Craft yarn covered mountains for the tree!

This yarn mountain has yarn snow too.

       For some of our visitors, snow topped mountains, lodges and skying are all apart of winter fun. This year I will be posting more ornaments with sports themes. The first few being related to the mountains: the people who live there, the sports they practice and the landscapes in winter. 

Supply List:

• heavy paper or thin flexible cardboard
• decorative yarn (colorful for the mountain)
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• white school glue or tacky white glue
• masking tape
• thin flexible wire for the hanger
• five or six cotton balls
• white or cream yarn (for the snow toped mountain)
• felt to compliment the color of the yarn for the bottom of the mountain.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut out the circle from cardboard that has at least a five inch diameter across it's center.
2. Cut this circle exactly in half.
3. Bent the half circle shape around it's self to form a cone. Tape the cone in place.
4. Cut off the tip of the cone to thread a fine wire up and through. On the inside of the cone bunch up the wire just a bit to sink it into a bit of hot glue. This will hold the wire in place.
5. Wrap the outside of the cone first, starting from the bottom, with the colorful yarn. Squeeze the tacky craft glue around the cone as you do this. Try to keep the wrap as clean as possible.
6. Stop a 1/2 inch from the top, peak of the cone mountain.
7. Continue on using white or cream yarn to represent the snow-caped mountain.
8. Wrap the remaining wire with cotton batting and shape this into a fancy hook.
9. After the yarn applications have dried, stuff the interior with cotton balls to help the mountain ornaments keep their shape.
10. Next using the tacky white glue, spread some generously onto a scrap piece of cardboard and press the mountain's bottom opening on top. Let dry before trimming off the excess cardboard.
11. Cover the bottom of the mountain using scrap felt and glue to finish the ornament.

Left, cut and wrap a cone from cardboard. Center wrap the yarn mountain.
Right, a cotton batting snow cap in this version of the ornament.

Craft Vintage Inspired Cone Figures

Finished vintage inspired, cone angel figures.

       Tiny cone figures were frequently produced by mass industry at the end of the 1940s, primarily by the Japanese or in Germany for the North American market place. Catalogue companies like: J. C. Penny, Wards and Sears sold cone figures by the thousands through the mail, while five-and-dime stores like Woolworth's and made small fortunes by supplying the same kinds of factory made, inexpensive holiday ornaments directly from store displays and shelves.

      My vintage inspired angels are made the old-fashioned way, by hand. Factory made ornaments became popular after the first and second World Wars. Prior to that time, most ornaments were either made at home or supplied by various cottage industries throughout Western Europe and The United States, wherever Christmas trees were most popular. I've posted some examples of these manufactured angles below.

       To make cone shaped angels, your will need the following supplies: cotton batting balls (for heads), decorative papers (tiny Christmas designs), scrap cardboard, trim for bottom of skirts (lace and rick-rack), acrylic paints for heads and arms, thin wire for arms, tiny novelties for angels to hold (see pictures), white glue and hot glue.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Roll heads from cotton batting and white glue. 
2. Cut out skirts from patterned Christmas papers. 
3. Shape and paste the paper skirts into cones. 
4. Glue the head on top. 
5. Stuff the cone shaped skirts with acrylic batting. 
6. Glue a cardboard disk to the bottom of the cones.
7. Glue the pom pom features to the top of the head(s), one or two.
8. Wrap the string around the pom poms and above the forehead areas to make the hair design.
9. Cut the wings from decorative papers and glue these on.
10. Wrap cotton batting around thin wire and let dry.
11. Cut small pieces of that wire for arms and attach these with hot glue.
12. Hot glue tiny gifts for angels to carry: holly and berries, bows for presents, snowflakes, bottle brush trees etc...
13. Smear on touches of white glue and sprinkle angle wings with glitter.
    

