I had planned to spend today sharing some of the more basic ornaments and giving an in depth look at the tree, but it is pouring rain down here in San Diego and so it is not a day for picture taking.

Instead I’ll jump ahead on my calendar and show you how I made this monogrammed ornament.

I figured that a Family Traditions tree would never be complete without a monogram, but at the same time I didn’t want anything overly formal, so I thought that a little handstitched initial would be enough of a nod to tradition without clashing with my oh so modern house.

I’ve made versions of this ornament before in different sizes and shapes. It’s really so simple and is an easy way of getting those workhorse ornaments I’m so fond of.

Embroider your design on your fabric, and cut the shape out with your design centered. For this one I obviously used a diamond, but in the past I’ve done stars and circle shapes by tracing an old scrapbooking template.

Layer two shapes right sides together, with your hanger in between the layers. Poke both ends of the hanger out of the shape so they’ll be sewn in place in the next step.

Then just sew around leaving an inch or so open, just like when you sew a pillow.

Push the hanger through the hole you’ve left open and pull right side out. Push all the points out as far as you can.

Stuff the little pillow full of fiberfill and close the hole up with a little fabric glue. My favorite is the standard Fabric-Tac, but just remember that a little of it will go a very long way.

With that same fabric glue, trace a line all along the seam and glue some trim down. Join the edges at one of the points and try to blend them together a little. For this portion especially, use very little glue. Like just a whisper. A suggestion of glue. But make sure that your trim is good and pushed down into it.

I really didn’t stress too much about making these things pristine or even overly neat. They’re just ornaments, you know? You’ll rarely see each one close enough to notice that you used glue instead of tiny intricate stitches. I worried much more about making them easy to crank out in bulk. I think by the time I’m done with these I’ll have somewhere between 36 – 46 ornaments (you know how I like my trees just stuffed silly), and that is just too many to be concerned with stitching trim down by hand.

As I’ll begin showing you tomorrow, I’ve completely revamped our usual Family Traditions tree, and since I was all kinds of excited about it, I had to keep the love going and make the gift tags for this year match the changes.

It also helped that I ended up buying a ton of ribbon for an ornament I planned on making that turned out ugly, so I had to come up with some way to use it.

Just like my snowflake gift tags, I made the center in Word with a couple of text boxes. But if you don’t relish the thought of messing about with a computer program, then you can just use this little picture I made for you:

Cut a length of ribbon about 24″ long. There is no reason for this to be precise, just know that the longer the ribbon you start with, the wider your finished rosette will be.

Stitch a running stitch along one side of the ribbon, down its entire length. You can do this by hand, or do what I did and run it through the sewing machine set to a really long stitch length.

Gather your ribbon by pulling the the end of the thread. If you’ve used your sewing machine, only pull the top thread. Pull as much as you can until the ribbon is super tight.

Tie the two thread ends together to bring your ribbon around and form a wreath.

With a little tacky glue or even hot glue if you happen to have it hot and on hand, stick your paper circle down to the ribbon rosette.

You can tape your gift tag down as is or tie a ribbon through the wreath to tie it around a basket handle or the neck of a bottle. If you use your sewing machine to make the running stitch, you can whip these babies out in not much longer than it would take to just cut out a plain old label.

Let’s wrap up this snowfall tree, shall we?

So earlier this year I showed you the garland for this tree, we’ve covered fancying up existing ornaments, I shared the quilled snowflake, the polymer clay ornament, and the beaded snowflake, and now it’s time to share a few last simple ornaments and bring it on home.

I have a very specific philosophy when it comes to decorating trees. One you’re probably starting to pick up on here and there. For one, I think every tree needs a theme. Even if it’s “Family Traditions” where you put all the kids ornaments. I’ll show you my version of that next week. A theme doesn’t have to be terribly specific, it could be a color scheme or a feeling you’re trying to evoke, but I think the best trees have ornaments where there is something in common.

I also think that the best trees only have a very few really standout stunning eyegrabbers. I think a truly beautiful tree looks beautiful as a whole, and for that to work the ornaments need to blend a little. In a great choir, you can’t pick out a single voice. No matter how beautiful the rogue voice is, if you can hear one singer out on her own, it distracts from the beauty of the choir. It’s the same with your tree. If you have one big gorgeous beaded and bright ornament, that’s what will draw the eye and you won’t have a cohesive arrangement. Of course, you could build the tree around that one ornament by picking a bunch of other ornaments that work with it, and then making your one beautiful ornament the star. Figuratively and literally. As in, use it as a tree topper.

