2013 Christmas Ornaments - Part 2

Wow - Thanksgiving seems to be arriving quickly this year, which means Christmas is close behind!  And closer this year with Thanksgiving being later.  I've been working on a few things I'll be sharing over the next few weeks.  Nothing that takes months to finish - I think I'm like everyone else this year and am way too busy for that!

The second two ornaments this year are a beaded snowflake and a quick and easy felt ribbon candy.  The first two ornaments for this year can be found here.

Materials:
*Felt - white and a background color for the snowflake and red, green, and white for the candy
*assorted beads
*beading needle
*floss - a shiny, metallic and one that matches the background felt
*ribbon - 12 inches for each ornament
*hot glue gun for the ribbon candy
*Snowflake pattern found here - there is also a smaller snowflake on the pattern sheet in case you want to do a smaller version, also.

Snowflake:

1.  Print off snowflake pattern, cut out, and pin onto a piece of white or sparkly white felt.  Cut out.

2.  Pin onto background felt.  I pinned it onto doubled felt (since I'll be needing a back) and then cut it about 1/4 inch away from the snowflake edges to make it easier to work with.

3.  Attach the snowflake to one piece of the backing with a blanket stitch, using the metallic floss.

I find it much, much easier to use metallic thread if I use a wider eyed needle and tape the loose ends of the thread before I try threading.  Cut off the taped piece before sewing.  Also, don't bother trying to use  long strand while embroidering - it gets funky after being drawn through the fabric after awhile.  About 14 inches seems to work.

4.  Bead the snowflake and then pin the snowflake/front backing to the other piece of backing.  Don't worry if the edges don't match.

5.  Fold the ribbon in two and insert the ends between the two pieces of backing - put about 1 inch of ribbon inside.  Using a running stitch and floss that matches the background felt, sew around the entire edge of the snowflake right up against it.

6.  Carefully trim the background felt close to the running stitches.

Ribbon Candy:

1.  Cut a 12" x 1" pieces of felt from green, red, and white.

2.  Layer the pieces of felt with the white on the inside.  Cut a small slit about 1 inch in from one end, double the ribbon, and insert about 1 inch of it through the slit.

3.  Glue the one inch piece of ribbon to the felt.

4.  Put a glob of hot glue on top of the ribbon and fold the felt over.

5.  Continue folding back and forth until you have the size ribbon candy you want.  Trim the ends.

6.  Hold until the hot glue cools completely!

Happy Creating!  Deborah