      Left, roll heads from cotton batting and white glue. Center, cut out skirts from patterned Christmas papers. Right, shape and paste the paper skirts into cones, glue the head on top. I stuff the cone shaped skirts with acrylic batting and glue a cardboard disk to the bottom of the cones.

Left, tiny cone angels hold: holly, bow and snowflake. Center several have bottle brush
 trees. Right, one has wings cut from a doily... and many have transparent glitter stuck
  to their wings.

Left, my tiny vintage cone angel ornaments. I hang these on my feather tree every Christmas. Right, old catalogue page shown. Elf-like figures. Pine-cone dwarfs, Santas, angels, snowmen. Cotton felt. Stand or hang from tree. Set of 15. From Japan. Shipping weight 12 oz.

 

 

Close up of a tiny vintage cone angle from the 1960s. This tiny angel has a metallic paper skirt and embossed gold wings. She carries two candles in her small chenille stem armature. Her head is made from cotton batting. She has a beaded collar and hair made from tinsel.

Close up of a tiny pink vintage cone angel from the 1960s. Her dress is made from painted pink cardboard sprinkled with silver glitter. She has white chenille stem arms and holds a tiny sprig of green to represent a tree. Her wings are embossed and pink, her head is a cotton batting ball and her yellow hair is made from a silky strand of yarn.

Left, are miniature angels with tulle skirts playing harps. Right the very same hold lights, seen in catalogue.

Pattern for making a cone angel and one version of wings.

More Examples of Vintage Figures from The 1960s:

• Pink vintage angel made with chenille stems
• Vintage, retro lot of Christmas collectibles 1960s
• Favorite vintage finds of the week
• Christmas Decorations for seven generations

Santa Head Scrap Restored!

        Use this Santa head scrap for personal craft projects only folks. I've restored it from a vintage ephemera collection. Paste old St. Nick's portrait into ornaments or gift cards as you need him...

Smallest versions of antique Santa Claus scraps.

Larger versions of antique St. Nicholas scraps for crafting.

4 Ways To Sew Christmas Mittens for the Tree!

Left, a vintage polka-dot mitten, trimmed with

       It's amazing how many different looks you can give one simple pattern! (free mitten pattern below) Not only will this classic shape look entirely dissimilar depending on who decorates it, it is also perfect for stuffing with candy or cash. Two gifts, I might add, very appealing to just about anyone. And if these come wrapped in a one-of-a-king ornament, your friends, family or  guests will appreciate the time and attention you gave the gift. You don't need to "over think" gifts at Christmas.
       The supplies needed for the mitten ornament start with scrap fabrics. You can see from the photos that I used red and green wool felts, a woven plaid wool and also even a vintage polka-dot; any fabric will due. I then trimmed the mittens with pom-poms, ribbon, faux fur, brocade ribbon and embroidery, in order to give every version it's own look.

Left, faux fur trimmed mitten. Right,

       You may choose to sew around the mitten using a straight stitch and then turn it inside-out to hide the seam. Or, you could just embroider the outer edge with a blanket stitch if you prefer that look.
       I attached hooks to three of the mittens to hang but strung beads for the hanger on the red felt version above.
       This ornament craft is a playful means for using up all those random bits of trim, buttons, and ribbon that you may have tossed into the bottom of a sewing basket! 

• Some knitting patterns for ornaments from All Free Knitting
• Sugar Cookie Mittens from myrecipes

 

Free templates for several ornaments, including the mittens above. I will link back to this post
 for the other ornaments once these have been posted. Mittens are above, Poinsettia project,
Gumball Machine Ornament, and homespun gingerbread kids.

How to Assemble a Pom-Pom Bauble

The finished pom-pom bauble.

       This ornament craft is perfect for little ones to hang on the lowest branches of a family Christmas tree. It won't break and it's soft to handle. However, it takes an older child or adult to make it, if you should use a hot glue gun as I did here.

