Our second set of handmade ornaments for the tree this year are these very simple felt trees with pompom decorations. This is an easy afternoon or evening project! You can choose to do the cutting and stitching before having your kids decorate (I did that part during naptime and had the pompoms and glue ready to go as soon as they were up), or you can have your older children do the tracing, cutting and sewing, too!

Here’s what you need: the Christmas Tree Template, two sheets of craft felt for each four ornaments, ribbon, white (or tacky) glue, pompoms and a sewing machine.  (If you have time, you could actually stitch these by hand for a more handmade look!)
Start by cutting out one tree template. (The other three are on the printout so that you can see the best layout for your felt.) Trace your template four times.
Stack a second piece of felt under the first and cut out four trees. Each tree will consist of two felt layers.
Cut a 10″ long piece of ribbon for each tree.
Form a loop with each ribbon and tuck the raw edges about 1/2″ down from the top of the tree, between the two layers. Pin in place.
Stitch around each tree 1/4″ from the raw edges. Be careful to sew the ribbon hanger in well.
Call in your little ones to decorate!
Enjoy your new ornaments!

Need a quick and simple last-minute handmade gift or a dozen gifts for a dozen friends that won’t take a dozen days to finish? With the right hardware on hand, you can turn out a pile of fabric key fobs in no time! I love how simple and practical these are, and how you can tailor them to the receiver just by choosing the right fabric. The rainbow of key fobs above are all going to be little handmade extras for the ladies on my list who are receiving store-bought gifts.

How about a quick tutorial so you can make your own? Before you start, you’ll need to purchase the metal hardware online. A quick search turned up quite a few Etsy sellers who carry the parts: Key Fob Hardware on Etsy. I used 1 1/4″ hardware. (Update: Check the purse hardware section at Joann Fabrics if you need a quick local source for the pieces.)

Cut a piece of fabric 10″ x 4 1/2″.
(If you want to be able to slide the key fob loop around your wrist, add a couple of inches in length. I prefer the slightly shorter length because I tend to toss my keys in my purse or tuck the fabric end into my jeans pocket.) Iron a piece of very lightweight fusible interfacing to the back of your fabric. Fold your fabric in half with wrong sides together, matching up the long edges. Press. Unfold and press the long edges to the center.
Fold the fabric strip on the original crease in the middle and press well.
Topstitch along both long sides about 1/4″ from the edge.
Grab a pair of pliers from your toolbox. (I like to use my needle-nose pliers.)
To prevent scratches or dents in your metal hardware, wrap a piece of fabric around each set of teeth on your pliers. (I use strips of microfleece, but flannel would work well, too. You can tape these on if you have trouble with them sliding around too much.)
Now you’re going to fold your fabric strip over so that the raw edges are together. (I like to pin the two sides together to keep the ends from sliding apart while I’m attaching the hardware.) Slide the raw edges inside the open end of the hardware.
Press the hardware shut.
And, you’re done!  That was quick and easy, wasn’t it?

Last year, I began a tradition of sharing 12 Days of Handmade Christmas Projects (or at least 12 Christmas projects spread out over 12 days . . . life gets a little busy around Christmas time.) This year, I’m going to incorporate some projects that I’ve sewn for our home and for gifts, as well as some things that I’ve made with our children AND a few new Christmas recipes!

First up is a little mantel decor. This is the first year that I’ve owned a mantel to actually decorate, and it was so much fun! I started out with our family portrait which will be there year-round and built around it. The “framed” wreath was inspired by the wreath hung over a vintage window on this mantel at BHG.com: Window Wreath. I always enjoy decorating with live plants, so I added the miniature potted Christmas tree on the opposite side of the framed wreath, threw in some Mason jars filled with miniature pinecones and ornaments, and added some scattered larger pinecones from our immense backyard collection.

It needed something else, though, to balance out the family portrait. I searched the internet for inspiration. A print of some sort would work, but I really wanted something handmade. How about piecing together a small Christmas tree quilt and stretching it over a canvas? A quick trip to the craft store and an hour of so later of cutting and sewing resulted in this Quilted Raw Edge Stretched Canvas Tree!
What do you think? If you want to create your own, it’s a very simple project. Just choose the canvas size that you’d like. Cut a base fabric piece wide and long enough to wrap all the way around the canvas. Cut fabric strips of various lengths for your tree branches. Decide on your arrangement, then applique them to the base fabric. Add a star for the finishing touch. Finally, stretch your quilted fabric tree over the canvas and staple it in place on the back of the frame. (If you wanted to make this more colorful, you could also stitch buttons on to your tree before stretching it!)

