Monthly Archives: December 2012

Ornament Advent: Day 12 Wire and Fabric Scrap Puppy

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Lynne: I made this ornament “Puppy Under the Christmas Tree” from a wire armature stuffed with fabric scraps and then covered the figure with more fabric strips to get the finished shape.

I had so much fun doing this ornament. I love wire armature figures but I was sure that I could never make one. However I happened to see a book by Carla Sonheim called Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals and found a photo of a figure done with wire and fabric. I draw my own imaginary animals called Squiggles and I told myself to make a figure just like I drew a squiggle. And it worked.

I used ordinary, hardware store galvanized wire (a gauge soft enough to work with your hands) to make the armature. One long piece made up the legs, body and tail. I used a shorter piece to shape the head and ears. I had to add more volume to the body and head to hold the fabric stuffing so I wired on some spiral shapes. Just keep adding and shaping, until you’re satisfied.

Then I stuffed and covered the armature with torn fabric scraps. Their frayed edges look like fur and give the ornament a vintage look. I used strips 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch wide and about 8 inches long. The strips need to be narrow to follow the contours of the body without sagging open in a curve. If I needed longer strips I just tied two or three of the shorter strips together. The knots disappear into the wrapped fabric. I did not use any glue or stitching to hold the strips on. I used scissors to poke the ends under the previous strips and tried to make sure loose ends were started and finished in  places that would be covered over. Small scissors are perfect for stuffing the ends under earlier layers.

I had old hat pins in my stash and I used them for the eyes and ears, but you could use buttons or embroidery. I used a small scrap of Christmas ribbon to make the collar and bow and fishing line to make an ornament loop, but I have to warn you that one look in those puppy eyes and it will be very difficult to stick the needle and fishing line through.

I’m keeping this puppy out of the ornament box after Christmas. He’s going to sit on the table right beside my favorite chair.

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Ornament Advent: Day 11 Foil and Scrapbook Paper Ball

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I really wanted to make a simple ornament with aluminum foil. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of something and it hit me while I was driving home from work. I could make an awesome ball with strips of foil and paper.

Ball Christmas ornament made of strips of paper and aluminum foil

The ornament is a ball inside a ball. The style is reminiscent of a ribbon temari ball  that I made years ago. I cut strips of aluminum foil 1″ wide and strips of scrapbook paper 1/4″ wide (all the strips were roughly 12″ long). I folded the foil lengthwise to not quite in half. I then folded the other edge to give myself two nice, smooth edges. This made the foil strips about 3/8″ wide. I ran a bone folder over the foil strips to make them smooth and shiny. I glued the scrapbook strips to the foil strips and let them dry.

Paper and aluminum foil Christmas ornament.

After they were dry, I cut the strips to 10″ long, just to make them easier to handle. Then I wrapped the strips around a solid object (I used a small glass for the outer ball and the glue bottle for the inner ball), glued the ends down, and cut off the excess. I made four smaller rounds and 4 larger rounds. I made the inner ball first then added the larger strips to make the outer ball. I glued the top and bottom where the strips met.

Ball ornament made of strips of paper and aluminum foil.

I made a small circle of foil about 1/4″ wide and glued that to the top of the ball and attached a homemade hook and I was finished. I think the whole ornament took me about an hour to make.

I am really happy with it, although it is rather delicate. At least if it gets bent out of shape it is really easy to fix.

Happy crafting!

Kristin

Ornament Advent: Day 10 Paper Roll Christmas Trees

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Use rolled scrapbook paper to make this ornament.
Use rolled scrapbook paper to make this ornament.

Cheri: I cannot believe I have done 3 ornaments so far. Christmas is coming way too quick this year.

Scrap Paper Christmas Trees

Supplies:

Scrap paper or scrap book paper (I used a gift bag for the green tree)

Hole punch or a needle (the hole punch needs to be a small one)

Wire

Beads

Glue (If you would like to glue your tubes closed)

The easy part:

Cut strips of paper, in different widths. I think mine were 4 inches, 3 ½ inches, 3 inches, and down to maybe a ¼ of an inch. I made all the strips about 4 inches in length. Roll the strips like you are making little straws. After you have them all rolled, just find the center in each one and put a hole in it. Make sure you go all the way through it. This can be a little tricky if the paper is thick. This is when a needle is helpful. Run the wire through the tube. You can make a loop in each end of the wire and string them separately, or you can string all of them in a row on a wire, moving from largest to smallest. I put a bead in between each one.

I really like how these ornaments turned out and I think they will be a great addition to our Ornament Advent Tree.

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Rolled Paper Christmas Tree

Ornament Advent: Day 9 Upcycled Felt Bird

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Loryn:  For Day 9 of our Ornament Advent challenge, I’ve made a bird from old sweaters that I felted. Wool felt is expensive, so upcycling old sweaters is a crafty way to have a good supply cheaply. I sewed the bird together using blanket stitch. (For a tutorial, see my felted ornament post from last Christmas). I wanted the bird to be delicate, so I used fine gauge sweaters so the felt isn’t too heavy. I loosely stuffed him with cut up felt scraps, which gives an old fashioned look.

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For the details of the face, I used gold embroidery floss for the beak, and a bead with a few blue backstitches for the eye. He went together quickly and looks great on the tree!

— Loryn

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Ornament Advent: Day 8 Tissue Paper

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Lynne: I make flowers from tissue paper and I wanted to try to use the same technique for an ornament. I needed just a few materials:

about 8 inches of silver-colored wire

3 jingle bells

tissue paper, cut into 3 and 4 inch diameter circles

I used a small plate and a glass to trace around and cut approximately 20 four inch circles and 20 three inch circles. I used this tutorial for paper carnations from FoldingTrees.com with just a few modifications for my ornament.

Silver-colored wire replaces the floral wire and I used 2 different sizes of tissue paper circles to make the ornament spherical. The larger ones are in the middle with the smaller ones towards the ends. I painted the edges red with a permanent marker.

To hold the circles on the wire, I attached one bell under the circles and another bell on top of them. I also added a bell in the middle to give more support to shape the paper circles around. I had Cheri give me some tips on how to shape the wire for the hanger. She forms the spirals around a pencil and the hook around a permanent marker.

Start crimping the papers around the 3 bells until you’re happy with the shape and you’re done.

I’m really pleased with the way this came out and the small number of materials needed.

Happy Holidays.