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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Craft Project: Felt Christmas Ornament

It's official, Christmas crafting is in full swing. Lots of great Christmas crafts are appearing around the web such as here, here, and here. And to officially kick off Christmas crafting on Zakka Life, I'm sharing how to make this felt sphere ornament. It was inspired by one of those paper party decorations that fold into a ball. I just took that idea, scaled it down and used felt instead of paper. Enjoy.

Supplies:
6 Felt circles - The circles I used are 4 1/2 inches in diameter. I do not recommend using anything smaller than 4 inches.
Embroidery Thread
Sewing Needle
Scissors
Ribbon 3 inches in length

Line up all six circles on top of each other. Fold ribbon in half and place in the center of the circles (three in front & three in back). Stitch down the center sewing the ribbon to the felt and at the same time sewing all six felt circles together. Refer to picture.

From a top view the ribbon should look like this. In this picture I only have two circles on each side. Your ornament should have three on each side.

Pull the edges of the first circle together. Stitch in place where you see the white circle in the picture. Make sure to conceal your knots in the inside. Click on picture for a larger view.

Pull the next circle flap on the left hand side up to the center. Stitch together where you see the white circles in the picture. This will be the pattern for the entire sphere.

Pull the next circle flap from the left hand side and stitch to the center of the last flap. Stitch where you see the white circle. Continue with this pattern(one center stitch, two top and bottom stitches) until you've created a sphere and every circle flap is attached to each other. Done.

Top view of sphere.

To make this ornament more decorative you could sew on a pearl at each place you sew the circles together. If you wanted to make the ornament more full, you could use eight circles.

127 comments:

Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.com said...

Yet another totally brilliant idea!

greetingarts said...

I can't even tell you how much I love this project. Thanks so much, I see lots of these in my future!

Little Ol' Liz said...

Yup - I concur -- simple yet brilliant. I look forward to many more spectaular Christmas ideas.

Patricia said...

Oh this is perfect!
I need to try it out!
Thanks!!!
Patricia

MommaMari said...

beautiful and I need to make these by the dozen to augment the ball ornaments.

Loralynn said...

Great project! Thanks for sharing it with us. My Daughter will actually be able to make these!

Kristin said...

That is beautiful!

Novi On The Go said...

Simple yet so pretty! Another wonderful craft idea!

Jill said...

These are lovely! Thanks so much for the idea. I've been trying to find toddler-proof ornaments and I think these will be perfect.

Sally Cummings said...

Wonderful! Thanks for the ttorial! I will definitely give this a try :)

*~kAy~* said...

wow! this looks so nice! <3
thanks for sharing this great tutorial!

http://cards-by-paula.blog.co.uk/ said...

I've been looking for an easy Christmas project to use up some felt lefovers and this would be ideal, thank you for sharing.

Bottega Veneta said...

Great!

jojo said...

tres originale bravo bises jojo

Drea said...

I love this!!!

Cristina said...

Thank you! Beautifull tutorial!

Ann Martin said...

Lovely! Kid and catproof too. You take such nice pics... am admiring your background fabric as well.

alittlebitofscrap said...

Love it!

Nina Porto said...

I love it!

debra lynn said...

So pretty! I can envision many different variations...

mayaluna said...

I LOOOOOVE it!

Deanna said...

Very nice!! I am totally including this in my holiday craft ornament party! Thanks!!

miscellany and musings said...

I'm all over it! Love this idea!

Clara Viegas Miranda said...

Fantastic! Very simple but very elegant!

http://www.claraviegasmiranda.blogspot.com/

Nonflammable said...

I just discovered your blog. You are very creative.

Love the tea tin cuff bracelet.

Emily said...

oooo! so lovely! i think i will make one to hang in my doorway. wouldn't that be nice? thanks for the tutorial!

babalisme said...

gotta make this..!!! Aargh! I have tons of craft ideas from you I haven't tried and this came!! I need 34 hours in a day!

