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Crafts: Handmade Felt Ornaments

by Christine Chitnis

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Credit: Christine Chitnis

Adding handmade keepsake ornaments in festive shapes—such as a classic Christmas bulb, to your holiday packages elevates the wrapping into something more than just a gateway to the good stuff. For heirloom-worthy results, use high-quality wool felt, and add artful flourishes in the form of rickrack, ribbon, and embroidered details. All you need is a little creativity and some hot glue—or, for those of you who are handy with needle and thread, a bit of deft stitchery instead. Happy Holidays!

Here's how to make the bulb ornament:

1. Print the bulb pattern from YankeeMagazine.com/more. Pin or trace each pattern piece onto felt, and cut out the following pieces: 2 bulbs, 4 small circles, 1 stripe, 1 small square.

2. Choose one bulb as your front piece. (Set the other bulb aside for the moment.) Hot-glue the circles to the stripe, and glue the stripe to the front bulb piece.

3. Outline the stripe with rickrack or ribbon and attach with hot glue. Wrap the ends of the rickrack or ribbon around the back of the bulb and glue. (This keeps the ends out of sight and prevents unraveling.)

4.Glue a piece of embroidery thread or ribbon in a loop to the back of the bulb, and glue the small square to the front, at the top.

5. Glue the second bulb piece to the back of the decorated bulb. When it's dry, you'll have a sweet adornment that you can attach to a gift's wrapping, ribbon, or bow as a lovely Christmas keepsake.

You'll need: wool felt; straight pins; scissors; assorted ribbon, trim, and yarn; glue and hot-glue gun (or needle and embroidery thread)

Find instructions and patterns to make the mittens and sailboat ornaments shown here.