Mini Stuffed Christmas Ornaments

With a lot of grunting and groaning, we managed to get our Christmas tree up and positioned with a leftward lean to it displaying our tree's slightly insolent attitude. That cheekiness will be fixed right away once we get to the fun part - decorating! Out of our box of ornaments comes many years of baubles and knick-knacks either purchased, given as gifts or handmade and with it comes many warm memories of Christmases past. Our tree is a "tree of history" with it's mismatched trimmings and unconventioanl style. (I've resigned to the fact that I will never have an elegant looking tree themed with stylish gold ribbons and classy crystal ornaments.)


One ornament, the red dog above, has been in use for a few years now and is one of my daughter's favorite. It was made out of scrap fabric, stuffing, ribbons and felt pieces. The cherries and the worm are made in the same way. Santa is a felt guy and another story. My daughter has requested that we make a few more of these mini stuffed ornaments and I'll share the how-to with you. It's basically a bunch of "stuffed balls" glued together and its really simple to make.
Materials:
Scrap Fabric
Glue Gun
Ribbon
Stuffing
Felt
Needle
Thread

Instructions:

1. Cut out circles using a cup, a small dish or the top of a spool of thread as a template. These pieces will become your animals torso, head and arms and legs.

2. Once you have your circles, sew a running stitch along the edge of the circle.

3. Pull the thread to gather up the sides, stuff, then tighten into a ball shape. Tie thread to secure.

4. Once you have all your balls, get your glue gun and glue the balls together, on the stitched side, to form your ornament. The dog was created by using a large round ball for the belly, a smaller ball for the head and tiny balls for the arms, legs and snout.

5. Cut out pieces of felt to make ears, eyes and nose. Glue into place.

6. Embellish with ribbons around the joints (i.e. neck) and sew a ribbon through the top of the doll to use as a hanger.

Experiment with different sized circles to make an assortment of ornaments. Simple huh? Have fun!

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