Monday, November 10, 2014

DIY Felted Christmas Ornaments

Since I took my needle first felting class in September, I've been trying out some new projects. This one is fun and EASY, even if you've never felted before.


It's from the book Artful Christmas, which I love. It contains tutorials for 30 different holiday projects using a variety of techniques and materials.

You can read more about the book at this link.

You only need a few supplies to make the ornaments:
A felting pad
A #38 felting needle . . .



Styrofoam craft balls, whatever size you prefer
Scraps of yarn or wool felt
(the felting multi-needle tool pictured is optional . . . it just makes the project go a little faster) . . .


And wool roving in your choice of colors; I used red, green and white.


The directions suggested wearing leather gloves to protect your hands when in a frenzy of needling. I found them hard to work in and took them off. As always, you just have to keep your eyes on the needle!


To make the ornament: Spread a layer of wool over the styrofoam ball and needle it on until it is felted. For embellishment, needle on swirls of yarn or wool felt designs (I did polka dots). Each ornament took about a half-hour to make,

 
That's it! You can felt yarn hangers onto the ornaments for hanging or leave them off to display the balls in a bowl or basket. 
 
While I was at it, I finally finished felting this little Santa Gnome.
 
Felting friend extraordinaire, Kathleen Gerdes, taught a class on making these a my home last week.
 
We had a great time and proved, once again, that crafting goes better with wine!
 
 
Yours in wool,
 
This post is linked to:
Show & Share at Coastal Charm
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table & Dreaming
Make It Monday at Distressed Donna Down Home
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

7 comments:

  1. looks like y'all had a great time :) Love the ornaments and best of all, we still have time to make some!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love those ball ornaments and the Santa is really cute. I've never tried felting but I like the looks of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I adore the cute Santa and the ornamental balls turned out great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks like you had a really fun time learning! Your ornaments are very sweet and well done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like a fun thing to do with friends :) I like idea of making enough to fill a bowl. Thanks so much for sharing at the Make it Monday Party! Hope to see you again next week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful! I would like to try this DIY set. I like to make my own Christmas tree. It feels good and it’s even more fun when you do it with the kids. Although this year we won’t need it as we’re attending the Christmas party at one of the event venues in Los Angeles.

    ReplyDelete

I hope you'll leave a Comment . . . they make this blogger's day!