Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012

Amanda also made an adorable button ball by attaching some of her extensive collection of buttons to a styrofoam ball using pins with pretty colored heads. It makes for a lovely effect with all the different colors.

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012

This year Amanda sent me this lovely flower ball, made by pinning little fake flower buds to a styrofoam ball with pretty pearl head pins. She said she saw an example that used paper flowers, but she thought that paper would get crushed when it was stored so this was a better option.

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012

This year Amanda and Chris sent a waterless LEGO Santa snowglobe! It's just too cute! I'm so glad I was able to get a picture of it without a horrible glare! Merry Christmas!

Merry and Bright Felt Tree Garland

I bought these tiny star buttons (only 3/8" tall) on clearance a while ago and when I saw this garland, I knew it would be the perfect project. However, the Noodlehead pattern uses equilateral triangles, and I wanted my trees to be taller and skinner, so I used an isosceles triangle. My fabric triangles have 2" bases and are 2.5" tall. The felt triangles have 3" bases and are 3.5" tall (plus 1/2" for the trunk). Instead of sewing down the fabric all at once, I first sewed down the trunks with brown thread, then sewed down the trees with matching colored thread. I also simply layered in two triangular pieces of quilt batting before sewing. It was very tempting to make them into individual ornaments, but I think part of their appeal is how nice the colors look together. I strung them on some metallic ribbon and added two silver star buttons to the end, with tiny clothes pins glued to the back for hanging.

Tiny Spool Tree

This was the first ornament I made for the 2012 Ornament Exchange. I was digging through my stash of supplies looking for ideas, and I found a whole bunch of the tiny wooden spools that I used for my yo-yo pumpkins. I usually brainstorm my own ideas, but I was rather uninspired this year, so I googled "spool crafts" and found lots of ideas, but I liked this little tree best. Conveniently, I had everything I needed on hand, and the ribbon from my ribbon tree was the perfect size. The spools are only half an inch tall, so the entire ornament is only 2.5" high.

Candy Cane Spool Wreath

While searching for spool crafts, I came across this spool wreath and decided to make one using the red ribbon left from the ribbon tree.

Santa Gnome Pattern

Make your own Santa gnome!

Download the pattern.

Supplies:

Felt: red, white, black, yellow, tan  

Embroidery floss: red, black

Other supplies: needle, hot glue gun, stuffing, scissors, ribbon, pins

Santa Gnome

This is my original ornament for the year. I tried to make a gnome ornament for last year's Ornament Exchange using little wooden doll shapes, but it did not work out. I decided to do a felt gnome this year. I was trying to decide on a color scheme when it occurred to me to turn it into a Santa gnome! Unfortunately, it came out a bit crooked, but we'll just say he has a jaunty hat. Santa gnome is about 3" tall.

Use this pattern to make your own Santa gnome!

Button Snowflake

While googling for ornament ideas, I came across this button snowflake, which is perfect for Amanda's love of buttons. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough white buttons for a whole ornament, but I think the blue looks nice and snowy. Accented with rhinestones, it matches my blue ribbon ornaments nicely. I didn't have enough buttons to cover the back, but I don't think it's necessary for it to be double-sided. Also as a result of the button quantity, mine only has 8 spokes instead of twelve. I also used eye pins instead of a coat hanger. It is 3.5" in diameter.

Kanzashi Christmas Flower

I came across a tutorial for kanzashi flowers and decided to make one for Amanda. I was digging through my stash for an appropriate fabric when I came across this red print. You might recognize it from one of the ornaments Amanda made me in 2010. Last year, she sent me some of her fabric, and I thought it would be perfect for us both to have ornaments using the same fabric.

Thanksgiving Cards

Happy Thanksgiving! I was not terribly creative this year and used the same leaf pattern from 2009. These are just a bit more colorful.

Lily's Quilt Tent

Mom tries to use the quilt to keep cat hair off the chair, but Lily likes to burrow.