Elisa said...

Wow, that's so beautiful and simple. I'll have to have an ornament making party! :) Thanks for the tutorial.

CitricSugar said...

This is a great ornament - i was planning to make my sister some baby- and pet-safe ones (or rather tree-crash-safe) for the holidays and these will do just dandy! Thanks!!

jo said...

These are gorgeous! Thanks for the tutorial :)

tiziana said...

wow! very beautiful. thanks for inspiration!

Tereza Ramos said...

adorei a dica...
muito lindo!

Ale said...

thanx so much for sharing, this is so brilliant!!! Going to post about it!!

Ginger said...

Love this idea, posting it fri. to have others come see it outstanding!

LunaMoonbeam said...

I could see how this would be a great project for the road....or latenight TV. Brilliant! Seriously.
I'm a little slow- did you do the center stich with a machine or by hand?

Cristina e Omar said...

Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
I tried myself and added (as you suggested) some beads.

You can see the result here:
http://crafts-experiencias.blogspot.com/2009/11/bola.html

Ayie said...

that will make a very nice xmas ball decor for the tree

Caley said...

Ooo. I really like this. I just did an article on ornaments: http://www.favecrafts.com/Ornaments/24-Ornaments-to-Give-or-Keep-for-Yourself but I didn't think of felt!

Jenn said...

Just stopping in for the first time. I love your ideas and your style, practical, simple, cute, inexpensive...love it!
Jenn
compulsivelycreative.blogspot.com

Liz said...

This is great. I always sew ornaments with my students each December, but after 17 years of teaching I was desperate for a new one. This is perfect! Thank you. Thank you!

Bethany @ The Paper Pony said...

I cannot wait to try these baby-proof baubles! Thanks for sharing!

Holiday Craft Projects said...

This is so cute. I've linked to this project on www.holidaycraftprojects.com

gret said...

This is gorgeous! Lovely tutorial. I will be making some of these. Thank you!!

Rosana O. said...

It's gorgeous!

Marilia said...

Belíssimos, amei os trabalhos e idéias.Abraços.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

That is so pretty! I love felt, it's so, so cozy. Thanks so much for this, I'll be linking.

Sarah Lou said...

so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

This is so easy...I just made one using two different fabrics back-to-back...thanks for sharing! :-D

Marie {Make and Takes} said...

Love this! So easy and beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Adorei!!!!!!

Muito bonito!!!!

Ione - Brasil

Suze said...

Oooo...I have to try this! Love it! Thanks for the tute.

JoyLeanne said...

I have been looking for something to do for people in our Sunday school class. This is perfect!!!!

2miracles/Tove said...

I So want to try this! Thank you for sharing.!

Jessica said...

Nice. Let me try it with paper.

susana said...

ola, bom dia! achei o maximo, realmente é muito bonito o enfeite e vou fazer sim e pendurar na minha porta. estou muito contente com este presente. obrigado. boas festas. SUSANA

Jenne said...

Thank you so much for this idea! I made one out of green felt pieces in triangles and tied with red thread. Looks like a little chirstmas tree. Love it!

Mar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mar said...

Hola. No entiendo nada de ingles pero con las fotos me vale para hacer estas preciosas bolas de Navidad.
Gracias.

handmadecreativity said...

Very nice...thank you for sharing.
Bye, taced

LunaMoonbeam said...

Hey, again! I finally got a few of your ornaments made up. Thanks for the great tutorial! I blogged about it here:
http://lolo-craft.blogspot.com/2009/11/big-red-ornaments.html

Now I need to find some felt in different colors...and make a few little plastic pearls for the joints...
Thanks again!

Decors said...

.: Thank you for the post-your DIY CHristmas ornaments is simply pretty and brilliant!~~ ^,^ :.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for thatt beautiful idea. I tried it out, it's perfect. Now I'll will give to my sewinggroup, we are having an exchange with little things for christmas.
Greetings form Germany
Sabine

Desperate. Hungry. Losers. said...