Supply List:

• pom-poms in rainbow colors
• aluminum kitchen foil
• masking tape
• wire
• hot glue and hot glue gun

Step-by-step instructions:

• Crush a Christmas bauble shape using aluminum kitchen foil. Make it any size you like.
• Twist and attach a wire for hanging the bauble and tape this on the top of your aluminum form.
• Cover the aluminum ball completely with masking tape. This will help the glue adhere to the surfaces correctly and also protect the glue gun from contacting the metal surface and causing the project to heat up.
• Now glue the first set of pom-poms next to each other around the middle of the bauble. (see photo)
• Then proceed to add another row of pom-poms in a different color and so on until the entire bauble is covered.
• Hang from the children's Christmas tree this ornament that won't break if it falls!
  

Far left, aluminum foil ball shape. Next, covered in masking tape.
Center, the first row of pom-poms is applied with hot glue.
Far right, the next two rows are added.

Non-breakable Christmas Ornaments:

• DIY non-breakable beautiful Christmas ornaments
• DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments. Glue Gun and Scrap Fabric

DIY odds and ends tree stocking

       Sometimes simple ideas are the most appealing. I made this homespun Christmas stocking from scraps of left over wool and stray beads/buttons from earlier crafts. It was very easy to whip together and I didn't need to visit a sewing shop to acquire any of my supplies.

Above, a grey wool stocking depicting a faux feather tree trimmed with odds and ends from
my button box.

Supply List:

• scrap wool felt (approx. 1/3 yard)
• faux tree branches, chenille stems 
• buttons and beads for tree ornaments
• scraps for tree stand
• embroidery needle and a variety of threads
• dental floss for the hanger
• red berries for the tips of the faux tree branches

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. With right sides facing together, pin a paper stocking pattern on top of your wool felt and cut out two sides of a Christmas stocking. (If you don't have a pattern there is one on this page.)
2. Determine the side that you will use as the front and using a tiny whip stitch, sew on the chenille stems to look like a feather tree. (see the photo above)
3. Applique a tree stand beneath it from felt scraps, I used a bit of green with gold floss. 
4. Sew on beads, Christmas berries and buttons to trim your faux feather tree. 
5. Sew together the two sides of your stocking with a blanket stitch using embroidery floss in any color that satisfies your taste. I used a ivory to gold variegated floss to stitch up the sides of my steel grey wool stocking.
6. Leave the opening at the top, but sew around it's edges with the same fancy stitching in order to prevent the wool from unraveling over time.
7. String together a handful of beads using your dental floss for strength. 
8. Attach this beaded hanger to your wool stocking and now you are ready to decorate a mantle or Christmas branches with the woolen creation. 

Mixed Media Strawberry Ornament

My funny strawberry has a face made of clay that must be hardened in the oven before gluing to the masked newsprint shapes.

       The Victorian's loved to sculpt faces on fruits and other inanimate objects. You may have seen something like this idea when viewing blown glass ornaments of fruits and candles? I love the humor of this sweet nostalgic idea. Here you can try sculpting your own versions similar to mine shown above and described below.

Supply List:

The first coat of paint is green because it is the compliment
to red on the color wheel. The stems will remain green and
so will the petals.

• newsprint
• masking tape
• paper mache pulp
• acrylic paints: green, yellow, red, white and black
• glitter in green and red
• acrylic sealer
• wire for hook
• cotton balls
• face mold
• wood glue
• Sculpey clay 
• paint brush

  Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Wad newsprint into a strawberry shape and then wrap it with masking tape.
2. Push a bit of Sculpey clay into a small, face mold. Many hobby stores sell these near the oven dry clays, paper clays, craft molds etc... Remove the clay impression and bake it on a glass dish in the oven for ten minutes according to the package instructions. 
3. After the clay face has cooled. Glue it onto the waded strawberry shape. To make sure it dries properly wait for the mask and glue to harden onto the newsprint form overnight.
4. Tape down a long wire hook just above the face mold where ever you wish the strawberry stem to be located.
5. Prepare the paper mache pulp. Read instructions on the package carefully. Smooth the mixed pulp over the remaining surface of the strawberry. Be sure to cover the connection between the taped wire stem and the top of the strawberry head generously with the pulp. Let the paper pulp dry in a warm part of your home or in the sunshine outside.
6. Use a bit of unrolled cotton ball and white glue to shape the stem and tiny petals around the base of the stem. Let this cotton stem harden before painting the strawberry heads.
7. Now cover the strawberries with a fast drying acrylic green paint. Because the first coat is green, which is the compliment of red on the color wheel, the strawberries will appear more dimensional after painting.
8. Now use a small paint brush to dab around the stem and petals where you want the red, fruit flesh to begin.
9. Add a bit of white to the red and layer another coat of red wash onto the berry, covering the clay parts entirely as well.
10. Apply some green and red glitter.
11. Don't forget to paint the black seeds on your strawberry head before using an acrylic sealer to finish off the ornament.

Here are my strawberries prior to painting. The stems and petals are made of molded cotton batting, while the flesh of the strawberries is made of paper pulp and Sculpey clay.

More strawberries for the Christmas tree:

• Dressing Up Millinery Fruits for The Christmas Tree
• A walnut strawberry from www.arteducationdaily.blogspot.com
• Find Victorian fruit die cuts to print and integrate into fruity scrap ornaments

An Uncle Sam Jumping-Jack for Your Patriotic Tree

This Uncle Sam paper doll was designed
by George Piper in 1920.

   I've restored this 1920 Uncle Sam Jumping-Jack by George Piper for your all American, patriotic Christmas tree. You will need some tiny brass brads, scissors and string to assemble him after you have printed out this paper doll.

   Once he is assembled, use a hot glue gun to adhere a tiny bottle brush wreath or tree between his hands. 

   If you want your Christmas scrap to look "older" simply print it out onto yellowish-tan or beige paper.

More of Uncle Sam for Christmas Decorating:

• Uncle Sam Cookies from Melissa Joy
• Commemorative Christmas ornaments from The White House
• Lia Griffith shows how to make red, white, and blue paper stars that would look lovely on a patriotic Christmas tree
• DIY red, white and blue pinwheel rosettes for your tree and table displays
• Patriotic Prairie Point Star Ornaments
• DIY patriotic paper wreath

      Did you know that there are 38 total other countries that have red, white and blue colors in their national flags? Patriotic Christmas trees aren't only for Americans; countries like: Australia, Cuba, France, Haiti, Norway, Russia, Taiwan, and even the United Kingdom all have the red, white and blue as their very own national colors!

My Handcrafted, Cotton Batting Candlesticks

Here you can see there is a faux, cotton batting
candle for every branch. One hundred years
ago German's would have used real lighted
candles instead. I will include many more
cotton ornaments than this on the tree come
Christmas. Stay tuned for updates.

       I know that there are some of you who would prefer to use real candles on your feather tree and wouldn't mind dousing it with a bucket of water should it catch on fire! However, I think I'll just do things my own way and relax; knowing that I can be sure the tree won't need such attention should I decide to take a nap or exit for a quick trip to the kitchen for cookies.  Besides, my mother-in-law paid far too much money for this little feathered beauty for me to take chances with it!

Supply List:

• old steel coat hangers with paper tube bottoms
• cotton balls
• masking tape
• wooden tooth picks or wooden skewers
• white school glue
• Christmas feather tree candle holders, clip on type 
• Krylon Glowz, glow-in-th-dark white spray paint or another brand if you find it lasts longer
• Exacto knife or single edged razor blade (You may need one of these to cut the cardboard tube.)

