(warning, long post....)
The Christmas tree is up!...but there's still ornaments to make...
Below a quite a few pictures of ornaments, and the decorated tree full of homemade ornaments. There is still work to be done, though! I plan on making a popcorn/cranberry garland and decorated gingerbread men - along with other things. I will take more pictures of ornaments I didn't photograph this time and post them soon. On to the ornaments!
Pine Cone Ornaments
Pine cone ornaments are glittered and hung! These two didn't want to come out of the tree separately, so I cut the branch and kept them together. It worked out well, these two ended up being my favorite of all the pine cones.
Retro Felt Ornaments
I cut some shapes that seemed retro and old fashioned, then decorated each differently. I ran across the felt "ribbon" at World Market a few weeks ago. I thought it seems really similar to the old ric-rac ornaments, but with a newer modern twist.
Round Felt Ornaments
I sewed quite a few round felt ornaments. On most, i used the same felt "ribbon" as the one above, but I thought we needed a bit of holly on the tree, too - made of felt and sequins.
Felt Scrap Wreath
After cutting so many shapes, I realized how many scraps were left over, so I cut some of them down to reasonable sizes, ran some thread through them, tied, and boom! done! So quick and easy, it wanted me to cut all of my remaining felt into tiny pieces and make scrap wreaths instead of other shapes.
Vaccine Vial Wreaths
All are finished and hung! The description of these are in
an older post.
Felt Stockings
I didn't get as many of these done as I wanted - 7 total, I believe. Oh well ...
The description for these are in
an older post.
Pipe Cleaner Santa Hats
These were actually a variation on the ornament below. I cut triangle shapes from cardboard, wrapped the pipe cleaners around it, glued on a sparkly ball for the top, and those were complete! These were pretty easy to make and came together quickly.
Pipe Cleaner Christmas Trees
Same as above - I wrapped pipe cleaners around a piece of cardboard cut into a triangle, then glued on sequins for ornaments.
Woven Paper Ornaments
These seemed simple enough, but are a bit harder than it seems. I had to follow directions I
found online very carefully to get the correct woven look. They are made from cardstock.
Paper Candy Cane
I say candy "cane" because, so far, this is the only one, so these are still on the list to make. They are super, super easy to make - simply from paper and marker - so I'll probably make about 20 total. I found the tutorial
here.
Fancy Round Paper Ornament
I have a few of these made, and I have many more small paper circles cut, ready to be glued - there's just not enough hours in the day. Hopefully I can get a few more of these made as well. I described them in an
earlier post.
Glittered Snowflakes and Paper Chain
These snowflakes took a lot of time. I had to cut each one out with an exacto knife ... no way ... who am I kidding? I would have lost my mind. I found these gorgeous laser cut wooden snowflakes at the local craft store, and I bought all they had (10) at 40% off. We painted them white and covered them in sparkly glitter.
The paper chain is pretty simple - I used cardstock instead of construction paper for 2 reasons -- first, it would be sturdier and hold up better, and second, it would not fade from the sun or lights. I used a paper cutter to get the strips even and to make the cutting go much quicker.
"Merry Christmas" Letter Ornaments
Yay! I love these! I ran across the letters at the craft store and I thought they were so cute, I could not pass them up. They looked like little cookies with candy on them. They came as a set, so I didn't have to buy individual letters. I made small felt ornaments and glued them on after the ornament was completely sewn together.
The Tree
Here's a wider shot of the tree. There's a few ornaments I haven't "featured" yet - I'll try to get them all on the blog. I don't have a picture of the entire tree .... for one reason. No topper. YET. I have a plan for the topper, so hopefully I can get it done this weekend... maybe... if I'm lucky....