Handmade Holidays: LC’s Felt Tree Ornaments

I am so SO excited, friends.  This next installment of the Handmade Holidays series is being brought to you by my favorite crafter in the whole wide world.  Little Crafter himself!!
I figured since I’ve had friends sharing their ideas for handmade Christmas decor and gifts this week, why not let the little man show you one of his latest projects?!  Here it is:
The idea {like many others} originally came from Pinterest.  LC has his very own board and from time to time we’ll browse around and he’ll do some of his own pinning.  Thursday morning, we came across this pin {originally from Forest Fairy Crafts} and LC was immediately intrigued.  “I want that on my board, Mommy!” So, we pinned it, and several hours later, we made it since we actually had all the supplies on hand.
Here’s what you need:
– green felt
– assorted beads and/or sequins
– thread and needle
– scissors
 
That’s it.  Really.  I bet you have all that just laying around your house already.
 

The faceted multicolor beads we used as well as the sequin mix came from our friends at CraftProjectIdeas.com, so now is a good time to thank them for those!

STEP 1: Cut two tree shapes from green felt.

STEP 2: Sew beads onto one of the pieces of felt.  This was so exciting for LC because it was the first time I ever let him use a needle and thread.  I showed him how to pull the needle up from the back, thread on a few beads, then push it back down through.  Priceless.

Look at his concentration!!  He had so much fun with this, and from time to time, he’d just grin and say, “Mommy, I’m sewing!”

 

STEP 3: Sew top and bottom of tree together, leaving an opening to stuff it.  At this point, I got to show Little Crafter how to do a simple whip stitch.  He, of course, caught on right away.  I held the two pieces together, and he pushed the needle through and pulled all by himself.  He literally made this entire thing with very little help from me whatsoever, other than verbal guidance.  He’s four.  No wonder his Poppy calls him “Boy Genius.”

STEP 4: Stuff with polyfil and finish sewing shut.  He loved the stuffing part.

STEP 5: Add a hanger using silver cord, jute, or ribbon.  We threaded ours through using a large needle, but you could also use hot glue on the back.

Isn’t it adorable?  LC generously decided that the first one he made was for his daddy.  Then he made one for me, which has lots and lots of purple for the Ravens.  It also has an “M” for Mommy, an “E” because it will remind me of my stuffed elephant Peanut, and a “B” for “MomBy.”  This is what I was told.
Finally, he made his own.  He got into a pattern this time, doing a sequin, then a bead, then a sequin, then a bead…you can tell that his three favorite colors are red, blue, and purple!
Once they were finished, he hid them in each of our stockings.  Apparently we get to have them the day we put up our tree…which can’t come soon enough for me!
LC hopes you enjoyed his craft!  Stay tuned next week to see some other felt ornaments, this time made by Mama, as well as the one I sent for the Ornament Exchange!  Until then,
Happy Crafting!

 

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13 Comments

  1. My babies are 25 and 28 this Christmas and I treasure all of the ornaments they have made through the years! Don’t forget to put the year on the back so that when he is the age of mine you can look back at these treasures and wonder where all the years have gone!

  2. So cute. I started a tradition with my daughters 1st Christmas, I bought 12 gold ball ornaments and 1 special one for her and one for me and I put initials and dates on them. Each year we bought 1 oranament for each of us and again initialed and dated. As money was good we would make some special ones here and there. Of course she usually made some at school also. By the time she was 18 that tree that had only 14 ornaments that first year had grown by leaps and bounds. She married and one of her wedding gifts from me was each one of her ornaments that I had bought of made for her over those years so she had a starter set of ornaments.

    She is now 34 and I had to move in with her due to health issues. I bought her a humongous tree this past year cause her other could not hold all the ornaments.. see she had 3 kids (16-14-12) and continued the tradition and each year 6 more are added. We still have 1 of the golden balls for tradition also. But each year putting up the tree is an oh so lovely memory.

    I think we will do these this year with the initials and special colors for each person. I am wondering how it might be to put a few whole cloves and a piece of cinnamon bark in each one? We do occasionally make the cinnamon/applesauce ornaments too but I think a little bit in those would be lovele, what say you? [email protected]

  3. Very cute! My little one has the exact same pjs 🙂 Oh and I got your ornaments thanks so much they are great!! Conner loved the one with the blue, his favorite color.

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