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Gather the supplies. You may need to substitute alternative paper tubing if you do not have the old type of hangers that I used. If cannot find the appropriate size, simple use toilet paper tubes. Cut these length wise, curl them until they are the proper diameter to fit snug inside the candle holders and tape the edges together with masking tape. 
2. Remove the tubes and cut them varying lengths to mimic real candles. I choose to make some of my candles shorter than others in order to give them the appearance of use.
3. Cover the exterior of your cardboard candle with a layer of masking tape. Leave to top end of your tube uncovered so that you will be able to insert a fake wick later. 
4. Now cover the masked cardboard candle with white glue and carefully wrap each candle with two lagers of cotton batting. Add extra glue in between the applied layers. 
5. Roll out long "snake like" pieces of cotton batting to create the twist of the candle. Apply more glue to the candle in a serpentine twist pattern, like you would see on a candy cane. Spin the these snake like pieces up the sides following the spiral glue trail. Let the candle dry upright inside the clip candle holders. Apply a generous fourth coat of white glue to the faux candles and let them dry.
6. Next you will need to twist tiny cotton batting flames onto the ends of your wooden tooth picks. These can be abstract in appearance as they are to look like tiny flames from a distance. I twisted two separate layers of cotton batting on the ends of each wick. 
7. Spray paint your wicks separately from the candles. You will need to coat them with Glowz every year perhaps. Keeping the wicks separate from the actual candles will allow you to replace the wicks over time should you need to. 
8. After following the specific guidelines given for the glow-in-the-dark paint, let these wicks dry and insert one into the top of each candlestick that is clamped onto your tree.

Left, old steel coat hangers with paper tube bottoms. Right, Christmas feather tree candle holders, clip on type.

"You may need to substitute alternative paper tubing if you do not have the old type of hangers that I used. If cannot find the appropriate size, simple use toilet paper tubes. Cut these length wise, curl them until they are the proper diameter to fit snug inside the candle holders and tape the edges together with masking tape."

 Left, You will need to twist tiny cotton batting flames onto the ends of your wooden tooth picks. These can be abstract in appearance as they are to look like tiny flames from a distance. I twisted two separate layers of cotton batting on the ends of each wick. Center, I poked holes into an old egg carton in order to keep my wicks upright while spraying these with glow-in-the-dark paint. I needed to use an entire can of this paint in order for the flames to be noticeably glowing. Come December I think I will try dipping them into a liquid form of the paint to see if this will help them glow even brighter. Right you can see the backside of the egg carton where the sticks are pocking through.

Left, here you can see I've put my pretend flaming wick into the hollow candle. Right, is a hollow, cotton batting candle without a wick.

more pictures of the completed cotton batting candles that I made for my feather tree this year.

I finally acquired a small, fence to set my feather tree inside. It was missing only one picket. I cut this out from an old piece of scrap wood and sanded it down to match the other pickets. Then I painted my fence a bright cherry red for Christmas. The project only cost me three dollars! I found the fence in a resale shop near my home.

       I know some of you think I have lost my mind with the scale of these candles, rest assured, I just took the pictures from downward angles in order to get closeups of the textures and shapes. The candles are not too large for the tree. These were measured against the real ones!

      Just right is a photo taken of the same set of candles without weird angles. Looks different doesn't it? You thought I'd lost it making all of these ornaments didn't you? Rest assured, I just thought this picture on the right was a bit boring. This little tree will be beautiful come Christmas, don't worry.

More Cotton Batting Christmas Displays and Ornaments For You to Explore:

• Ice Skate Ornament
• Cute critters from Russia!
• Traditional, new wrapped figures
• Animated cotton figures: bunny, bear, snowman and fox
• Excellent handcrafted ornaments made with a variety of clay and cotton.
• Some lovely cotton figures newly made in this photo

       Some of you may prefer to age your own versions of these candles. Just fill a spray bottle with some very strong brewed coffee and spritz the lot until you achieve the color that you like. I prefer to let my versions age naturally.

An Old-Fashioned Christmas Tree Trimmed In Silver Tinsel

       Left, In 2015, my husband has set up the white pine near to the front window of our cozy little family room. I am relieved to report that these pictures were taken last week and the tree is still very fresh. Give your real trees plenty of cool water to drink while they are exhibited during the holidays. Right, the lights are strung and I have yet to cover the rug and plastic at the bottom.

