Easy Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Handmade Christmas Ornaments, what sweet gift to give during the holidays!  I decided to make a few different ornaments this year.  One was for an ornament swap I participated in over on Instagram.  Pop over to my IG (ddcamp170) to see what ornament I received.  The other two ornaments below were just fun to do and I'm sure I'll find a good place to use them.

Not only would they make a fun gift, but what a cute embellishment they would make to your Christmas gifts.

I knew I wanted to use cinnamon sticks in my project because I already had so many of them on hand from creating my Hot Cocoa Station. You can read about that in my last post by clicking right here.

Anywhoobs, the one I'm going to show you how to make is a cinnamon stick Christmas Tree.  Easy! 

Its pictured above.

You will need the following items to recreate my tree:

Fabric of your choice (I used Fat Quarters)
6" Cinnamon Sticks (Mine were short so I glued two together)
Twine (for hanging)
Buttons to match your fabric
Hot glue gun and glue (use low temp)

First I made several "rag" strips of fabric.  To make these, make a small cut to start the fabric so you can tear it down to the other end. These need to be at least 9" long and about 1/4" wide.

I glued the twine on first to the back side of the cinnamon stick.  If you use your glue gun on low temp, you can use your thumb to smash the twine into the crack in the stick.  Not necessary though.  Let it cool completely.

Tie each piece of fabric using a square knot (Right over left, then left over right).

Keep going until you have about 13 strips of fabric on the stick.  Make sure you are pushing them up to keep them tight and scrunched together.

Now flip it over and add the button on top with a bit of hot glue and then trim the fabric on each side until it resembles a Christmas tree.  I used red and green, but you could certainly use all greens for a more tree like look.

Here is a another cinnamon stick tree.  Its even easier than the last one was.

You'll need the following items:

6" cinnamon stick
Garland Ties
Twine
Fabric scraps
Hot glue gun and glue (low temp)

First add your hanging twine just like before.  Now add your branches (garland ties).  Cut four pieces that measure at 4 1/2", 3 1/2", 2 1/2" and 1".  Hot glue on your branches to the cinnamon stick.  Now add tiny strips of fabric tied in one knot and glue to the tree on each "branch".

And the last one is my fabric yo-yo tree.  I've made these in the past to give as gifts so when I signed up for the ornament exchange on Instagram, I knew I wanted to make one of these.

You will need the following items:

Fabric of your choice
Twine
Tiny Jingle Bell
Pine branches (for the base)
Needle and thread
Yo-yo makers or round object to trace around
Hot glue gun and glue (low temp)

Different sized yo-yos will get the graduated tree shape you're going for, so you will need to make several different sizes of yo-yos in different fabric patterns.  I have 9 layers on this one, but you can use lesser amounts if you'd like.  After making all the yo-yos, I like to tack them together by running a string of thread (up the center) from the largest to the smallest and then end with the tiny bell.  Next I add a tiny bit of hot glue in between each yo-yo to help hold the shape.  Next I tie the hanging twine on right below the top yo-yo.  Lastly add the trunk and base with hot glue.  My honey cut the real pine branches for me using his chop saw, you can use a hand saw too.  We sanded them to make them smooth.

There you are, three different handmade ornaments that you could whip up and give as gifts or add to your gifts for embellishments.  Hurry, you still have time! *wink*

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
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The Dedicated House  - (I was featured)