Heart Ornaments from Sweaters

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to make things from old sweaters!  There are bins of used sweaters all over my house.  This year I made more of the heart sweater ornaments.  I mean, like a LOT more.  Probably over 100 of them.  

They are fun and easy to make.  Part of the joy of making them is going on the "hunt" to find the used sweaters that you can use to cut up.  I like to go to some second-hand shops and rummage sales to find just the right colors and textures for my crafting.  I'm always on the look-out for that special find.  

My favorite sweaters are the ones that have a pattern on them, but they are hard to find unless you are willing to pay a lot for them.  And I like using ones that have wool in them so that they shrink a bit and don't unravel as easily.  

To make them, wash your sweater in hot water and dry on a hot heat setting so that the fibers meld together.  I use a heart cut out shape and sew them right sides together leaving a one-inch space to turn them inside out.  The best thing about working with the sweaters is that the fabric is very forgiving.  You can stretch it back into shape.  Stuff with fiber fill and sew closed the opening.  I used a thick gold strand for the hanger.  They can be used as ornaments or as bowl fillers for your table display (just cut off the hanging loop).

I like to give them in groups of three or four so that the colors coordinate well together.  They make beautiful hand-made gifts around the holidays.  :)

What sort of things have you made from used sweaters?  

 

Buffalo Checked Deer Ornaments

Every year, I make some handmade ornaments to give out to my family and friends.  This week I made these Buffalo-checked deer ornaments using Peaceful Prints designer papers that were in the summer's Sale-a-Bration catalog.  I bought the punch that coordinates with the deer and put these together.  I got the idea from one of my stampers, Melissa McClellan.

To give to my daughter, I made a set of three of these ornaments.  I used coasters for the base, trimmed them and rounded the corners and then added the designer papers.  They measure approximately 4 x 2 3/4 inches.  

Here is the third one.  I cut out the snowflakes from the designer paper by hand.  Then I added some red twine and rhinestones for embellishments.  The tree is from In the Pines set and the sayings are from various Christmas stamp sets.  I also added some washi tape on the edges and a tag topper from the Tailer Made Tag die cuts.  

I decorated the backs of each of the ornaments, as well, using some more sayings and snowflakes.  

I love how they came out.  I originally wanted to make more of these, but they were a bit more labor intense that I thought they would be when I got started!  

My daughter will love them and perhaps when I have a bit more time, I will make more of these.  I can imagine them in different colored papers with snowmen,, Santa or other holiday images.  

I love them as a set - kind of like a Trio of Tags for the tree.  :)

 

Tree Ornaments Using Fig Tree Fabrics

Every year I host an Ornament Exchange with some of my crafty friends.  For this year's ornament, I made some quilted trees from my Fig Tree Christmas fabrics.  I've made some things before using these fabrics, and I love them because they are bright and cheery.

To make them, I cut 1 3/4" strips from 4 different fabrics.  After I sewed them together, I cut them out into triangles using some of my triangle rulers.  I started with a 60 degree angle, but then kept trimming them into smaller triangles. 

I folded and sewed a brown strip for the trunks and then trimmed it into 2" pieces to make the trunks.  After I sewed them together, I added some little buttons to make them look decorated.  I used thick gold twine for the hangers.

I made extra trees to give away and packaged them up into homemade bags with a tag and some chocolates.  I put together an assortment of trees in different colors and sizes for the gifts.

I love having homemade ornaments to take out each Christmas to decorate my tree(s).  It's fun to remember our Ornament Exchanges and who gave each of them to me.  

Which ones do you like the best?  Strangely, my friends all chose the red tree ornaments for their ornament in the exchange.  I wasn't sure if the red tree idea was going to over well, but I guess I was wrong!  

I'm off to make some more.  They're fun to make and kind of cute.  What do you think?