DIY Felt Ornaments

Since McKinley is going to work on these after school today, I felt it was the perfect time to post this fun holiday DIY! I am a big fan of giving homemade gifts to family and friends and I make sure that McKinley gives one every year. This year, it's felt ornaments. But they don't have to be just an ornament. They make super cute gift tags on wrapped presents, a tag on your hostess gift bottle of wine, or a darling name tag at your holiday table. And they are so easy to make!

Here's what you'll need:

Felt, fabric glue, cookie cutters, a black Sharpie, fabric scissors, string, and any small craft adornments. I decided against the glue gun, but if you use on, make sure your little ones fingers are out of the way! It's hot!!

First, pick the perfect cookie cutter for your stencil. I chose a tree, snowman, sweater, bell, mitten, and stocking. 

Fold your felt in half so you only make one cut. You will want to double up your ornament to keep it from being see-through and to make it a little more sturdy. 

Next up, glue. You will want fabric glue for this project. You could use school glue, but the fabric glue is a little stronger. And it dries clear. Put a thin outline of glue around the edge of the ornament and make sure to glue the Sharpie side to the inside of your ornament. Once together, you can trim an excess you have.

 Originally, I punched a hole at the top of the ornament to string the hanger, but after the first one, I ditched this method and went with simply gluing the string inside the ornament before sealing it closed. It worked much better. The hole punch is still an option.

 

Now you are ready to start decorating! Use anything and everything small and cute that you can get your hands on! I shopped my mom's craft room and found tons of little mini things to use. Check out the craft stores miniature sections. That's where we got a lot of these things last year.

Here is the loot! I am in love with the sweater, but they are all so darling! 

And here's how they look on the tree, gift, and wine bottle!

The options for creating are endless AND, you don't have to use this idea for just Christmas! Think about Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween! So cute, right? 

Happy Crafting!

XO,

Andrea

Christmas Ornament DIY

It's the holiday season, and around here, that means it's time for all the crafting! I like to get McKinley in on the action by having him make ornaments for family members, which we are planning on doing any day now, but I got to thinking about crafts for adults. What can I make that would be fun for adult crafters to recreate and make for family, friends, or for the very own tree?

 I was poking around my mom's sewing room last week, looking for something else entirely, when I found some plastic pull apart ornaments. That small discovery got me thinking. What can I do with these treasures? And then it came to me. See through ornaments! I poked around a little more and found all of these darling miniature Christmas decorations and decided immediately that cute little holiday scenes would be darling inside these ornaments. I immediately pulled out all of my crafting supplies. Here's what you'll need!

Full disclaimer, I tried the E6000 and it just wasn't strong enough, so I switched to my trusted glue gun. Totally did the trick! 

So what do you do? Well, first off, put all the figures inside one piece the ornament for placement. Like what've you created? Then start gluing. And please note, make sure you line everything up with the ornament hanger! If not, everything will be completely off center and will have to start all over. Glue from a glue gun isn't very forgiving once you've pulled the piece off. The glue leaves a dingy spot that you can't get clean. (Yes, I learned this from trial and error!)

If it's a winter scene, I love adding the fake snow to create a snow globe effect! 

Because these are pull apart, you can run the risk of these popping open. I decided to add a little glue around the entire ornament and cover it with thin ribbon that compliments the scene inside. And, it helps finish the look of the ornament. If you have a ribbon with a saying, start your ribbon at the top, with the saying facing you, and wrap to the bottom. I didn't do this the first time and the wording was backwards.....

When you get to the bottom, it's time to finish the edges. Add a small dab of glue, place a piece of ribbon over it and snip off the excess. Add another dab of glue to the bottom piece and lay the top piece over. Snip off the end. And done!

How adorable is this little guy? And because it turned out so cute, I couldn't stop myself from creating more! Here are all the ones I made!

These would make darling teacher's gifts as well! Such a fun project with so many creative options! Which one is your favorite? I have to say mine is the pink and green trees! But Santa and the sled is cute too. Or what about that darling toy soldier.....

XO,

Andrea