one. So many options...

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  10. Thanks: I've pinned these for future use!

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  11. Cute stuff!! I esp. like the envelope. It could be used to enclose a gift card, too!!

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  12. Thanks for sharing. You always have the best of ideas.

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  13. muchas gracias por sus tutos,las ideas son fantasticas,saludos desde Barcelona Capital

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  14. These are great ideas with not too much of fuss. Love them.

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  15. These are so cute! I'll be making some of these before next year!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!