Gnome Ornaments

My little Christmas Gnomes....

This is the picture I'd seen... embellishments
 on a greeting card. Very cute! 

I saw this idea on Pinterest...actually it was a greeting card of some sort for sale in an Etsy store. They didn't show how to make them so I tried to figure it out for myself....

Supplies Needed:

~ mini 'pinecones' that are under 1" each
~ green felt, 1 square
~ wooden balls for heads, 12 mm
~ mini jingle bells, 1/4"or 16mm
~ black paint & a toothpick for the eyes
~ blush & Q-tip for the cheeks
~ gold thread for a hanger (I use gold thread for most of my Christmas ornaments, so buying an entire spool is economical for me, but any color thread that is pleasing to you will certainly work!)

I realized after I finished that I didn't add the little silver star to the front of each gnome. Well, it's not too late....

I also, on advice from my daughter-in-law, Brenda, made a girl version in pink! (There's a picture of it at the end of the tutorial.)

So first I went to my friends house .... she has a tree out front that drops these 'mini pinecones'. I took a bag and gathered 20 to 30 of them.

I had the bells but had to make a trip to the craft store for the wooden heads and the felt.

STEP 1: First I hot-glued the wooden balls to the pinecones. Make sure the flat side is where the head is glued...        

STEP 2: Using the toothpick, dot on the eyes with black paint. Then using the Q-tip and blush, I added the coloring to the cheeks. The rosy cheeks are especially important because they give the final item more character & lends to the idea that they are, indeed, out in the cold!

STEP 3: I cut the felt into 2" squares, folded one edge up and hot-glued into place. Then I placed a drop of hot glue to the top of the head and centered the felt piece, making sure the folded edge was in the front and not covering the eyes.

STEP 4: I then trimmed the sides at an angle, ending up with
 a triangle-shaped piece. In the above picture, the face is facing my thumb nail.

STEP 5: I added a thin strip of hot glue to the side of the face
and back around the head, where I wanted the hat to rest. 

STEP 6: Next I did the same for the other side of the head. Don't worry
if they don't match up perfectly in the back.  This will get fixed later...

STEP 7: Next I ran a thin strip of hot glue along one of the back edges,
carefully pinching the two sides together, trying not to get burned!
I had to hold it for tiny bits of time & quickly move my fingers to another spot,
then back again, trying not to get burned, but at the same time, making sure the edge
gets glued together before the glue cools down.

STEP 8: Finishing up.. I cut a strip of felt (4" long & about 1/4" wide)
for the scarf, glued it to the back & brought it around and tied it.
I secured it with hot glue.
Next I glued the bell onto the top of the hat.....

STEP 9: Lastly, I used a 6" piece of gold thread, threaded it through my needle 
and stitched it through the top of the hat right behind the bell. After I had 
gone through the hat I pulled until the thread looked even on each side 
and I pulled the needle off, leaving the thread behind. I tied a knot about 
3 times in the same place, close to the two ends to make a large loop for a hanger. 

"Gavin the Gnome" after my grandson..... All bundled up for the cold weather!....

All lined up and ready for their hangers....

Aren't they adorable!? Don't forget our pink version....

"Genevieve the Gnome" after my grand-daughter.....

All lined up in a row...they remind me of babies in a hospital nursery, so little & cute!

Just finished their cheeks... their hats are ready to go!

Hope you enjoyed... Please comment with questions or let me know how yours turned out!

Donut Pincushion!



A yummy box of pincushion pastries!!!

 Looks good enough to eat!....but I'm sorry to say, looks can be deceiving. But, hey, they don't have any calories....

Here's a super simple project for those of us who love our sweets but don't want the extra pounds!

STEP 1: Cut the round pieces of the donut from tan felt. Cut two, one for the top, one for the bottom. (Pattern below)


STEP 2: Cut one 'frosting' piece from pale pink felt.




Maybe try making a chocolate donut with chocolate frosting or....?

STEP 3: Stitch the 'frosting' to the top donut piece using a blanket stitch.

STEP 4: Add 'sprinkles'.....any pretty beads that look like 'sprinkles' to you!

STEP 5: Stitch top donut to bottom donut in the center of the donut, using a blanket stitch.  Start stitching top to bottom at outside of donut, using blanket stitch. Stop and stuff  'donut' at intervals, continuing around the donut, until entire donut is stitched and stuffed.

STEP 6: ENJOY!!!



Print 2 copies: One pattern for 6" donut and one for frosting.

 

Felt Cardinal

An easy and inexpensive Christmas ornament.

I'm fully aware that Christmas is just behind us, (...at least for a few months!) but I wanted to share a simple yet elegant idea, which of course, is ultra cheap!!! I came across it recently in an old Christmas craft book I own, so I can't take the credit for the pattern, although I did my own thing, as usual.


STEP 1: Print out the pattern below and cut the pieces from felt. I used felt squares (more like 8"x10", actually) from the craft store that were .34 cents each! (WooHoo!!) I shrunk the pattern slightly, so I got all 7 pieces from the same piece of felt! (I feel another 'woohoo' coming on....)

STEP 2: Stitch 'tummy' piece to left body piece, lining up 'tummy' piece right under birds beak, and stitching down & around towards the bottom of bird, ending just before the tail starts. (Refer to photo, below)  **Here's where I did my own thing: the original pattern says to sew on a machine, with right sides together (not a concern when working with felt), turn out...etc. I followed the original directions but it looked a bit funky.... so instead I placed the two sides together, with right sides out, and did a blanket stitch around the outside edges. I liked the end result much more, & it wasn't as difficult to turn out a nicer end product.


Attach the tummy piece, placing it as shown in the above photo.

STEP 3: Do the same with the right 'body' piece, ending up with the two body pieces, only attached by the common middle 'tummy' piece. 

STEP 4: Starting under beak, stitch up and around head, going about halfway down the back. I paused here to fill head with stuffing. Continue stitching towards tail, going around tail, stopping to add stuffing when necessary. (You can wait & stitch all the way around, leaving a small opening at the end to stuff bird, but you'll need a long, skinny object to push stuffing into small places, such as the tail. A chopstick works great.) Finish sewing up body once the final stuffing is done. 

Add beads as you stitch for a more elegant finished look.

STEP 5: Stitch a cute swirl pattern to two of the outside wings pieces, making sure they are opposite...I made up a pattern as I stitched. You can use a white colored-pencil or tailors chalk to draw a pattern, then if any of the white chalk isn't covered with your thread after you've finished, just use a damp cloth to wipe the remainder off. Beads can be sewn on at this time, while sewing on the swirl pattern. I ended up forgetting to do this!

STEP 6: Attach wings to each side of the bird. If it will be hung as an ornament, attach a thread hanger.



I shrunk the original pattern slightly, ending up with an 8" long bird.
(The left bottom piece looks like a different color, but it's not.  

PLEASE comment or send pics if you make your own! I'd love to see some variations in color or wing stitching pattern!