Felted Ornaments

Although it's already well into January, I decided to continue working on Christmas crafts for my fifth and final blog post. This time, I made several ornament-like balls for my future Christmas tree. Similar to my last post, I used wool and a needle to poke everything into shape.

According to Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects by Susan Wasinger, this project only required wool roving in a variety of colors, needle-felting tools, and Styrofoam balls. The Styrofoam ball would make up the inside of the ornament.

Next, the author said to, “Jab the roving gently with the needle-felting tool. Go over the surface of the ball thoroughly… As you finish working over one section with the tool, tear off and add new pieces of roving. Felt them into place with the tool until you’ve covered the entire ball” (Wasinger 51). I followed these instructions and gently jabbed the wool onto the surface of the ball. 

After this step, all I had to do was lay some yarn on the ball and let it zigzag, loop, or swirl around in different patterns. Continue poking the yarn and wool into place and make sure it is secure (Wasinger 51). Instead of using yarn, I chose to use wool still. I followed the rest of the directions and used strings of white wool and circled it around the ball in various shapes and patterns.

Since one ornament wasn’t enough, I proceeded to make balls of other colors and designs. Using another Styrofoam ball, I wrapped it in blue wool first, then used pieces of white wool to carve out a unique design. I attempted to spell out my name. I also tried making an ornament using green wool and other colors for the pattern.

 

I enjoyed making this craft, just like I enjoyed making every other craft that I posted about in my previous blog posts. The art of creating Christmas crafts and crafts for other occasions has helped me become more patient, focused, and creative, and these qualities have made me a better person.

What is your favorite craft to make and why do you like making that kind of craft?

Wasinger, Susan. Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects. Lark, 2014

Polished Ornaments

For my second blog post, I decided to make something that is an essential part of my annual Christmas traditions. Putting up a tree and decorating it with ornaments is something I enjoy doing every year. Luckily, in Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects, there was a craft idea allowing me to be creative and make my own ornament designs.

               The materials needed were clear plastic or glass ornaments, nail polish in a variety of colors, and a large bowl or tub. By slightly mixing several colors of nail polish in water and dipping the clear ornaments in the mix, I could create unique designs and add a handmade touch to my plain, store-bought tree.

               The book advised me to “Fill the bowl with water almost to the brim [and] drip one color of nail polish onto the surface of the water” (Wasinger 36). As I attempted this step, I had to be especially careful because if I dripped the polish too directly or from too high, it would sink to the bottom of the bowl, and thus become unusable. Also, the book cautioned that using more than four different colors of nail polish would result in a muddy-looking liquid (Wasinger 37). I only used two shades of polish for each ornament to avoid a messy mix of colors.

               For me, the hardest part of making this craft was actually dragging the ornament around in the mixture and covering each part because I tried not to touch the cap or overlap the liquid on one side of the ornament. I used pliers to grasp the opening of the ornament.

Most of the ornaments turned out to be decent and the patterns were nice, but one thing I need to improve on is covering the whole surface of each ornament and not leaving any blank spaces.

               Overall, this craft project was fun and enjoyable, and I would recommend this idea to anyone who wants to make their Christmas tree a little more special and unique!

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Are any of your ornaments handmade?

Wasinger, Susan. Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects. Lark, 2014