Each evening this month we have been sitting down to listen to our audio Advent calendar from Sparkle Stories (you might remember my review a couple of months ago). It's been such a nice way to unwind at the end of the day and we've really been enjoying all of it's "Advent magic".
One of the stories so far was about a Christmas tree elf, one who sneaks Christmas ornaments onto the tree overnight. Violet and Henry loved this idea, deemed one of the elves that we already had our Christmas tree elf and have been curious about new ornaments popping up on the tree ever since!
So, I did as our elf told me to do and got making...
A felt Santa that was inspired by a holiday card we received in the mail. A skunk, well, because both Violet and Henry asked Santa Claus for a stuffed skunk for Christmas! And a porcupine, because one of the characters in the audio Advent calendar loves porcupines, and because, why not!
Violet noticed them as soon as she came downstairs this morning asking, "Is that a new ornament?!" It took Henry a little longer to find them even when he knew they were there and then asked, "Did you make them?" to which I replied, "Yes, but only because the Christmas tree elf told me too!" That provoked giggles from both.
In case you are interested in making one of your own I've got a template for you to use: Felt Christmas ornaments
below is what it looks like...
I think that the "how to" is pretty self explanatory but here's a quick run through...
For the porcupine... Stitch two pieces of felt together at the bottom and around the nose with a straight stitch. I used a colonial knot for the eye and then, with two different colors, stitched varied and somewhat "crazy" whip stitches around the back for the quills of the porcupine. Add a loop.
For the skunk... Sew the white stripe onto one black felt piece with a straight stitch, add an eye (again I used the colonial knot). Next place the second piece of black felt behind the white striped piece and whip stitch the two together. Add a loop.
For the Santa... Sew the beard onto one piece of red felt ( I got a little lazy and machine stitched this). Attach the face, two colonial knots for the eyes and stitch the "facial features" from the template. Stitch a round piece of felt to the top of the hat. Next place the second piece of red felt behind the face piece and whip stitch the two together (take care to hide your whip stitch behind the beard). Add a loop.
And there you have three brand new little felt ornaments for our tree! Our Christmas tree elf is satisfied and the kids are happy and love them!
PS...love making with felt too? Want to make some of these ornaments or give some other fun felt projects a try, like a felt chain, or crown? and many more ideas here...I'm having a giveaway for my Facebook Fans today, stop by my page and enter!