Purse Keychain

I bought this heart bead in 2010 and made a necklace. Then a couple months later I redid it. Two years later, I still never wore it so I was going to take it apart, but I had no plan for it and I love it. I considered making a key chain, but I wasn't sure it would hold up to key chain wear and tear. Then I realized how nicely it matched my purse, so I decided to make a purse chain instead.

Kitty Cushion

I went to visit my sister while I was in town for a conference for work. She wanted me to make covers for the arms of her couch so the cats wouldn't sit on them and my brother-in-law wanted a cushion for their wicker footrest. Upon returning home, I found the perfect upholstery fabric to match their living room colors, and it was on clearance for $2 a yard.

Cleo loves the new cushion:

Starry Pin Heads

I came across a tutorial for designing your own pin heads. I had no reason to make some except they were cute and I had shrink plastic. I also happened to have a star punch; however, I was not strong enough to punch through the plastic, so I just dented it where the tips of the stars would be, colored them, and snipped them out with tiny scissors after sticking pins through them. I used every color Sharpie I have.

Pre-bake:

Post-bake:

They are cute and tiny and colorful, but, as they don't lay flat, they are not very practical for actually pinning fabric.

Birthday Cards

I made two of these cards without any specific birthdays in mind.

Birthday Card

The card I made for my dad's birthday this year.

Quilted Tree Skirt

Just before Christmas 2011, Melissa asked me about a tree skirt she saw on Etsy and I told her I would make her one for next Christmas. She said she wanted something candy-colored, something kid-friendly that her little boy would like. The tree skirt I made for myself is not quilted, so I imagined making a quilt and simply cutting it into a circle, but then I found the perfect "candy" fabric and that plan went out the window. I saw this tree skirt on Flickr and I knew it would be perfect since the asterisk design mirrors the pattern on the fabric. I did not, however, want to piece 12 wedge-shaped asterisk blocks, so I just sewed strips on top of the blocks to create the asterisks. That way, I didn't have to worry about the pattern on the fabric lining up.

The back:

I love the pattern the quilting created.

Date tag:

Details:

I added snowflake brads to the front six blocks, each with a bit of sparkly paint. 

Finished size: 42" diameter

Hello Kitty Stocking

This was made to match the pink snowflake ornament for Melissa, since Hello Kitty's head was a bit too big for an ornament in that style.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Paw Print Stocking

Melissa loves her dog, so I had to make a puppy stocking.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Dinosaur Stocking

Once I'd made the dinosaur ornament, I knew I had to make a stocking to match as well.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Snowman Stocking

After I made the snowmen ornaments, I made a stocking to match as well.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Tiny Stockings

Once I got started on these, I just couldn't stop.

Dinosaur Ornament

I made an ornament to match the dinosaur quilt for the little boy who's now 2:

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Snowmen Ornaments

I combined the fabric from my cathedral window snowman ornaments with my favorite ornament design. I couldn't decide if I liked the monochromatic or patriotic color scheme better, so I made one of each.

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Pink Snowflake Ornament

A pink version of one of my previous ornament designs, also for Melissa.

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Pink Rhinestone Ornament

A pink version of my rhinestone yo-yo ornaments for Melissa.

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2011

This, I am convinced, is the Christmas ornament that cannot be topped. I mean, it has flashing lights. While Amanda and Chris are no stranger to ornaments that light up, this one required considerably more effort. I'm also not quite sure you can call it an ornament, since it's so big - approximately 5" x 8" and an inch thick, in order to accommodate the battery and the on/off switch.

So why a bus ornament? Zack is a diesel mechanic and he works mostly on school buses. One day he brought home some reflective school bus tape scraps because he thought I might want them for craft projects. I sent some to Amanda, and a foam bus with flashing lights and reflective tape is what resulted:
 

Top light flashing:

Bottom light flashing:

Cookie Cutter Christmas Ornament

This is a miniature, monochromatic version of the cookie cutter ornament my sister made me in 2007.

Fourth of July Cards

These are the cards I made for the grandparents for the Fourth of July. Happy 4th!

Father's Day Card

This year's Father's Day card.