This sweet giraffe is for my granddaughter, Katie. All of my little ones have had loveys that they’ve played with, slept with and just loved on, and I’d love for this on to be hers. (I have learned over the years, though, that children decide for themselves which lovey is theirs!) I used Bit of Whimsy’s Juju Giraffe pattern with just a few minor modifications. I added a dress with sleeves by cutting the body out of a second fabric for the dress and adding shortened arm pieces trimmed in underwear elastic for the sleeves. I also cut the back of the body in half and added a seam allowance so I could sew the tail into the seam. Since it’s for a baby, I wanted to be sure the tail was secure. Little ones tend to love playing with stuffed animal tails!

I sewed this bowling set for Charlie, but I may have to make up a second set for Jamie. He told me while watching me handstitch the stuffing openings closed that Charlie was going to love it, but he’d love one, too! He does have a birthday coming up in a few weeks. I used the I Heart Bowling pattern designed by my friend, Berritt, of Birdiful Stitches. Such a cute pattern and really easy to sew!

My Lego-loving boys are getting these great drawstring playmats/storage bags for Christmas this year. I first saw the Lego Sack Tutorial during Celebrate the Boy month in the spring and immediately added them to my sewing list. I think these are going to get a lot of use around here!

A quick side note on these: The long drawstrings made me a little nervous so I tacked each one down in the center of its casing so that can’t be pulled out. I’ll also be sure to remind the boys of the safety rules when using anything with a long tie like this.

My art-loving daughter, Samantha, asked me recently to sew her a wrap for her extensive set of markers, so she’ll be excited to find this on Christmas morning. I used my Art-on-the-Go Kit Tutorial, extending the width and leaving off the art pad . . . easy peasy!

I had a bit of a hard time coming up with a handmade project for my husband’s mom. I know that she loves real hard-copy pictures of the kids, though, and I know that I’m terrible about sending them to her. I was roaming through the craft department at Walmart and was struck by a great idea when I saw this unfinished wood photo carousel.

I had already planned to make some wood block ornaments with the kids. (Pictures of those coming soon!) I figured the same basic method of decoration would work for this, too. I started by painting the whole thing white, then I used Mod-Podge to apply scrapbook paper to each side. While that was drying, we cut letters out of old magazines to spell out “MawMaw’s Babies” ransom-letter style on the top. Once those were decoupaged on, we let the whole thing dry overnight.

The next morning, I sanded the edges of the scrapbook paper to smooth them out and the corners of the photo carousel to rough them up. Then I rubbed a light coat of wood stain over the whole thing, wiping it right off. When that was dry, we just added pictures, wrapped it and shipped it off!

Earlier this month, I attended a Mom’s Night Out with the other mothers from my local homeschool group, and we did a Chinese-auction-style gift exchange. I wanted a simple idea that would work for anyone, but since I’m all about practicality, it needed to be useful, too. Here’s what I came up with:

This is the “Natural Moms’ Cold & Flu Season Survival Kit”. Simple washable cotton velour tissues, oranges, tea for sore throats and congestion and antibacterial soap. Each tissue is two pieces of cotton velour cut 6 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, then serged with wrong sides together. (The velour needs to be at least 80% cotton for it to work well as a tissue.) This would be a thoughtful gift to give anytime you hear that there’s a bug running through a friend’s home this winter, too!

My 16-year-old niece is studying culinary arts through a charter program at her high school, and she asked me for a full apron in zebra stripes and purple to use for her cooking classes. I think this fits the bill nicely!

The zebra-striped fabric is a lightweight twill with stain releasers that I found at our local Hancocks Fabrics. A great fabric find for an apron! I used McCalls 2233 which I used for my sister’s apron last year. It’s a sized pattern, and I think it’s a great choice for those who need an apron in a size that’s larger than the standard size 6-10.