And of course, I think a tree looks best when it is just dripping with ornaments. I love to hang some back near the trunk, some midway up the branch, and then some hanging off the very tip. In fact, I usually have specific ornaments set aside for each purpose, and they never need to be as fancy as you think. Want an example or eight? Here you go:

Way in the back:

I made some fat pom poms out of a plain white yarn I got on clearance somewhere using this standard method. The little ones are predone poms I got from Joann’s or something, sprayed with spray adhesive and covered with glitter. Because, as we’ve discussed, when in doubt? Douse with glitter.

Far in the back is also where I stick my really big fat ornaments. I think the difference in scale adds a lot, but I think hanging them near the front of the branch looks too heavy.

Midway up the branch:

I usually put the workhorse ornaments here, as well as the pretty ones that are around medium sized.

Here I have a plain old ugly plastic ball that I dressed up with a little dry brushing. I liked the feathery frost look, and I actually used a fabric paint because it was a little thicker and I didn’t need a second coat. Then I brushed on a glitter paint.

The mirror danglies and the pebble danglies are variations on one basic concept: Hanging pretty shiny stuff off of fishing line. Remember, I was going for the look of falling snow, so I just sandwiched a piece of fishing line between two pieces of mirror or two flat backed pebbles, and glued together with some Goop glue. When you store these, I’d recommend wrapping them in tissue paper or something, because I lost a bunch in a big fat tangled mess.

You know that foam stuff in the kid’s crafts aisle? It comes in all kinds of different shapes and then in sheet sizes too? Well, it cuts like butter with an exacto knife. I printed a bunch of snowflakes off the internet and cut them out of the foam sheet, and then, of course, glitter. But this time I used the chunky stuff.

Very tip of the branch:

I kept my eyes open all year for any crystal I could find. With a snowfall theme, I could have gone really cute and covered it with more homespun looking snowflakes and snowmen and that kind of thing, but the tree I had in my head was much more elegant and icy.

I inherited some old chandelier crystals from Bear’s grandma, I found the medium sized in the floral department, and the little ones are from the beading aisle. Anything can become an ornament, either you just have to toss a hanger on it or you find a way to just stick it in there somehow, so just look out for things you like that you can get at least six of.

Well I think that is just about enough discussion of this sweet little tree. I hope I gave you guys some good ideas, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Starting tomorrow we’ll move on to our Family Traditions tree. And don’t forget to get your entry in for the quilled snowflake and the polymer clay ornaments. You still have some time!

These were some of the original ornaments I made nearly ten years ago for our first Christmas tree. Like most of my best ideas, they needed to be cheap, easy to make in quantity and make a big impact on the tree. These snowflakes use what I always happen to have around, and they have a fairly big wingspan so they take up a lot of room on the tree without looking super bulky.

Start with four pieces of 24 gauge wire cut to around seven inches long or so. Twist these wires around in the center. Until the last step this will be fairly wobbly, but in this step you want to make it as secure as you can manage, so I usually give all of them together a twist in the center, and then I separate out a couple wires and twist those together, a couple other wires and twist those together, you get the idea.

This doesn’t have to be stable, you’ll fix that at the end, but you also don’t want things falling on the floor either, so just randomly twist things around for awhile. This will get covered up, so pretty doesn’t really matter. Spread the arms out to create a little snowflake skeleton.

Thread the beads you want on to one of the eight arms you’ve created, leaving around 1/2″ of wire exposed. Use a little pair of round nose pliers and make a loop to keep all those beads in place.

When you’ve got the beads onto all your arms and all your loops closed up, lay your snowflake down on a flat surface and arrange the legs until you’re satisfied with how they’re all laying. Put a big fat glob of hot glue right in the center.

Plop a flat backed marble right in the center of that hot glue pile. Depending on how stable the snowflake is when it dries, you may want to put some hot glue on the back of the center too.

Add a little hanger through one of those loops you made on the end of each arm, and you’ve got another simple, cheap, ornament.