       This year my adult children requested that the tree be decorated in traditional silver; it is not my husband's preference but we will make the exception this time. For a few years I have accumulated silver tinsel garlands, picks, baubles and snowflakes on after Christmas sales for mere pennies. This is the only time to shop for such frivolities if you can bring yourself to do it. Most folks are "burned out" by this time; they are tired of the shopping and crowds. However, if your funds are limited such as mine, this is the most practical time to purchase items for your future Christmas trees.

       Here is a photo of the tree top to bottom. This white pine is very delicate and only light weight trimmings may be used to hang from it's branches. My youngest loves the shimmery glow of lights reflecting off of silver on old-fashioned trees like these. This year she chose the theme and colors of our family tree. I rarely have decorated trees using this theme because my husband does not like them so very much. However, he did find this one nostalgic and pleasing. Our oldest family member who is 91 was delighted to see it. Grandpa Al said that it looks just like a Christmas tree from his childhood approx. 1910. The silver tinsel, cotton batting and Victorian scrap all were typical of that time period. Below I have included links to some of the ornaments included on my little Christmas blog. You can make your own versions for the tree this year or next.

       Near to the top center of our family tree, hangs a lovely porcelain head angel trimmed in white feathers and silver tinsel.

       Left, is a wrapped, cotton batting Christmas Bell that I designed after a vintage photograph. Right, is one of a set of 12 icicles hand spun from cotton batting last year.

       Left, This Victorian wire ribbon rosette is so light weight that I hung it easily from the very tip of this white pine branch. Right, barely seen is a vintage chenille stem Santa; his friend, a snowman, hangs from a lower branch.

       Left, the Birch Yule Log ornament with a hollow opening for Christmas letters and or treats. Right, the DIY Sea Shell Star ornament made from cotton batting sheets and paper clay shells.

       Upper Left, is a snowball garland made from cotton batting and glass bugle beads. These garlands were very common place on Christmas trees 100 years ago.  Right, is the cotton batting basket ornament that I crafted for this tree several night before.

       Left, is a Victorian scrap angel made with a cup cake liner and a silver snowflake. Right, at the top of my tree hangs an angel trimmed with a golden tassel skirt.

• Craft paper rosette ornaments and garlands 
• Search all the cotton batting ornament crafts from my blog 

More Silver Tree Trimmings:

• Traditional Silver Christmas Tree
• Aluminum Christmas Tree slide show
• Silvery White Christmas Tree
• Silver, Gold and Blue Christmas Tree
  

Fold Victorian Wire Ribbon Rosettes

My Victorian wire ribbon rosettes, three versions.

      Rosettes made with wire ribbon are made to last. They are considerably more durable and more expensive to make than the sample rosette projects that I have posted about in the past.

• Paper Rosette Ornaments and Garlands
• Cut and Paste Victorian Clown Paper Rosette Ornaments

Left, wire edged ribbons. Center accordion fold from above. Right, accordion fold from the side.

       Wire ribbon may also be recycled easily. If you have dated looking bows and trims made with it, these can be taken apart and upcycled into something new. The Victorians often crafted with ribbon rosettes and so rosettes are frequently associated with the Victorian Era Christmas tree.

      Wire rosettes implement the accordion fold. This is the same fold that school children learn in order to shape basic paper craft projects. (video of accordion folding below)

Left, 3 wire, accordion folded rosettes. Center, cutting and pasting metallic paper rosettes. Right, gluing together the rosettes.

Left, back side of a completed rosette. Next, edge of a finished rosette. Center Victorian printed image. Right, pasted acrylic gem.