Soo good! Making this!

Melanie Gray Augustin said...

That is gorgeous! I'll be making a few of those to go on my tree this year!

Unknown said...

it is cool!!! amazing!!! thank you!!! hugs

FloridaFlamingo said...

Argh...I made one of these (because, really, they are so adorable) this weekend but had a heck of a time cutting nice clean circles. Any advice? Thanks...d

FloridaFlamingo said...

Oh...and I did sew a pearl at each intersection. Looks adorable.

teruka said...

great idea!!

Fernanda Fernandes said...

Adorei a idéia,trabalho muito com feltro,vou fazer e postar no blog!!bjos,abrigada !!!

Unknown said...

great. simple but very beautiful.
thanks.

i set a link to this post. i hope you'll agree.

doro.

Unknown said...

This is so simple & brilliant! A wonderful craft to do with my daughter, thanks!

Suzanne Baker said...

Wonderful tuturial, thanks for sharing. I used my sizzix circle die to cut out the circles, worked perfectly.

Susan said...

Love it!

nicole said...

i love this, it is faster than most projects but in bulk is still time comsuming. but i had an idea to add a little glitter. just on the edges i put some glue and then glitter. it looks great. thanks so much for the craft idea!

Kems said...

can i request one felt ornament for christmas? =oP danny and i are hoping to get a christmas tree for our place.

Kems said...

can i request one felt ornament for christmas? =o) danny and i are hoping to get a tree for our place.

Marieta said...

OHHHHH¡¡, I LOVE IT
THANK YOU SO MUCH
XXOO
MARIA

La Romanche said...

Love it ! have to try it some time, thank youy for the DIY

Jenn said...

Love it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Merry Christmas!!
Jenn
glass-block-crafts.weebly.com (free Christmas craft and decorating ideas ebook!)

Fern said...

I love how simple this is! I've written about it in my Christmas craft round up :)

Skooks said...

So simple, but so cute! Putting it on my list . . . my ever-growing list . . .

Lindsay C said...

Amazing !

Lindsay C said...

That it such an awesome idea !

Sarah said...

Love this project idea! I just made one and posted about it. Thanks for the inspiration. This was not that difficult at all!
-Sarah from Create Studio
www.createstudio.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

pk @ Room Remix
LOVE this! I'm going to include it in a post and link back. Thanks for the idea and tutuorial.

Amanda Pedro said...

hello... thanks for the lovely idea. I've made some and posted it on my blog with a link back to here.
off to explore more of your wonderful ideas.
thanks

Katie Lewis said...

We made these for a church craft day this past Saturday and everybody loved them. Thanks!

Carmen soria said...

Gracias por las explicaciones. Es genial y quedan preciosas.
Carmen

celine said...

my 10 year old is going to love making this!

Sew Flippin Cool said...

Another great ornament! I've featured it in a holiday decorations tutorial roundup on my blog, The Handmade Experiment. http://wp.me/pkcUM-pE

Thanks!
Emily

Vone said...

I was inspired by this post and made similar ornaments out of paper.
http://howtodosomething.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-make-ornaments-out-of-old-book.html

Kristin Sellars said...

Love it! I think I'm going to try it with fabric. We'll see how it turns out :) Thanks for the tutorial!

Bettina said...

I was fascinated when I saw this!
Yesterday I finally made one ornament and it turned out wonderful!
I used a much longer piece of ribbon and let the long ends (20 cm each) hang out on the underside of the ornament. After finishing the sewing, I made a bow with the long ends.
With love from Germany, Bettina

Rockie said...

Thanks for this ornament. It was super easy. I made one and posted about how easy it was for me and others to make it.
www.rockiescrafts.blogspot.com

duda said...

Ficou muito legal. Foi uma brilhante id'eia. Fa'cil de fazer, econ^omica e bonita. Adorei. No natal deste ano certeza que vou fazer. Parab'ens!

aprilornament said...

