You don’t have to spend a fortune or be a crafting genius to have attractive Christmas decorations. You can whip together one of these budget-friendly felt ornaments based on your skill level.
Heart ornaments
This is an easy and fun way to experiment with handmade ornaments for the first time. The materials are basic and can be found for next to nothing at the nearest dollar store, and the whole process takes less than 30 minutes to complete, so you’ll have budget-friendly ornaments in no time!
Materials:
- Red felt
- White embroidery thread
- Embroidery needle
- Snow blanket or stuffing
- Scissors
- Paper
- Pen
Note: If you’re wondering what a snow blanket is, it’s simply a roll of white stuffing-like fabric that is used in decorating to create the illusion of a blanket of snow. It’s easy to work with and creates a smooth, slightly stuffed look for the ornaments, without any lumps or bumps. The directions call for one layer to be used, but you can use two if you want a more stuffed appearance.
Directions:
Begin by folding the piece of paper in half and drawing the shape of half a heart on the fold line. You can make it long and narrow or full and round — whichever style you prefer.
Cut out the design, and unfold it to discover a perfectly symmetrical heart.
Fold over the red felt. Place the opened heart pattern on two layers of felt, and cut out. This will give you two heart-shaped felt pieces.
Place the heart pattern on the layer of snow blanket, and cut out. Trim a few millimetres off all the edges so it will fit comfortably inside the heart and not pour out the sides.
Thread the needle with the embroidery thread, and tie a knot at the end. Sandwich the snow blanket between the two layers of felt.
Pull your needle through the top centre of the heart, leaving the knot on the inside of the heart. Continue around the whole heart until it is all sewn together.
Loop the thread through itself at the top to form a knot. Hold on to a loop of the thread, and tie another knot through the centre middle of the heart to form the loop from which it will hang.
note
Once you’ve perfected this simple look, you can have fun attaching sequins, beads or bells to create extra-fancy hearts.
Globe ornaments
If you think your tree has enough baubles, felt globes are a great way to create the illusion of Christmas balls in a totally different way.
Materials:
- Blue, purple, pink, cream and yellow felt
- Yellow, blue and pink embroidery thread
- Embroidery needle
- Snow blanket or stuffing
- Scissors
- Paper
- Pen
- Round cup
Directions:
Use the cup to draw a perfectly round circle on a piece of paper. Cut out the circle.
Place the circle pattern on a folded-over piece of blue felt, and cut out. This will give you two blue circles.
Place the pattern on the snow blanket, and cut out. Trim slightly so it will fit comfortably inside the size of the blue felt.
Fold the circle pattern in half, and trace a line 1 centimetre from the fold line. Cut along the line. Unfold. Place the pattern on a folded piece of purple felt, and cut out for two lines of purple felt.
Fold the pattern again, and trim another 2–3 millimetres. Unfold, and place on a folded piece of pink felt. Cut out. This will give you two lines of pink felt.
Place the blue circles side by side, and layer on the purple lines and then the pink lines in the centre of each circle. Use the pink embroidery thread to sew straight lines along the edges of the pink felt. This will secure all the layers together.
Cut out six very small circles of the cream felt.
Place three of them in a straight line on each pink line of felt. Secure the circles in place with a cross-stitch of yellow thread.
Cut out a small rectangle from the yellow felt.
Sandwich the snow blanket between the two blue circles so the decorated sides of each face outward and the pink and purple sections form a straight line around the whole ball. Fold the yellow piece of felt in half, and secure it inside the ball at the top centre. It will form a loop through which you can secure your ribbon or thread to hang it on the tree.
Use the blue thread to sew the sides together.
Pull thread or a ribbon through the loop of the yellow felt, and tie in a bow.
note
The colour specifications are for instructional purposes only. Feel free to use any combination of felt and thread colours you like!
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