my true love gave to me . . . handmade felted Christmas ornaments for the tree (and a giant margarita because we are getting down to the wire, people).
Last Christmas, I saw a pretty picture of some felted ornaments in Better Homes and Gardens magazine and I could not get to the craft store fast enough. Here are some of the pretties I made last year:
Christmas balls
To make these, you will need:
the paper templates from the magazine linked to above (where there are also complete directions and a supplies list more thorough than I offer here)
felt, styrofoam balls, glue, pins, sequins, beads, faux pearls – anything sparkly a pin can go thru, ribbon, rickrack, trims, etc.
My bucket o’ goodies I stick on the ornaments
1. Using the paper templates, cut out felt pieces of your choice and pin them on the balls. When you have a result you like, glue the felt in place – only the parts that look like orange wedges.
the printed templates and felt pieces cut with them
2. Use pins to over the seams of the wedges with ribbons, trim or rickrack of your choice. When you have them in place, remove the pins one at a time, add a bead or a sequin – or both – to each pin, dip the point of the pin in a dab of glue and insert the pin back into the ball.
3. Cover the “poles” of the ball – the places where all the orange wedges meet – with a star cut from felt, or a circle. Decorate this as you wish, again placing beads and/or sequins on pins that are then dipped in glue
Covering the pole with a star
You can get as fancy or as simple as you want! I even bought some ornament tops at Michaels and pinned those on so I could hang the balls on a tree.
Larger balls
My goal is to someday make enough small balls that I can display them in a large glass vase during the holidays
Small balls!
Craftini: My Daily Cocktail of Yarn, Beads and Paper 
I remember as a kid my grandma had made some of this style ornament, but these are even prettier !! I love sequins and have tons of them and a lot of elt, I am going to have to try this for myself for next year !! Thanks so much for sharing, I am very excited to get out all my goodies and make some of these !!
Oooh Stephie that’s cool! Be sure and remember to send me some pics then, or post it to your blog! Merry Christmas, Blog Buddy!
If you want a great place to buy wonderful sequins, try Cartwrights sequins ,here is their link
http://www.ccartwright.com/ – I have spent a fortune there, I get nothing for referring them, but they have vintage buttons , or at least used to, but the most variety of sequins I have ever seen and where I get pretty much all of mine now, and I have a huge sequin collection now !!! I think they sell those big snow flakes and the stars, I am going to check and make sure, but they have every color and style you can imagine, for a sequin hoarder like me, it is dangerous, and for making those ornaments, perfect !! I promise to share in a blog post when I do and I will mention you as my inspiration and send folks this way when I write my post. I will keep this link so I can use it to refer to this post. Great idea, I am very excited, thanks so much for sharing. It will probably be a few months, we are about to move again in a few months, back to our beloved old house our daughter has been renting from us, and I have a lot of other stuff to do, but once we move I get a dedicated studio again and that wil make a huge differance !! It is difficult to work in the living room/ dining room !!
Merry Christmas to you too, I hope it is a wonderful week for you !!! Thanks again for the inspiration !!!
“YOUR ‘BALLS’ LOOK GREAT”
I love the idea of putting them in a clear vase. Actually, I have some nice yarn displayed that way, come to think of it. 🙂 Your work is so beautiful!