Cute idea, can't wait to try it.

princessmononoke said...

I take your pic' and add a link from my blog to yours !
thanks a lot for that great idea !

Anonymous said...

i made some of these for my tree, but i also made some that were about 10-11 inches to hang from the ceiling. i love felt, it's my favorite craft medium, and i wanted the look of felt instead of paper. but i was afraid they would not store well, so where you would join the two pieces, instead of sewing them together at the edge, i added a tiny snap as close to the edge as possible. then when i took them down to put away, i unsnapped them, and they store flat. i'm hoping they work out okay for next year!

Tracey, Guernsey said...

Every year I make my mum some decorations for her tree. Last year it was mini knitted stockings - for this christmas these are perfect! Thank you.

tere said...

Muy originales y lindos
Los voy a realizar!!!!!!
Felicitaciones

MariaFulo said...

Loved your ideas! Your blog is very good.. Thanks for sharing all this inspirations! :)
Noca Passos (Maria Fulo)

Amanda said...

Wanted you to know that I blogged about your tutorial! Love it..Thank You!

http://amandaleestreasures.blogspot.com/2010/09/try-out-tuesday.html

vera azvdo said...

So cute! Thank you for the tutorial!
Vera

Machteld said...

Thanks for sharing!!!

Charissa said...

This is lovely. I'm looking for ornament inspiration and this is right down my alley - thank you!

Emma said...

Thank you this is really elegant! I've made my one in turquiose http://emmalm.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/some-more-ornaments/

Sonia Facion said...

Hi!!!!

Beautifull!!!!

Sonia

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! Have featured it on my blog today..

Berta said...

Really great ornament! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to make one!

mimacreative said...

superbe. bravo je vais vite faire un essai

Lucía said...

It's so beautiful! I featured it in my Christmas Ornaments Roundup here http://unvagalume.blogspot.com/2010/12/ponemos-arbore-ii.html
:)

Katherine said...

This is such a lovely ornament! I'm definitely going to make some, even if it's not until next year. I shared about it on my blog: http://abeautifulramble.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-day-14-but-really-only-day-3.html

Tags Collector said...

Thank you for the tutorial! I've just finished one using 8 circles in white and gray as my ornament exchange with the girls! :D

July said...

wow! It's beautiful and handy with small chindrens at home!

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

wow this would be a great piece for decorating my Christmas Tree this year. Just very eager to make this one very beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for some lovely ornaments that my 18 month old boys can't break! I am definitely going to make these!

I have also pinned this in Pinterest.

Thank you!

Cigarra Arte said...

AMEI!!!!!!!!!!!
Já fiz e coloquei um link no meu blog.
Bjs,
Cynthia
http://cigarraarte.blogspot.com/

Amy said...

My children watched me make this then all had to do their own. My 8 and 9year old, who know their way around a sewing project, were able to complete with only a few directions from me. My 6 year old, still honing his fine motor skills, needed my hands on assistance. All of them turned out great! Each child added their own creative flare. I kept mine simple. It was a great way to spend a Friday night.

Anonymous said...

love this i am going to have a go this weekend thank you so much!

Unknown said...

Its gorgeous!!! Also quick and easy to make. Thank you www.consciousbirthmama.blogspot.com

Rebecca said...

Thanks for this great tutorial. I tried making one tonight! It's blogged here http://craftrules.blogspot.com/2011/12/felt-ornament.html

I definitely see more of these in my future.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great ideas for christmas!

karana ha. said...

so cute, gonna try this right away.

Miriam said...

Awesome. I am trying this right now!

Meredith said...

Just posted a picture and link on my blog :-) They are great :-)

Soncie said...

There are no words to describe how much I love this project, so I'll simply say "well done"!

Unknown said...

Love the felt ornament pattern. Tried it with two circles of Christmas cotton print fabric, bonded together, and used 8 circles. Trimmed with little sparkly beads. Pet-proof, too! Thanks so much for the idea.

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