25 Ornaments - Day 15

I'm late, I'm late! Yesterday was a day when a hot bath and bed felt better than anything, so I did just that. After spending like 6 hours hunched over wrapping paper and Christmas gifts, that is. I did not remember until mid-bath last night that I had not gotten an ornament posted yesterday.

For today's ornament, or rather, yesterday's ornament, I made it nice and simple.

Felt Square Ornament

You'll Need:
Pre-cut Felt shapes (I found these 4 to a pack at Michaels for $1)
Matching solid felt shape
Ribbon to loop
Hot Glue & Gun
Glitter

1. Place the two sections of felt together, and sandwich the loop of ribbon between them. For mine, I choose to do this at a corner, rather than in the middle.
2. Glue the pieces together.
3. Add glue to the front, and sprinkle with glitter. I used a cosemetic grade fine Green glitter I had on hand, but in the photos it looks blue.

Ta Da! A 3 step, easy peasy ornament. You can make 4 of these for around $1.50 after the cost of the pre-cut shapes and the regular felt. Michaels also had blue circles with a snowflake cut out, white doily shapes, and red squares with reindeer shapes. 

 

Don't Forget- Contest!

Don't forget that I am currently running a contest for a pair of Gingerbread Ornaments in conjunction with Sarah's Deals!

To enter, visit the Gingerbread Ornament link above. 1 winner will receive a handmade set of 2 Gingerbread Men ornaments.

25 Ornaments - Day 9

Last night, I pulled some felt, glitter glue, hot glue, and pipe cleaners out into the living room. That way, I could sit with the kids (who quickly joined in making ornaments) and watch my favorite Christmas movie ever- A Christmas Story. Sometime in early Spring last year, we found a collectible tin that came with the leg lamp Christmas lights, and the blu-ray version of the movie. Until last night, we had not yet watched it.

While I sat watching the movie, I made up 6 darling little ice skate ornaments. I got up and ran into the "Craft Cave" (equal parts Man Cave and Craft Room, equalling Craft Cave) to get things I forgot at least 3 times. Probably 4.

Felt Ice Skates

You'll Need:
Felt in white & black (I used glitter felt for both colors)
Hot Glue
Shiny pipe cleaners (silver admittedly would work best, but I lacked plain silver, so I went with gold, red, and a red/silver combo)
Ribbon
Tiny Pom Poms
Glitter Glue

1. Fold a thin section of felt in half, and cut out the shape of an ice skate boot, using the folded half as the long, tall backside of the boot. 
2. Clip a section of ribbon, and set it aside for the loop.
3. Each figure skate uses up 1 whole pipe cleaner. The men's skates use less than 1. Section about an inch and a half, and double it over. Clip it off, then twist the doubled over pipe cleaner together. Curl one end of it upward for the toe pick.
4. Clip two small sections of pipe cleaner, less than half an inch each is needed. Figure out the spacing on the boot & skate, and line the two sections up with the blade and boot to see where you need them at. Twist one end around the skate, leaving a straight spike going up.
5. With the skate "butterfly" open, smooth hot glue on one side. Working quickly, arrange the ribbon, gluing it to the top of the boot. Next, place the pipe cleaner blade spikes into the boot, then fold the boot in half and smooth it down.
6. For a men's boot, use glitter glue to mimic laces up the boot, then set it aside to dry. The men's boot is done.
7. For a women's boot, use the left over pipe cleaner to form a bow. Glue it to the top of the boot, then use two mini pom poms, and glue the poms to the ends of the ribbon. The women's boot is also now down!

I made 3 women's boots first, using each of the different tinsel pipe cleaners I had on hand, before deciding to make them men's boots. I kept the blades matching, then used a matching glitter glue for the laces going up the boot.  For the red/silver combo, I used silver for the laces.

I've seen these online a lot, and thought they were cute, but have not seen a matching set yet. I've also seen them with paper clips for blades, but all I had on hand were shaped paper clips or small colorful paper clips. I think they look good with the tinsel!

 

Remember- if you do one of my crafts, I'd love to see the photos of your work!

Craft Time!!

For a few weeks now, I've been planing a craft day with the kids and a friend & her daughter (or daughters, if her older daughter comes, too!). I made easy ornaments ahead of time to test out what works best for the kids, and what takes too much work or adult help to make.

I've got supplies leaking out of every drawer and shelf in my craft area in preparation! I'm excited, they should be here soon, and we can craft, craft, craft!

I'll post pictures later to show you how it went. ;) In the mean time, did you check out my Day 7 ornaments? They were my first time using Mod Podge, and I must say, it was love at first stroke! ;) Seriously, if you've never played with Mod Podge, I recommend it. It makes for some great projects for the painting challenged (erm, me). All I use is wooden shapes, scrap book paper, stamps & stamp pads, and mod podge to make some really cool ornaments!

