I feel like at the end of the day, I've spent a whole lot of money on these small gifts that no one really wants or remembers. My mission this year is two-fold---spend less money, and be meaningful! Oh wait, I aslo don't want to spend forever on getting this done.
Pinterest is the answer to my prayers. I mean really. My life was meaningless before Pinterest. There are so many ideas for cute, clever, handmade gifts. And ideas for snacks to eat while making said gifts. There are so many that I want to try!
I saw this pin depicting cute Christmas tree ornaments made from felt on Etsy. Click here.
Instantly I remembered some ornaments on my mom’s tree that she had made when I was a baby. I thought to myself, “Self, you can make those!” So, I was off to Hobby Lobby to investigate. I picked up some felt, embroidery floss, thread, and some small buttons. I thought I could use some batting that I already had. When I got home I set about making a template. I just drew out my simple shapes on cardstock and cut them out.
After
cutting out the template, I cut two of each shape out of my chosen felt. I took one of the Christmas trees and sewed
buttons on them to look like ornaments.
Then I attached the stems to each tree piece, taking care to
make sure that both tree pieces match up.
I cut out some batting to put in between
my two pieces of felt, so the ornament would be more puffy. This step is entirely optional. Making sure the pretty sides were facing out,
I sewed the two trees together. A
straight stitch can be used all the way around.
Or even a blanket stitch.
Then
I thought, why couldn’t I make a monogram oranament?? I opened up a Word document, found a suitable
font (cooper black) and size (375 for mine).
Print and cut.
Here’s a pic of how I sewed the edges together. Make sure to sew in a ribbon at the top to
hang it!
I was pretty satisfied with my efforts! I needed more ideas. Back to Pinterest. I found these cute felt ornaments. Please check out this link! Click here.
I of course had to change it up a bit, so mine look like
this!
Then, just like I always do, I have to take it too far! LOL. I
scoured Pinterest for felt ornament templates and coloring page printables that might be useful and/or inspirational for my own ornaments. Here are
some that I used...
There are so many ideas out there on Pinterest. See what inspires you!
By now my mind was reeling with all the possibilities. I could include these with my small gifts!
Include one with that bottle of wine brought as a hostess gift! I could make some fancy ones for my mom! I could make my newest niece some
animals! I think the best thing about these is that
they are quick and can be as simple or as difficult as you want to make them. They provide almost
instant gratification, and don’t require lugging out a lot of supplies. Here are some of my finished ornaments.
So, I have a tendancy to get a little obsessed with these
things. So, I thought, while I am
sitting at the table working on these, wouldn’t it be great if the kids could
get in on the fun?? So, while they are
too young to sew, I thought paper, glue and stickers would be great. I gathered some Christmas and winter themed scrapbook paper and stickers. So, using simple shapes inspired by the shapes of the ornaments I was making, the kids were able to create their own! These ornaments can go on your own Christmas
tree, or even gifts to teachers or grandmas and grandpas!
Way to go SuperMom! I wanted to be your first follower. . .Ken doesn't count. . .does he?? ;) Super cute! I know where to take all of our injured stuffed animals who need a stitch!
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