Lacy Pinecone Ornament

Can I drop one more Christmas craft on ya? Am I really giving you a choice?

This Christmas tree ornament idea has been sitting on my Pinterest board for a while, and with only 8 days left until Christmas it was time to get on it!

It's a pinecone ornament - seriously, I have a pinecone sickness - with "leaves" made of lace edging.

Go to Bliss Bloom Blog to see the inspiration. I wish I could photograph mine so beautifully.

I made this ornament the same way as my pinecone map ornament. You'll start with a round or egg-shaped form. Mine is a papier-maché egg that I think I bought at a Restore or at Goodwill. I couldn't find styrofoam eggs anywhere and then I stumbled across these ones already in my stash. Doesn't it kind of look like an avocado pit?

The lace edging was just a small package from Walmart. I did buy two, and stained one of them with tea, but I didn't really like the look compared with the clean whiteness of the undyed lace.

I took the lace edging and cut it up into little wedge-shaped pieces. I found that I  had to make them pretty small - my first attempt yielded a huge pinecone and the leaves all turned outwards.

I used hot glue to attach the leaves to the egg, but you could use straight pins like Melanie did, or you could use white school glue if you have more patience than I do. Start by gluing a small round piece to the very bottom so that the form isn't visible through the leaves. Then one by one, attach the leaves in an overlapping pattern all the way to the top.

It's your choice whether you attach the ribbon before or after you glue on the leaves. I chose afterwards. I glued some green ribbon to the very top, and then glued a little collar of ribbon around the base of the loop to help it stand upright.

I also added a drop of glue underneath any leaf that was turned upwards.

I love these easy crafts. Start to finish it didn't take more than an hour to complete. And the lace adds the perfect amount of vintage that I was going for on the tree this year.

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I'm linking up here this week!

All About Keeping the Dog Happy

This doesn't really have anything to do with anything, except, 

this was Chloe last night (and practically every night),

and this is a youtube video I saw today.

I think we've found Chloe's new favourite Christmas movie.

Feeling Ornamental

How are your holiday decorations coming along? I decorate in fits and starts - I'll get ambitious and knock out 3 projects simultaneously, and then I'll have a couple of days of just not feeling it. Unfortunately, I usually get in a creative mood when I'm at work and can't do anything about it (thanks, Pinterest!)

Here are some of the ornaments I made last year. I was feeling very gung ho and crafty. 

The pinecone map ornament was my first one, and to this day is still my favourite. There is something about the shape and texture of a pinecone (real or crafted) that appeals to me.

And that's what made me make one from birch bark as well. It doesn't hurt that birch is my favourite tree. 

Like so many other people, I collect sand from the beach whenever we go on vacation. I liked the idea of displaying some of that sand on our Christmas tree with these glass vacation memory ornaments.

I tried my hand at mod podge for the first time last year as well. I bought a book of sheet music from a local used book store and cut the sheets into strips to be applied to a styrofoam ball. The song I picked was "Jingle Bells" - fitting I think.

The last ornament style was the simplest - just scraps of ribbon inserted into a clear glass ornament. I love this ribbon though - so glittery. And the colour of the outside ribbon changes depending on how the light is hitting it.

Do you make handmade ornaments? 

Are they ones you keep year after year, or do you like to switch them out periodically? 

Mine are still around, but I'd like to try my hand at some Victorian-styled ones this year.