'Like a Light Bulb'

Every year, I stuff my holiday greeting cards with a simple, hand-made ornament. With the holiday closing in, and just enough time to get the cards in the mail, this week I've been a busy-bee with the needle and thread.

First, the Ho Ho Sew Sewing Machine Ornament from Betz White. It's a pdf download, so if you have some felt and a few other items in your craft stash, you can start (and finish) right away!

Here's my version! Betz's ornament has a little Santa hat in progress, I took a slight detour from her pattern and added a little quilt in progress instead of the hat. I never was one for garment sewing!

Fair warning, these are really fun to make and so addicting. How do I know? Well, let's just say I have a little production line going. Some of my sewing soul mates just MIGHT find one of these on their trees very soon! Aren't they cute, cute, cute??

Moving on. the sewing machines are great, but I'd have a tough time jamming them into my holiday greeting cards. And not everyone on my list is a sewing soul-sister. Therefore, for my holiday card ornaments this year, I took my inspiration from holiday light bulbs. . . I used some brightly colored felt, thread, and a template. Here's the template, enough for twelve ornaments on each sheet (just in case you want to make some, too!).

I printed the template onto freezer paper, rough cut apart pairs of ornaments and bases and fused the shapes onto the felt. Then cut around the shapes.

Remove the paper, and add some embroidery details. I used metallic embroidery thread to add stem stitches and a couple of lazy daisy loops to mimic the old-fashioned filament inside the bulb. Regular perl cotton works just fine too.

Embroider two bulbs, and grab two bases cut from gray light-colored felt.

Use a glue stick to hold the pieces together. Sandwich two bulbs back to back, and two bases.

With coordinating thread, sew a running stitch or blanket stitch around the edge.

Add a loop for hanging. . .

And there you have it!

Find a tree branch to decorate, and you're good to go! (Ho, Ho, Ho!)

Now, I just have to make the time to get my cards addressed and in the mail. . . And then there are cookies to bake, shopping to finish, gifts to wrap and ship, . . .

Rut-roh. I'd better get moving! How's your holiday to-do list coming along?


Happy Stitching!


Joan