Handmade ornaments with Blue House

After a busy craft show day Saturday, I was so happy to spend Sunday at the Blue House for an afternoon of festive ornament-making. There was a lovely group of about fifteen people participating, and with warm beverages in our hands and soothing music on the speakers we set to work on a variety of ornaments. They are all quite easy projects that you probably have the materials on hand for at home, many of them taking advantage of recycled/upcycled materials. I didn't try my hand at each, but these pictures are of the ones I made. Above left is a little bird made from bits of felted sweater and button eyes. He even sits on a twig branch, though that is camouflaged in this photo.  You could make these in any shape you want. I plan to make a few stars next.  

Next, is a very simplified ball ornament based on Japanese temari balls. These are usually ribbon and yarn wrapped around a styrofoam ball in very ornate patterns. We simplified the process and simply wrapped wadded up newspaper with yarn and stitched into it. You can adorn them any way you'd like — Siobhan, Blue House's owner, added an appliqued bird to hers. So cute.

Next we made paint chip orbs based on those from ReadyMade. I added some decoration by punching holes all over, and after it was assembled, Siobhan suggested using the ones with holes as shades for Christmas lights — how fun and easy! We used fewer sides in these, but when I got home I tried making one with the full 20 sides and loved how it looks. I used my stack of misprints as material and may have some of these on sale at DUCF this weekend. 

That's the beauty of Blue House — you often come away with new ideas that you can easily recreate at home from recycled materials. I wish I could show you how festive and sweet the decorations are there right now, but my camera went on the fritz that day.  Beyond the ornaments I came away with so many simple yet beautiful ideas I can't wait to try. Really, if you're near you should stop by and be inspired. And if not, keep on coming back here and I will share with you what I see and try!