I made two last night for my neighbor Gary, his girlfriend Traci, and their combined 5 kids (her boys on one ornament, his girls on the other). This morning, I took 2 3-D wood shapes with layers, and made them into ornaments. One is for my Dad, the other for my Step-Mom. They were much harder, since I could not just trace the shape, and slap it on.

However, I just love how they look! I stamped their names on the backside of the ornaments, as well. And, more importantly? I get to use my rotary tool to drill holes in the wooden shapes. ;) Yes, that is important, because I love using my drill.

25 Ornaments - Day 6

For Day 6 of 25 Days of Christmas Ornaments, I'm featuring a great idea that T over at That's So Cuegly! posted. It's one I've heard of before, but never tried myself. T posts a great tutorial, though!

Homemade Bulb Ornaments

You'll Need:
Clear Bulb Ornaments
Acrylic Paint in 2+ colors
Ribbon to Embellish
Empty Egg Carton

Here's a photo of her finished ornament- check out her blog for the complete instructions!

{photo credits: T at That's So Cuegly!}

25 Ornaments- Day 1

For my first craft, I looked around online for an easy ornament craft. The one I found was just darling- a stuffed triangle snowman, without sewing! With the first go around, I followed most of the instructions, but I think if I were to make another, I would use my sewing machine instead of a glue gun.

No-Sew Triangle Snowman

You'll Need:

• 1 sheet white felt
• Cotton batting
• Hot glue gun
• 2” x 4” piece of scrap felt
• 1” x 10” piece of scrap felt
• A scrap of yarn
• Ribbon scrap
  
• 2 buttons
• Black and orange acrylic paint
• Scissors
• Pattern

1. Print the pattern, or if you feel confidant, cut a diamond shape from felt. With the pattern supplied, 1 sheet of felt will only make 2 snowman. These are pretty big snowmen, though, so I think you could easily go smaller. 
2. Plug in the hot glue gun to start warming up.
   
3. Pin the pattern to the felt, and cut out the diamond shape.
   
4. Cut out a long strip of felt in 1 color for the scarf. Fringe both ends.
   
5. Cut a rectangle of felt in the same color or another color for the hat. Fringe one of the long sides.
6. Once the glue gun is warm, glue up the sides of the diamond, and fold together, leaving the pointed end open to stuff. The original instructions say to turn the triangle inside out, but I did not do this, I just left if the way it was.
7. Stuff the triangle, and glue the top seam together.
8. Using the head of a pin, dip it in black paint, and make two eyes near the top of the triangle. Below that, use a new pin head to dip into orange paint and make a carrot nose. You could use black for a "coal" nose instead. Let dry.
   
9. Take the rectangle piece, and fold the un-fringed side to glue, so the hat has a folded edge similar to a stocking hat. Once it's glued, fold the hat together, and glue the seam together. Use the piece of yarn to tie the top of the hat just below the fringe, to create a fringed puff on top.
10. If the face is dry, slip the hat on the head, and glue it into place.
11. Wrap the scarf around the neck of the snowman, and glue it into place.
12. Arrange the buttons, and glue them into place on the front of the snowman.
13. Lastly, make a loop from the scrap of ribbon, and glue it to the back of the snowman's head, to hang the ornament from.

End thoughts-


While this was certainly an easy ornament to make, the hot glue means it isn't necessarily a kid friendly craft, at least not for young kids. Aside from that, hot glue on felt, with batting makes a gooey mess of fluff.
 
I would sew this in the future myself, replacing the hot glued seams with sewn seams. However, for the sewing challenged, it is still very doable without a needle and thread.

My 2009 Family Ornament

For the past few years now, I have ordered a personalized Christmas ornament for our tree. Two years ago, I did a red and green border, with our names in the middle. Last year, I added a photo of the kids to one side, and a quick Christmas greeting to the other side. I got such a great deal last year, that I ordered enough for Grandparent gifts.

This year, I wasn't planning to order one, as money is tight. However, a great deal came along at Artscow, and I couldn't resist! For just $1.99 (shipped!), I ordered a double sided star. Last year's ornament turned out decent enough, but I had no good photos of the kids together from this fall. I had plenty in the summer, bright & sunshiny, but I didn't want that!

After playing around, I opted simply to add the family name to one side, and each of our individual names to the backside. I just love how this one turned out, and can't wait until it arrives! I do want to change the ribbon, as they come with bright red satin ribbon, and I used dark red and ice blue for the ornament, with touches of cream. I have some pretty cream grosgrain in my ribbon drawer, though.

Here is the photo of the 2009 ornament! Because I ordered now, it will arrive with plenty of time to spare for Christmas. Artscow is promising pre-Christmas delivery on any item ordered before November 30th.



Don't forget- the contest is still open! There are only a few entries, and the winner will get to pick their prize, and receive a surprise gift, as well! To enter, simply leave a comment on the post!