This holiday project comes compliments of my mom, who taught me a while back to create handmade Christmas ornaments. Mine never quite come out as beautiful as hers, but the pattern creates an artful, versatile ornament that adds a little handmade flair to any tree. And a less controversial take on home decor!
Fortunately for me, our family has always been inclined to have a lot of extra fabrics lying around the house (my mom is very into quilting and sewing.) Fortunately for you, these ornaments don’t require a whole ton of fabric, so it’s pretty cheap to grab about a yard of each color from the store if you don’t have any at home. The best part? No sewing required!
Materials Needed Per Ornament:
- 1 yard (or so) of three different fabrics (so 3 yards total)
- At least 215 headless, flat pins (remember, that’s per ornament!)
- About a foot of decorative ribbon
- 1 Styrofoam ball
Tools Needed:
- Scissors
- A round template for tracing (mine is about four inches in diameter)
- A pen that can write on fabric (so, most any pen)
- Bonus points for a thimble, but certainly not required
Instructions:
- Trace and cut out 10 circles of one fabric (this will be the center star fabric) and 16 of each of the other two (make sure you trace on the back of the fabric if it has one)
- Fold one circle of your center star fabric into quarters – the goal here is just to create a center point from the creases)
- Pin that circle (for now!) onto the Styrofoam ball (most have a seam, which I use just to make it easier when you repeat on the other side) using the center point made from the creases. Pin this circle right side up
- Using the center star fabric, quarter crease again and then pin this circle on top of the other (same pin, same position) but upside down so the back of the fabric is facing up
- Now fold that top circle down in half, then fold again to have each corner meet center.
- Pin all ends down to the ball tightly (you’ll use about five pins per fabric circle.)
- Repeat around the ball in lined up succession so you make it all the way around. You should need four circles (quarter creased each time to find the center) to get all the way around. And you’ll cover up that initial circle pinned on right side up.
- Now you’re going to do the same, but eight times around and creating a start shape out of that initial fabric color you laid down. I suggest using a small ruler (or lines drawn on a post-it – it works!) to ensure you’re measuring the same length each time.
- Once you’ve made it all the way around, move a quarter inch down and repeat again with eight circles.
- Repeat the steps above on the other side of the circle and voila! A homemade, handmade ornament!
I’m going to try and get some pictures of the process up to flesh out these instructions, but I haven’t started making any yet since Christmas is still a ways off. But feel free to comment if you’re in a rush and need more help!