A Felt Christmas

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Merry Christmas Eve!! My parents gave me an old Christmas tree they had to use in my house in Birmingham, but when school let out, I brought it home to decorate my wing of the house (aka the basement).

So with a blank slate, I naturally pulled out some felt.

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I freehanded each piece. I wish I could give you a template, but the project began on a whim, thinking I could use them as gift tags. Quickly, one or two ordaments turned into twenty.

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To add additional decorations to the tree, I created a very simple paper garland to wrap the tree in. I purchased some Christmas scrapbooking paper and used a punch to make all of the circles.

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Using a sewing machine creates a very easy process. Simply slipping each circle under the sewing foot as the machine feeds it through. Once you get the rhythm, you’ll have 6-feet of garland before you know it.

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The final step (and the best step) is taking everything you have made and adding it to the tree.

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And there you have it. A tree so simple, you could create it the day before!

From my family to yours – I wish you a very crafty Christmas!!

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Tis’ the Season

I am a big fan of block letters. I have made them multiple times as personalized birthday gifts, and for Christmas, I thought it would be a simple (yet wonderful) decoration. I bought the cardboard block letters from a craft store (I love JoAnn’s and Hobby Lobby the best), and with a yard of fabric, it was easy to create this.

As you can see, I’m a big fan of plaid. And note, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to make each letter.

(1) Use the letter as a stencil when cutting out the fabric. Cut with a margin of 1/2 inch around each letter. (2) Use Modpodge to glue the fabric to the letter. Glue the margins down to the sides of the letter, creating a smooth, clean edge. (3) Do this on either side of the letter. (4) Cut a long strip of fabric, again with 1/2 margins on either side. (For instance, these letters had a width of 1 inch, so I cut strips with a 2-inch width). (4) Fold the margins in to create the exact width of the letter and glue down with Modpodee. (5) With Modpodge, glue the strip along the sides of each letter.

It’s that easy! As an extra touch, you could add quilt backing underneath the fabric. The backing adds an extra expense, because you have to buy it in a roll, but it’s a detail that makes it look like it came from Anthropology (always a winning situation.)

I brought the letters home and found the perfect spot for them in the living room downstairs.

And since I thought the room lacked on holiday decorations (compared to upstairs, at least), I added a simple paper garland.

It too was super easy to make. I simply used a 1-inch circle cutter and a 1/8 inch hole punch. I used double-sided paper, and once I punched out the circles and the holes, I strung them on basic white thread. Quick and easy!