Wednesday, December 01, 2010

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 ReadyMadeI 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!

4 comments:

  1. I haven't seen the holiday Blue House yet! I love your misprint ball ornament; great use of the paper.

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  2. Nicole, your blog is beautiful! (found you on One Pearl Button)

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  3. Thanks so much, Amy! I'm a big OPB fan and am so glad you found your way over!
    -n.

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