FELT AND BEAD GARLAND
Materials and Tools
• Hand embroidery floss or heavy thread
• Sturdy 2" tapestry needle with eye large enough for the thread
• Wood beads, about 1" diameter
• Five colors of craft felt, one 9" x 12" sheet each (will yield 10' of garland)
Instructions
1. Starting at the 12" edge of one sheet, cut the felt into strips about 3/4" wide, creating 16 pieces that are 9" long.
2. Cut about 2' of thread. Lay it out in a single strand. Knot one end, and thread the needle onto the opposite end. Overlap the unknotted end of the thread for a few inches so it stays on the needle.
3. Decide the order in which you would like the different felt colors to run. Then, feed one felt strip onto the needle, folding it accordion style until it fills the needle. This will resemble ribbon candy and be roughly 11/4" when scrunched up (see below).
4. Push the felt down onto the thread when the needle becomes full with the scrunched-up felt. Continue adding the rest of the four felt colors until you have a group of five pieces lined up together on the thread. A pattern of five felt colors will fill about 6" of thread.
5. String a wood bead onto the thread to separate the first group of colors from the next group. To add an extra touch to each bead, loop the thread through the bead’s hole two or three times
(see above).
6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 until you fill up the first 2' length of thread. Knot and cut the end of the thread close to the last piece of felt.
7. Thread the needle with another 2' length of thread, knotting it at the end. Attach this second section to the completed first section by pushing the needle and thread through the bottom of the last piece of felt near where it was knotted.
8. Continue stringing felt strips onto thread and attaching additional finished sections until you reach the desired length of garland.
ODDS AND ENDS
Elevate a pile of holiday wrapping paper scraps with this festive wall hanging.
Paint a board white and then distress it with sandpaper. Gather wrapping paper in similar textures and styles and roll pieces in various lengths around a dowel rod, taping on the back. After removing the dowel rod, arrange the paper rolls on the board in a tree shape, and use a dot of hot glue to adhere them securely when you are satisfied with your design. Drape a miniature garland down the tree, tucking it behind the ends of the paper rolls. Glue on button “ornaments.” Cover a small paper jewelry box with bark-patterned scrapbook paper to resemble a tree trunk, and glue the box to the board. Add ribbon trim to the board and a star cutout or ornament to the top of the tree. Staple a length of jute rope onto the back of the board to make this a wall hanging.
FABULOUS FOREST
Make a grouping of Christmas trees out of foam cones and felt and adorn them with glitz and sparkle. Begin with a foam cone that is about a foot tall. Use the patterns shown on the opposite page to cut out felt in the color combination you prefer. Starting at the base of the cone, wrap a scalloped felt piece around the tree and then pin in place. If the felt does not fit around the widest part of the cone, cut another piece using the pattern and match the scalloped edge. Repeat this process, overlapping each layer slightly. Finish the tree with a cone-shaped piece of felt cut using the smaller pattern. Add decorative pins—map pins, corsage pins, thumbtacks—and scrapbooking stickers or shapes made with a specialty paper punch.
Glue the tree on top of a wood block for display. Create additional trees to complete your set, or display your custom design with a few store-bought trees.
To double the size of this pattern, fold a piece of 81/2" x 11" paper in half, short edge to short edge. Trace this pattern onto it, lining up the edge marked “Place on fold” with the fold. Cut out the pattern. Unfold to full size, and use the pattern to cut the felt pieces.
WRAPPED UP WITH A BOW
A collection of spools stacked on a pedestal will bring the Christmas spirit to every corner of a room. René used
2"-tall unfinished barrel spools, incorporating 15 in this design. Cut out and tape a variety of themed scrapbook-paper strips to the spools. Hot glue the bottom level of spools onto a cardboard circle as a base for stability and then glue the remaining levels on top of each other. René used a metal place-card holder in the shape of a snowflake as a topper, gluing a short piece of wood skewer to the back to insert into the top spool’s hole. Set the spool tree onto a pillar candle stand, layering it on a wooden base pedestal, and trim with ribbon and a sprig of greenery.
GOOD CHEER!
Turn a set of canning jars into a merry message for the holidays. For this display, René shopped for unfinished wood blocks that fit inside a set of lidded jars, painted the blocks two different shades of green, and then distressed the edges. To create the words, she chose unfinished wood letters that are relatively the same size but in two different fonts. For more contrast, she alternated painted and stained finishes on the letters, and she selected patterned buttons for some letters to give the arrangement a dose of extra flair. Using decoupage medium, she secured the letters and buttons to the blocks and then positioned them in the jars atop small squares of craft foam hidden in artificial snow. Finally, she stacked the jars on ribbon-trimmed boards and added sprays of greenery to complete the festive look.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE RESOURCE GUIDE, PAGE 112.