Create delightful Christmas ornaments (and recycle you felt leftovers)

THE STORY BEHIND THIS PROJECT

I belong to a small felt club that gets together once a month via Zoom to felt in a group setting.

In our December meeting, the suggestion was that we create seasonal pieces. We usually felt 3D/sculptural items, and that was planned for December as well. But even though we work on a certain topic each month, we do have much creative freedom in the group. So, this time I thought of doing something slightly different.

I have tons of felt leftovers from many projects along the years, and I wanted to do something seasonal by recycling what I already had, instead of producing something entirely new. These bits accumulate with time, and it bothers me to see so much material not be used.

So, I gathered the thicker white felt leftovers (some of which was Nuno felt, which made it even more interesting), as well as some fun “Christmassy” templates I also already had from past projects. And, without having a clear initial idea, I started cutting the flat felt in various shapes.

After looking into my supplies of beads, sequins, trimmings, and embroidery thread, I came up with these ornaments.

HOW TO MAKE THEM

1. Select which pieces of felt you’d like to use from your leftovers. Note that they should have a thickness of at least 2 mm. To help you with this selection, think of a color palette you’d like to work with. Here are a couple of ideas for you (click the link to access). I chose white, blue, red and silver

Source: https://lemonpaperlab.com/winter-color-palette-ideas/

2. Print and cut the templates. Pin them on your felt and cut out as many as you want.

3. Felt the cut pieces again, preferably with hot water, so that the edges of the felt become rounder. I know it’s an extra step, and it means you still have to leave them to dry. But they’ll have a much better finishing like this.

4. Decorate the ornaments. There’s so much you can do here. I’m going to show you some of my favorite ideas. But there’s much, much more you can explore.
   

Sequins

You can sew sequins with sewing or embroidery thread.

Another alternative I like to use is thin transparent nylon thread.

Trimmings

If you’re a crafter, I’m sure you have some trimmings around the house. There’s no need to go and buy something new. The idea is to create beautiful ornaments by recycling what you already have at home.

In this case, I also added a little bell. I’m obsessed about bells, and I collect them whenever I find them. So, I thought one from my collection would go perfectly on this.

Embroidery and beads

Use simple stitches like the chain stitch to embroider different lines. You can add beads within your stitches to make your piece even more special. In this case, I also added a little bow, which I made and sewed on top of the tree.

Here’s a slightly different alternative of embroidery. It’s a much more discreet one, since I had already added some special drop shaped beads, and I didn’t want to distract from them.

5. Attach a piece of narrow ribbon or cord to each of your ornaments. Again, try to use what you already have at home.

6. Get some textile glue and attach all your ornaments on a sheet of industrial felt. Alternatively, you can make your own piece of felt for this. I used a 100%-wool-felt that I also already had at home. Make sure you leave enough space between your ornaments, so that you can cut this base felt, leaving about 2 mm beyond your ornaments to create this highlight.

And you’re ready to customize your Christmas wrappings to create gifts your loved ones will remember!

Much love,

Vanda