Here are a few finished ornaments for the swaps I'm in. The others are still in progress.
Snowy
Who doesn't love snowmen? I love all types. For my first one, I wanted something country and primitive, but not too primitive. This is a hand-stitched 6" snowman made from cream plush felt, scraps of fabric, buttons, twigs and a pom pom.
His mouth and the snowflakes on his hat are hand embroidered. The edging of his hat has blanket stitches. His nose was made from clay and painted. Blush was used for his cheeks. To make him glisten like snow, he's been sprayed with glitter.
In Progress: Feather Fly-Away
This was actually the first one I made. Large vintage pearls were strung onto wire. (I received these from eBay. You can get a lot of wonderful vintage pieces here at inexpensive prices.)
The pearls were inter-spaced with purple aurora borealis beads from a necklace I purchased from a kids accessory store in the mall.
Moss colored organza ribbon was then wrapped around the beads and the ribbon edges were tied together to make a hanger.
Velvet leaves were added on top. Their stems are wire which made it easy to attach them. Just wrap their wire stems around the wreath and hide it under the ribbon.
A dragonfly pin with crystals was tied to the wreath at three sections (the clasp, the wing, and the tail). Since his head was missing, I replaced it with a citrine colored stone.
There's a little spray glitter on it because I like the shimmer.
Baaaaah
6" x 4"
These are the most fun and very addicting to make. Very popular, too. People want me to make a little herd for them. I expect these would make great holiday craft show items from the response I received.
Another View of Baaaaah
I found a picture of a sheep and drew around it to make it the size I wanted, about 6" for this one. (I didn't want to be bothered going to the copy store to enlarge or reduce the image.)
Then, I cut it from black felt and stitched all the way around it. No turning the body inside out. Just leave the top of the sheep open so you can stuff it a bit. Then, stitch closed.
Find fluffy, maybe a little knotted looking, yarn or wool. Tie a knot around his neck and start wrapping him up in it until he's nice and fluffy like a real sheep. You can use different colored wools, too, on the same sheep. They all came out great! You might also need a little glue to keep a piece of wool in place by his tushie.
Cut two little triangles, softly rounded, from black felt for his ears. Bend it in half a little and glue the bottom edges together. The top of his ears are not glued. Glue the ears in place on his little head. I use E6000 for mostly everything; but, you can also use Fabri-Tac, too.
Tie ribbon, raffia, or something else around his neck with a little bell. There are buttons that come in the shape of little cow bells which would make this even cuter. You can also use chenille pine stems to make a little wreath for around his neck, too, with a red velvet bow attached to it. Way toooo cute.
On some sheep, I sprayed glitter to give them the look of freshly fallen snow from being out in the fields.
The hanger is gold embroidery floss sewn through the body so it holds better. In this way, the wool won't pull and become loose after years of tugging on it and hanging.
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