 Supply List:

• acrylic gems
• 2 to 2 1/2 inch wired ribbon
• metallic cup cake liners
• scissors 
• stapler
• tacky white glue
• hot glue and gun
• Victorian scrap angels
• scrap cardboard
• gold cord for hanging

Directions:

1. Select a ribbon that you like, fold it front to back, on top of itself. I usually work with a length no longer then 20 inches. (pictured above)
2. Pinch and adjust the folds so that these look consistent. Then pinch one end of all the folds together and staple.
3. Now gently fan the unstapled side of the  accordion folded ribbon into the shape of a rosette. Staple together the two side ends of accordion folds. Conceal the stapled edges up inside the accordion folds or make sure that the staples are both on one side of the rosette. These will be less obvious on the back side of your ornament.
4. For the ornaments shown above, I also layered metallic paper rosettes on top of the wired ribbon rosettes. These were made by first cutting the centers out of cup cake liners and then gluing the rippled paper edges back onto a sturdy cardboard round. This round was covered with the same metallic paper discarded from the centers of the cup cake liners. Why not just crush the cup cake liner without cutting it apart you may ask? Because it looks better.
5. Then I used tacky white glue to attach a Victorian scrap angel to the center of the layered rosettes and pasted an acrylic gem to her halo.
6. Fold an additional metallic paper rosette for the back side of your ornament. 
7. Glue a gold cord between the layers of rosettes on the back side of your Victorian ornament and hang it on the tree.

Video by wonder studios.

 Folding More Christmas Rosettes:

• Christmas Rosette Wreath
• A Star Wall Hanging or Tree Topper trimmed with rosettes

Cut and Paste Victorian Clown Paper Rosette Ornaments

I chose to make the collars of my scrap clowns using cup cake liners; this allows me to price these little rosettes for less at craft fairs. I can also produce them quicker saving both time and money.

Supply List:

• pom poms
• striped and solid colored cup cake liners
• Victorian scrap of clown heads (portraits)
• thin metalic string for hanging
• white glue
• scissors

Directions:

1. Purchase or print Victorian scrap of clowns
2. Cut out the center unruffled portions of two or four striped cup cake liners. You can use more than this to make the ruffled collars of each clown; it's a matter of preference. 
3. Glue the tips of each ruffle to the outer edge of a single circle backed with the same papers. 
4. Glue two rosettes together, face sides out so that only the decorative parts are seen.
5. Clip, ruffle and reglue a smaller rosette from a solid colored cup cake liner to the front of each collar. 
6. Glue the Victorian clown scrap on top of this second layer. The cord for hanging should be sandwiched between these two final layers.
7. Glue on pom poms.

More ornaments made with paper rosettes:

• Paper Rosette Ornaments and Garlands
• Rosette Christmas Tree
• Christmas Paper Rosettes Tutorial
• Scalloped Rosettes

DIY Shabby Chic Scrap Piecework Baubles

      These Shabby Chic baubles are definitely French Cottage. I pinned this set for my younger girl who happens to adore anything remotely French or Austrian that was produced during the Victorian Era. I wrapped my Styrofoam balls with white glue and variegated, pastel colored yarns. Then I snipped and clipped my way through several vintage shawls, table cloths and dollies yellow and stained with age and wear. Most of these items came to me via an elderly aunt who hadn't the heart to throw them away. I think Hannah will be quite pleased with the end result.

More examples of Shabby Chic Scrap Piecework Baubles. On the far left you can see the beaded chain that I added for hanging the baubles. These piecework baubles have scraps of lace built up on top of yarn covered Styrofoam balls in pastel shades. The color combinations are quite elaborate; not merely shades of white and ivory.

These pieces are fun to work on; it's difficult to know when to stop though.

Details of embroidery and lacework pinned to the Shabby Chic Baubles.

Left, vintage shawls, antique lace and old table linens are the kinds of supplies you will need to acquire for this craft.

A dresser with a distressed
finish and mismatched
drawer knobs, in
Shabby chic style.