I think there are two types of ornaments. The stunners that look beautiful on a hanger, and the workhorses that look beautiful on a tree. Today’s ornament is a definite workhorse.

When I was contemplating a snow themed tree, I knew that a lot of the ornaments were going to be roughly the same shape. I had these set in rhinestones lying around, and I knew I wanted an ornament that would use them as well as provide a little contrast to all the round ball shapes and snowflakes I already had working.

Here’s how easy it is:

Roll out a piece of polymer clay to roughly 1/8″ thick. I have a pasta machine for this purpose, so I rolled it out at its thickest setting. You can easily do this with a brayer or a rolling pin covered in plastic wrap. Cut rectangles measuring 3 1/2″ x 1″ or just about any size you want. Knowing me, I probably picked this size because that was how the clay came out of the roller and I was ready to be done fussing with it.

Brush a little pigment powder on the sides. I have this stuff I got in the stamping aisle, but if you don’t want to buy something special just for this you could add a little color with paint or ink or even gold leaf after the baking is done.

Since the rhinestones I wanted to use were in a setting, I needed to make a spot for them to sit, so I pressed them into the clay to make a little space for it. If you use regular rhinestones you can skip this step, but you’ll still want to poke a hole through the top for a hanger to go through.

Bake according to the directions on the package, and when the ornament is cool add any additional color you want and glue the rhinestones in their spot. I used fishing line again as a hanger so I could have that same falling effect.

When I first made these, I was not in love with them at all. They’re nothing special to look at out of context. But on the tree is what makes all the difference. Some of the most beautiful ornaments just don’t have the same effect on the tree. My collection of swarovski crystal snowflakes are some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, but on the tree you can barely even see them. It’s like the difference between a dress that looks beautiful on the rack and the dress that makes you look beautiful. These little clay ornaments might seem fairly plain jane, but they’re exactly what your tree is missing. Just watch, look at any of the photos I’ve been posting of this snowfall tree, and keep an eye out for these. They make a big impact. Hang them near the back of the branch to add a little depth and you’ll be amazed at the difference a humble little ornament like this can make.

I made more ornaments to make this tutorial, so why don’t we keep the giveaway fun going? Leave a comment for a chance to win a set of six of these little buddies. I’ll pick a winner randomly at 10pm Saturday December 13th.

Today I have a big fat tutorial to share with you. It looks really really scary and detailed, but it’s not so bad. Trust me. I’ll hold your hand through the whole thing.

I’ve made a ton of these over the years and they never fail to elicit oohs and aahs. This is a perfect application for quilling. Snowflakes are best when they’re all scroll-y and complicated, and that’s when quilling is at its best too. You just need to remember that it’s only rolled up paper, and break it down to each little piece.

Cut a bunch of 1/4″ strips from a piece of 12 x 12 cardstock. I like using an icy blue color, but a true white looks great too. You can make your strips thicker if you want and it will work just great. They’ll look a little more substantial against the tree or on a package and they’ll be a little more sturdy. I happen to like the lacey look of the thinner strips and find them to be sturdy enough.

From those thin strips, here’s what you need to cut

1 – 6″ strip for the center round
8 – 3″ strips for the arms
4 – 6″ strips for the scrolls
4 – 3″ strips for the teardrop
4 – 2″ strips for the marquis

You’ll need some kind of a quilling tool, which you can find at Michael’s in the stamping aisle, or you can just make your own by cutting the top off of a needle with a pair of tin snips or wire cutters.

Insert the paper strip into the notch of the quilling tool, bring the tool to the very end of the paper, and begin rolling.

Let’s start with the 6″ center round. Once you master making the round, you can make any other shape. And it’s even easier than it sounds. Roll it all the way up, and then let it go so that it relaxes into a more loosely wound circle.

Spread a little glue on the tail end, and glue it down. Typically when you quill, you’d tear the very tip off before you glue down the other end. That feathery torn edge blends into the rest of the shape, where a cut end will form a definite ridge. Here, you won’t notice any ridge so it’s not worth the extra step.

The Round shape also provides a basis for the teardrop shape and the marquis.

For the teardrop shape, you’ll take one side of a round made from one of the 3″ strips and pinch it to create a point. Since we haven’t bothered to blend our ends in, I try to line up that ridge with the point at the top of the teardrop to disguise it.

