Snowmen from Sweaters

For the past few weeks I have been preparing for my annual Ornament Exchange.  Every year my crafty friends each make handmade ornaments to exchange with each other.  This year we had 9 ladies participating.  

I decided to make some snowmen from my sweater stash which is taking over the craft room.  I drew up a snowman shape, sewed and stuffed them and then embroidered a face and X buttons onto them.

Then I added a fabric scarf and a little stamped saying that says, Let it snow.  Each one comes out so differently and they take on their own little personalities.  

I wanted to add a black felt hat to them and went over to Michaels to get some felt, but forgot it once I got there!  So I added a paper hat.  But I'm still going to buy some black felt for the next ones that I make.

It's hard to find cream colored wool sweaters so I took some creative license and made a couple of pink and a purple snowman.  It's a little unusual but I like how they turned out.  

The sweaters that have wool or animal's fur in them make nicer crafts than just cotton ones.  The fibers with the wool melt when washed and dried in the heat and they tighten up, giving the sweater a tighter texture.  They don't unravel as easily, either.

I got the idea to make them from Cynthia Chapman on Pinterest.  I'm happy with how they came out and I'd like to make more for next year.

Here they are sitting underneath the Christmas tree waiting to go to their new homes.  :)

 

11th Annual Ornament Exchange

This year we had two new girls attend our annual Ornament Exchange, with a total of 9 ladies.  We love our special night together; it's really one of the highlights of the Christmas season for me.  

My son is usually here to get our photos, but this year we were on our own and had to take selfies.  

The night begins in the kitchen, where we have appetizers, dinner and maybe even a little Christmas cocktail.  Everyone brings something to share and the variety is always so exciting.

Don't you just love Amy's dress?  Seriously, I would wear that if it was mine.  :)

Here we are snacking and waiting for everyone to arrive.

After dinner, we move to the family room and we each take turns telling about our ornament - how we got the idea, how we made it, etc.  Linda had taken a trip to the German market and ended up making us each a little Scandinavian horse.  

This is Kim and she made some pretty little trees that she sewed and added sewing embellishments onto.  

Amy found some greenery and made a cinnamon stick Christmas tree embellished with buttons.  Although I don't have photos of all of the ornaments (not sure why), they were all amazing!  The ladies spent so much time and effort into making their ornaments.

After our exchange, I have another ornament craft ready to make at the crafting table!  We wrap up the night crafting, chatting and just having a great time.  

I am honored to have these wonderful crafty friends and each year I can celebrate that by putting their ornaments on my tree.  Have you ever been to an Ornament Exchange?  Have you ever thought about hosting one?  You just need a few crafty friends to get started.  

 

Ornament Exchange Party 2023

I always have such a fun time at my annual Ornament Exchange party!  Even though December is a very busy time of year, my group of "crafty" friends make it a priority to make handmade ornaments and come over for our Christmas party.

We had a wonderful dinner and dessert time before our exchange.  Each person brings either food or desserts and we had a nice assortment of dishes.  

Amy made beaded stars displayed on a cute crock mini tree.  

Judy brought some painted tin stockings in a pretty Christmas basket.  

Tracy made some over-sized tags that she painted and decoupaged with vintage images and ribbons.

Carol brought some cute little fabric bird ornaments all dressed in checked fabric and polka dots.

And Linda made some fabric 9-patch ornaments using Christmas colors.

Here's a pic of the whole "crafty" gang.  We had such a great time together!  What things can we make for next year?

 

Christmas Ornament Exchange

As you may know, every Christmas I host an annual Ornament Exchange party.  It's a fun time to get together with my crafty friends and celebrate the holidays.  Each person has to bring 8 homemade ornaments, all the same, for exchange.  They also bring appetizers, drinks and desserts and we have fun eating all of the goodies.  

This year my friend Tracy brought over a Hot Cocoa bar for us to enjoy.  It was fun setting it up and choosing the toppings for our cocoa.  

We always have such a silly and fun time together!  

This is Linda's first year joining in on the fun!  She made everyone a quilted ornament for the tree.  

Carol made some cute Buffalo checked mittens with a wooden snowflake and button attached.

Amy brought two kinds wooden bead ornaments that were strung on wire.  

Melissa made some deer ornaments using chipboard as the base.  

And Judy made some designer paper punched ornaments.

Tracy also made some pretty paper ornaments.  

And my contribution was these little quilted trees.

Every year we have such a good time.  We're already talking about what we can craft up for next Christmas!  

Do you participate in an ornament exchange?  Gather up some of your crafty friends and put one together for next year.  

 

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?

 

The Gnomes are Coming!

I am having so much fun making these little gnomes!  They work up fairly quickly and are easy to make.  There's certainly a bit of a cuteness factor to them.  :)

Yesterday I made 8 of them and today I worked on 8 more.  I'm sure this won't be the last of them, but I need to work on some other things for the next few days!

I first started to make them using white beards.  But after looking around in my craft room for a bit, I found some brown fur fabric.  The brown fur is thicker than the white and it gives them a very full beard!  I found myself giving them a layered beard cut after I glued them together.  Ha ha.

These little red striped gnomes are for my Ornament Exchange.  Each year my crafty friends and I get together for an exchange party.  They will be able to choose if they like the white or the brown beards.  I can't wait til the ladies see them.  Our exchanges are so much fun!  

Have you ever done an exchange? What's your favorite part about it?

This Year's Ornament Exchange

Every year in December I host an Ornament Exchange Party.  This year we had 9 ladies that exchanged handmade ornaments.  We all bring something to eat and then gather 'round for the Exchange.

Each person gets to tell the "story" of their ornament - how they made them, what was easy, what was hard, how they came up with the idea, etc.  You can make your ornaments from any craft medium that you choose.

There are always so many cute and creative things.  I love putting all of these handmade things on my tree each year and remembering who made them.  Look at this cute sled with pine boughs and ribbon embellishments!

Don't you just love this pretty ornament made with fancy papers and snowflake cut-outs in it?  Each one is different. 







Then we pass the ornaments around and each person chooses one from the basket.  They're all so pretty and interesting, it's hard to choose!

It's such a fun evening getting together with the Girls!  We look forward to it every year.

Aren't these cute?  Painted lids to jar candles and then when the candle is burned, punch a hole in the lid to use them as an ornament!  The idea is so clever.  It's a Reuse- Recyclable ornament.  :)

There were so many different snow scenes in a jar to pick from.  How festive is this little caroler in her woodland scene?

I wonder how many bottles of wine one of my friends had to drink to make these ornaments?  Ha ha - just kidding!

Pretty felt cut-out snowflake ornaments made with the Accu Cutter.

What a sweet look to these ornaments made from dried okra and acorns!  They are painted and assembled to look like they are straight from the Christmas Garden and Forest.

And golden stars always make your tree look traditional and festive.

It's so much fun!  We all can't wait to do it again next year.

Have you ever had an Ornament Exchange?  What are some of your favorite handmade things that you put on your tree?