Ornament Overload

When I was growing up, we used a figure of speech in our family that basically said "You're using/you have too much _______!" It went something like this. My dad likes lots of salad dressing on his salad, so my mom would say, "Why don't you have some salad with your dressing?" We'd all chuckle about it and that was that. I recall hearing "Why don't you have some cereal with your milk?" (I love milk - especially a lot on my cereal) or "Why don't you have some hair with your hairspray?" (it was, after all, the 80's). We sometimes still say it just for old time's sake. So, do you think I should have some tree with my ornaments?

At dinner tonight, my husband said, "We don't have a tree with ornaments on it. We have a mass of ornaments with a tree somewhere underneath." Decorating the tree is probably my favorite part of "decking the halls." That and setting up my nativity on the fireplace mantel. I know I have a ton of ornaments, and I get more every year, and every year when I get them out I think I should leave some off. But how do I choose which ones to leave in the box when the rest of them get to come out and show off their cuteness/beauty/funniness/sweetness? I can't choose, so they all come out to play.

This poor tree has been around a long time...at least 10 years. What say we spring for a nice big one at a day-after-Christmas sale? Then I'll have to get more pretties so I can "have some ornaments with my tree."

Looking Good Last Minute

This is what my dining table looks like right now (okay, make that two days ago when I started writing this post), in the middle of making a bunch more of the ornaments I made for our exchange. I don't have a photo of a finished one, alas (I didn't have one two days ago, and since then have been down-to-the-wire finishing them before rushing them off to my daughter's school for her teachers so I still don't have a photo of one finished)!

Here's the best I could do ... you get the idea, yes?

Super cute, super easy, and totally not my idea. Go on over here to find the tutorial, along with completed-ornament photos.

Things I did differently:
- I zig-zag-stitched the bottom of the skirt, because I love a raw edge but I don't love the thought of the whole thing unravelling.
- I used my sewing machine to make the gathering stitch - just set it to the biggest stitch, gently pull the ends of the thread, and voila!
- I also stitched the skirt together at the back, with right-sides together and then turned it right-side out. Then I stitched the top of the skirt closed, mostly to hold the gathers in place.
- I didn't use any beads, just embroidery stitches to embellish the top. I also just stitched a loop of yarn to the top for hanging, because I'm too impatient to spend time on fashioning a tiny hanger out of wire.

These can be made quickly and you can do many at a time - they're a great last-minute gift for a friend, teacher, hostess, or for an ornament exchange. Hooray for last-minute holiday crafting!

Tree Ornament Tutuorial

Materials You Will Need

Main fabric for front and back of tree

Heavy weight fusible interfacing

Quilt Batting

Favorite fabric scraps

Assorted ribbon pieces

Buttons

Any other embellishment you like

Start by drawing a simple tree shape on your interfacing and then cut it out.

Use it to trace your tree shape onto your main fabric...

and then onto your batting.

Cut out all your pieces

If you want to take it easy on your machine later cut your interfacing out just a little bit smaller to allow for a seam.

You should have 2 fabric, 1 batting and 1 fusible interfacing piece.

Next, iron your fusible interfacing to the inside back of the tree and set aside.

This is the fun part! Lay out the design of your ornament onto the front piece of your tree. I like to use "stitch witchery" so that my pieces don't slide around under my sewing foot. I also tried it without though and it works just fine.

Leaving your ribbon and fabric bits long, stitch them to your tree front.

Trim around tree and sew on any buttons now or add your embellishments. I have used brads and cute little safety pins. Have fun with this part. If you scrapbook like I do you'll have some fun things just begging to be added. Just remember you will be sewing around this so don't put anything to close to the edge.

Next, make a tree sandwich. Bottom piece with interfacing, then batting and then decorated front piece. Pin together. Again you will be sewing around this so stir clear of the edge with your pin.

Sew around entire tree.
The best part of this project is there is no turning right side out. Raw edges on this is what makes it so cute and artsy.

Trim excess fabric or batting if you like and add a ribbon or embroidery floss to hang your ornament.

Walla!!!
This is an easy and quick little project so I went a head and made a bunch assembly line style. This is great for using up those itty bitty ribbon pieces that you just couldn't part with. I think this whole project minus the main fabric was done with scraps. There is something really satisfying about using every last bit.

You're done! Hang it up somewhere fun or give it away as a gift. These would make cute present toppers too.

If you make these be sure to let me know how they turn out. Have fun and enjoy making something pretty!