The marquis is made the exact same way. Make a Round out of a 2″ strip, glue the end in place, and pinch both ends to create two points.

Next let’s make the scrolls. Fold a 6″ strip in half and roll each end up to that halfway point. As is this is a heart shape. Typically a scroll isn’t folded, but it helps to have a measuring point and we’ll be gluing that point down anyway, so it won’t show.

Sorry about the blurry pictures. I really needed a macro lens for this project.

The last piece is for the arms, made out of a 3″ strip. On one end of the strip, roll in about twice.

On the other end, roll in until the piece measures roughly 1″. Measurements are really loose here. The only thing that matters is that they’re all about the same height. Whether that height is a fraction of an inch taller or shorter doesn’t matter at all.

That’s it. You’ve made all your pieces. The rest is just putting it together. Start by taking 2 of the arms and glue them together back to back. With that step complete you should have:
1 Round
4 Teardrops
4 Marquis
4 Scrolls
4 Arm Pieces

Start with the Round piece. This will be the center. Next come the arm pieces. Bump the edges of those bottom loops up next to each other, and glue each piece down to the round.

Now take a scroll and glue it onto those little loops you bumped together.

Gently pull the scroll out until it touches the arms, and glue them together where they meet.

Take one of your teardrops and glue it down in the middle of the scroll. Then pull the scrolls over to meet the teardrop, and glue together. Don’t be afraid to unravel the scroll however much you need to. If the arm is bending or it doesn’t want to stick to the teardrop, you just need to give yourself a little more space.

Repeat these steps for all sides, and then glue the marquis in the little space between the loops at the top of the arms.

For the snowflakes on my tree, I sprayed the finished snowflake with a spray adhesive and doused it in glitter. I tried a liquid glue first, but it tended to make all the loops unwind. Then I threaded a loop of fishing line through one of the marquis to hang the ornament. I liked the idea of using fishing line so it would look like the snowflakes were falling instead of hanging.

These couldn’t be cheaper. You can nearly get 10 ornaments out of one sheet of paper, and they’re incredibly easy to make up in big batches. Last year I needed to make ornaments for 35 teenagers, and these were the ones I went for. A definite budget saver, and still super fancy.

In making this tutorial, I ended up making another ornament that needs a home. Leave me a comment for a chance to win it! Blogger sucks for communication, so make sure you have an active profile, a link to your website, or an email address listed in the comment so I can contact you if you win. I’ll draw a winner randomly at 10pm Pacific Time on Friday December 12th. That’s actually Bear’s birthday, so we’ll call this a celebration of him. Good luck!

By now it should come as no surprise that my over-the-top-ness extends to every insignificant detail of Christmas, so I couldn’t think about leaving out the gift tags.

Each year I pick my wrapping paper early and buy enough to wrap all my presents in matching paper that coordinates with the tree. And then I, of course, have to make cute gift tags that match the paper.

Bear’s family thinks I’m slightly insane with all this. They tend to wrap a present with paper and then just write the recipient’s name on it in Sharpie. The thought makes me shudder. Of course, it needs to have a fancy wrapping and gift tag. That’s just the right way to do it.

Last year my wrapping paper was cream with a thin blue, brown, and red plaid. The plaid was a lot more subtle than you’d expect, so the overall effect was of something you’d see in a winter cabin in the mountains. I figured that a gift tag should reflect that.

I’m really no Photoshop expert, so this tag started in Word. I inserted a clip art snowflake I downloaded from the Microsoft website, and adjusted the color to a blue tint, and then adjusted the brightness to 20%. Then I tossed a text box on top, changed it to have no fill color and no outline, and typed in my message. You can group these items together and then copy paste them until you have a whole sheet full and customize each one with your giving list. For our friends and neighbors gifts we usually forego the typical To: and From: for a more generic message like what you see above.

Once I printed them all out I took a spare piece of white fleece I had lying around and sewed around each snowflake, through both layers. Then I cut them out, cutting the paper layer slightly smaller, and punched a hole for a string.

It really didn’t take long, and the computer does most of the hard work already, so with this project you get to look like the got-it-all-togther, no-detail-overlooked type without making yourself insane in the process.