Santa's Helpers, a no-sew tree ornament
November 25, 2017
I love to make one Christmas ornament a year and cannot wait until little Carter is old enough to help me. This year's Christmas craft is no-sew easy-peasy, but a young child will need help from an older child or adult. I used a glue gun, but if you are working with young children I recommend using a quick-dry glue rather than a glue gun. You may have these supplies already, but I'm giving you links in case you need to shop for a few items. You'll need wooden spools for the body, 1.25" wooden head beads for the head, red and white striped pipe cleaners for the legs and arms (here is the link for assorted colors), assorted beads for the hands and feet, fun colors of yarn to dress the body, white eyelash yarn for the hair, felt or ribbon for the scarf, and felt for the hat. This would be a great school or party craft.
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| Cut an 8" piece off a 12" pipe cleaner, fold in half. Dab a bit of glue on top of the fold and stick into spool. Put remaining 4" piece of pipe cleaner behind spool. Wrap yarn around the spool body to affix. When he is as fat as you want him, snip and affix end with glue at the back. |
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| Add a dab of glue to ends of pipe cleaner and poke bead hands and feet through. Glue heads to top of spool. I couldn't find a link to the bead heads with the glasses. I must have found them at a garage sale; I found them in one of my craft boxes. |
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| For scarf, cut 7" lengths of 3/8" wide ribbon, or cut strips of felt to size. Wrap and tie around neck. You may need to add a dab of glue to make the scarf lie down nicely. Trim to size and snip little notches into the ends. |
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| I unearthed my protractor and made a 5.25" diameter circle template from paper. |
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| For hats, cut out circles in felt and into three equal pie wedges. |
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| Make a thin line of glue around the forehead and all around the head. Wrap eyelash yarn two to three times around and affix with another dab of blue at the back. Shape felt into cones to fit head, overlapping edges and dabbing with glue to close. Place a line of glue to the inside of the hat rim and place on head. If desired, add tiny pompoms to top of hat and tiny red beads for noses. |
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| Lastly, glue a hanger to the top. Top it with a small circle of felt to hide the glue (not shown). |
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| Hang on your tree! |
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I made a variation above and below. The hats were made by cutting a 2 1/8" square of felt, folding in half and closing sides with tiny whip stitches. The fur trim on the hat is an extra fuzzy pipe cleaner.
Here are links to more of my Christmas crafts:
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| Button Snowmen |
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| Woodland Elves |
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| Christmas Pixies and Whosical Trees |
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| Wooden Angels |
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Christmas Dollies |
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10 Comments
Kristen! When do you sleep? I love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And yes, I do sleep, a lot, lol! But I've always been a busy person and a maker of things!
ReplyDeleteThey are all adorable, but I especially like the last ones, the Christmas Dollies with their angora-like clothing.
ReplyDeleteCarole
Yes, the robes are angora! The yarn is discontinued, but what a luxury for dolls, right?
DeleteYou make me think of that adage, Kristin, "if you want something done, ask a busy person." I need to have a fire lit under me, to get into gear. LOL...All your ornaments remind me of my 1950's Christmas childhood. Such happy memories...My Sugarfoot came out perfectly except, as often happens with me, a bit too large. (Gauge, gauge, gauge). I will try to shrink it slightly. Then all it needs are the perfect buttons! Chloe
ReplyDeleteThank you Chloe! I had a 1950's childhood too! The best! I feel very lucky to be born when I was. I'm glad Sugarfoot came out well. I'm heading over to Rav to see it. Have you put it up?
DeleteHi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteI continue to treasure the 2 Christmas Dollies you gave me. I put them out every year prominently where I always see them. I am looking at them now! ����
Aww Cindi. I remember that night we exchanged gifts so well! In the restaurant at our hotel in Holmfirth, at the end of the long table, we were all so excited! If I could just bottle up that moment! I'm glad you enjoy the dollies. Love you! Merry Christmas!
DeleteThis is one of THE most imaginative ideas EVER!!!!!!! You had me at "no sew"!!! You truly possess that crafting gene! I wish I had it. I'm just too chicken to try anything that involves scissors, glue, thread and/or imagination. It's so fun to see the brave and totally cool endeavors of others, though!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Alycia! But I totally get it, glue and scissors are not for everyone!
DeleteYou make my day when you make a comment!