Unicorn Stamp Ornament

I started using a canva.com at work this year, and it includes this stamp image. When I saw it, I immediately decided to make a unicorn stamp for Amanda, which I set in this pendant to turn it into a Christmas ornament. I glued it in using Mod Podge. There's a bit of glitter glue around the edge and on the unicorn's horn. I then applied Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to fill in the pendant. The ribbons are glued to the back of the pendant with a little snowflake decoration.

Claire's Kites

These kites are quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever made. Julie is working on decorating Claire's "big girl" bedroom, and the theme is kites. She originally wanted me to make some larger kites, but then she saw a kite bunting on Etsy and we went with this instead.
 

Each kite is about 4" x 6" with a 9" tail. The whole strand is about 8' long. There are buttons on the back of each kite through which the ribbon is threaded.

Ribbon Owl Ornament

I saw an owl very similar to this on a hair bow at Joann's and knew I needed to make one for Amanda. Mine is a bit different though. I decided to use a rhinestone for the belly, so I glued two wooden discs together and painted them red to provide support for the rhinestone and the eyes. I also added googly eyes, since I didn't have black and white ribbon and also it seemed less fiddly. It is about 1.5" x 2".

Mini Spools of Thread Ornament

Earlier this year Amanda began taking sewing classes, so I was inspired to create a sewing themed ornament by wrapping ribbon around tiny wooden spools and dropping them in a glass ornament.

Congratulatory Card

A congratulatory card for my cousin who just graduated from college and is moving to North Carolina for his first job teaching high school science.

Hair Bow Elephant

My newest niece has a lot of hair for her age. Julie started using one of the first three elephants for hair bow storage before she hung them over the crib. Once she put them over the crib as intended, she decided she needed another to keep using for hair bows, but we decided on a slightly different design. I used the same size elephant, but we put the elephant at the top. Julie also wanted it to hold head bands, so we added the C at the bottom to hang them.

Knotted Ribbon Ornament

Amanda likes ribbon, so I like to make ribbon ornaments for her. I saw this ornament on Martha Stewart and decided to make one, but, with plain red ribbon, it was definitely lacking something. Fortunately I had picked up these self-adhesive silver rhinestones at Michael's and they were the perfect touch. I hope they stay attached, because the smallest ones are much too small to glue in place. The ribbon is 5/8" wide and the ornament is about 2.75" at its widest.

Ribbon Wreath

I saw this design on Betz White's blog. She had two versions: ribbon and felt. Definitely check out hers - the photos are much better and you can buy a pattern! I wanted to make a felt version, but I didn't have a piece of felt long enough, so ribbon it was! Using 5/8" wide ribbon, it's about 3.5" in diameter. I think it's a little wreathier than my previous ribbon wreath.

Flowered Doll Blanket

I embroidered these flowers over 15 years ago, and I just now got around to turning this project into something useful. Originally it was a doll blanket, but I had just hemmed the edges, so the back looked unfinished. I was too old to actually use it for its intended purpose it when I made it. Then last year my mom rescued my American Girl doll from the closet of my childhood bedroom and gave it to the daughter of one of her friends. I pulled this project out of a box and decided to turn it into a more usable blanket for her. I added some quilt batting and some lavender fabric for the back that matches the lavender ribbon on the front and stitched around the edges with lavender thread. See this post for detailed pictures of of the flowers.

Finished size: 16" x 19"

Ribbon Embroidery

I saw this idea in a magazine and had to try it. Of course I tried it with the regular ribbon I had on hand, not the special embroidery ribbon, so it was quite a feat to tug the ribbon through the fabric. I do love the results however. At some point I did buy some embroidery ribbon, but I never ended up using it, probably because these projects are decorative only and not at all useful.

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.

Pink Rhinestone Ornament

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

3D Ribbon Tree

This is by far my favorite ornament this year. It doesn't hang though, so I suppose it's more of a decoration than an ornament, but it's still adorable. I am very pleased with how it turned out. My original plan was to use a styrofoam cone as the base, and just pin the ribbons on. However, when I went to the store to buy one, I discovered that the styrofoam cones were flat on top instead of pointy. I could have worked with this if the cones were smaller, but they weren't narrow enough. So on to plan B. The base of this tree is felt. I stitched a little tree form and stuffed it. Then I took folded 2" lengths of ribbon and stitched them around the base of the tree, working my way up. I used a soda can to create the base of the tree topper.  It is 4.75" with the star.

Woven Ribbon Tree

Oddly enough, I got the idea for this ornament from a belt. The back is felt. I sewed the vertical green ribbons to the felt at the base of the tree and then sewed up the sides once I'd woven the horizontal ribbons through. The ribbon along the edge is hot glued down.

Ribbon Wreath

A slight variation on the ribbon and rhinestone ornaments.

Learn how to bunch ribbon with this tutorial.

Ribbon Bunching Tutorial

To bunch ribbon like I did for the ribbon and rhinestone ornaments, you will need a ribbon, needle, thread, and scissors. Use your preferred method to keep the ends of the ribbon from fraying. I melted the ends of my ribbon instead of using Fray Check or nail polish and really liked the results.

Tie your thread to the edge of the ribbon to stop the knot from being pulled through the ribbon when bunching, then use a running stitch to sew from one edge of the ribbon to the other on an angle. This creates a zig zag down the ribbon as seen here:

The above picture is just for the big picture. Don't wait till the end of the ribbon to start bunching. Start bunching after you've sewn a few zig zags. This makes it easier to bunch.

When you get to the end, pull it tight and again tie your thread to the edge of the ribbon. If you are creating a circle, stitch the two ends together. Once you have a circle, you can glue on your embellishments, similar to the construction of the yo-yo ornaments.

This was 11" of ribbon that was 1.5" wide and it produced a 2.5" bunch.

To create a rhinestone ornament, you will need:

• 24" of 1" wide ribbon
• 3 4" pieces of 1/4" wide ribbon
• 1 6" of 1/8" wide ribbon
• 1 20mm rhinestone 
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Yo-Yo Ornament Tutorial

Here's the ornament we'll be making today:

It's so easy it barely requires instructions, but it's always nice to have measurements instead of messing around figuring them out yourself.

Materials:

• 1 yo-yo (yo-yo making instructions) - I started with a 5" circle to end up with a 2.5" yo-yo
• 3 5.25" lengths of 3/8" wide ribbon
• 6" of 1/8" ribbon
• 1 20mm rhinestone
• Needle and thread
• Scissors and pen
• Hot glue gun

Ribbon Snowflakes

I decided to make some Carolina blue ornaments for Amanda and myself. Conveniently, Carolina blue has a nice snowy feel about it when combined with silver. I added mirrors to the backs of these ornaments to stabilize them and used sparkly puffy paint to add a snowflake.

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Similar ornaments:
Ribbon and Rhinstone
Yo-Yo Ornament

Ribbons and Rhinestones

It quickly became apparent that this year my theme for Amanda's ornaments would be ribbon.

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Similar ornaments:
Ribbon Snowflakes
Yo-Yo Ornament