      The "Shabby Chic Style" started in Great Britain and evokes the type of decoration found in large country houses where there are worn and faded old chintz sofas and curtains, old paintwork and unassuming 'good' taste. The end result of shabby chic is to achieve an elegant overall effect, as opposed to the sentimentally cute Pop-Victorian. Recycling old furniture and fabrics is an important aspect of the look and was especially popular with modern Bohemians and artisans that made up a sidelined counter-culture movement during the 1980s when expensive quality decor became very fashionable with the upper middle classes. The original shabby chic interiors were usually considered in themselves works of art.

• Shabby Chic bottle brush trees
• More Shabby Chic Christmas Ornaments
• Shabby Chic Christmas Stockings
• Shabby Chic Christmas Decorating
• Heartfelt Couture Christmas
• Christmas Ornaments with vintage images - So Shabby Chic (Tutorial)
• Shabby Chic Ornament Tutorial from Shabby Patty

 More painted and layered Shabby Chic Christmas Baubles

Christmas Penny Peppermint Ornaments

      I used left over scrap wool for this Christmas ornament project. Little girls used to practice their sewing skills making decorative penny rugs during the mid 1800s for their homes. These little "rugs" as they called them were used to protect the surfaces of trunks, tables and dressers from scratches. 

      Traditional penny rugs use only round wool felt clippings for their designs but modern crafters often incorporate these simple shapes with more complicated motifs in their rug designs.

      I made these penny peppermints using two stitches: the straight stitch and a blanket stitch. However, you may use the embroidery stitches that you prefer to make similar versions.

Supply List:

• red and white threads
• red and white wool scraps
• circle template or coins to trace around
• plastic sandwich bags
• white glue
• wire hooks for hanging
• scissors
• needle

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Draw circular shapes to layer on top of each other by tracing around objects like coins or use a circle template if you like.
2. Then alternate red and white penny shaped wool scraps to suggest peppermint candies.
3. Knot the red thread and work from the back to the front all around the wool felt shapes.Sew using a straight stitch the first four layers of penny shapes together.
4. Then blanket stitch the fourth layer on top of the fifth using white thread.
5. Cut two more white felt circles to sandwich between two identical finished penny peppermints to give the wool candies thickness. Blanket stitch around the outside of these layers with red thread.
6. Cut the sandwich bags into rectangles. Wrap the wool peppermints by twisting either end together just like real peppermint candies are packaged. I wound white thread and added a bit of white glue to the threads in order to hold the plastic in place.
7. Twist on a wire hook at one end to hang your wool peppermint candies on the tree.

Left, Steps for layering the peppermint penny ornaments. Right the finished result before wrapping these in plastic candy wrappers.

Penny rug sample

      In the 1800s, starting around the time of the Civil War, thrifty homemakers would use scraps of wool or felted wool from old clothing, blankets and hats to create designs for mats or rugs. Using coins as templates, they created circles and each piece was then stitched in blanket stitch fashion. (Thus, the name "penny" rug). Sometimes, the mats or rugs were backed with old burlap bags or feed sacks. Sometimes a penny was stitched inside the mat to make it lie flat.

      Penny rugs are not actual rugs for the floor, but decorative coverings for beds, tables and dressers and mantles. Sometimes they are used as wall hangings or pillows. Most designs include circles and some include images from everyday life such as cats, flowers, birds and shapes such as stars and hearts.

       Penny rugs are made by selecting good quality 100% wool. It must not be too thick. It may be hand-dyed or overdyed to give the piece dimension. The wool is felted then circles are cut from the wool in varying sizes and then stitched together concentrically using complementary colors. The circles are stitched to a wool backing in a pleasing design. When finished the entire piece should have a backing to cover the stitches and to protect it. The backing may be wool, linen or burlap.

More Penny Rug Inspired Christmas Ornaments:

• Cute blue and white penny rug style ornaments from Old Crow Creations
• How to Stitch a Penny Rug; The "3 stack" with a personal backing"
• Pre-Cut Primitive Ornament Kit from RobinInStitches