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We decided this year not to put up a Christmas tree (because we have kittens who are very much like toddlers in the sense of wanting to put everything in their mouths), but for a little holiday cheer I made this upcycled Christmas ornament.
Mine is made from a piece of old jeans and some holiday fabric. You could do this with felt, and old shirt or two, or really any fabric you have on hand.
There’s just a little bit of basic embroidery and you’ll have a sweet ornament to hang or to gift in no time.
How to Make an Upcycled Christmas Ornament
All you need to make this ornament is a couple little pieces of fabric, a marker, embroidery floss and needle, a button (optional), sewing tools (I used my machine for part of it but you can also do it by hand), stuffing and a little bit of ribbon if you want to be able to hang it.
Start by cutting your fabric to the size and shape that you want. I freehanded mine but it’s 4 inches wide at the widest part and 4 inches long at the longest part. I sort of cut it into a pocket or diamond shape, where the top is flat and the top part of the sides are flat but then they are cut down to a point.
You could make it a plain square, round, heart shaped, whatever you like.
Stitching on Your Word
Decide what word you want on your ornament. Depending on the size or your fabric you will probably want a short word. Some options include:
- joy
- peace
- love
- merry
- happy
- home
- your first or last name or initials
I went with joy.
I used a marker to write out the word on the fabric, then stitched over it with a kind of messy satin stitch.
If you have a word with a dot you can add a button for it, or use French knots, a sequin, bead, whatever you like.
Of course you can embellish your upcycled Christmas ornament in any way you like regardless of the word you use. Add other embroidery, beads, buttons, rick-rack, whatever you like!
Finishing the Ornament
Cut a piece of your backing fabric to match your front fabric. Use your sewing machine or sew by hand along the sides, leaving a gap of a couple of inches for stuffing.
You can use Poly-fil type stuffing if you like, or whatever you have on hand. Little fabric scraps or trimmed bits of yarn or thread are great for this type of project, too.
Stuff it as much as you like and sew the opening closed by hand. Optional: add a loop of ribbon as you sew it closed to hang the ornament with.
And if you don’t like hand sewing you can totally use fabric glue here; I won’t tell anyone.
Want to make more ornaments? Try this Christmas tree softie!
