Felt Crafts - Simple Santa Ornament

Yes, I have already started to think about Christmas...  Each year I hope to tackle a number of Christmas crafts and projects and this year I wanted to start out with a fast ornament project. We started the tradition of handmade Holidays when my son was 1. I sadly parted with my glass ornaments and crystal icicles as soon as it become obvious the baby was going to make a mess of them.

Because I still wanted a tree, I decided to go simple and handmade. A few years ago the kids and I created cinnamon ornaments and paper chains to decorate our tree. It was a huge hit and a tradition was born.

My breakables are still safely tucked away for a future Christmas, but for now I only use our handmade or natural decorations. This year I wanted to create some fun felt ornaments for the tree. With another toddler in the house I want everything to be safe for him.

I started by ordering a variety of wool felt from Etsy. Yes, you can find inexpensive acrylic felt at the craft store, but the wool felt is more durable, thicker and easy to cut. I am a huge fan.

Just a heads up, I am participating in a Handmade Holiday roundup next week and will have a more elaborate felt ornament  to share then. I am so excited for the unveil.

To get started, grab your supplies and print off the Santa template.

I suggest to trace the template with Freezer Paper that can be ironed right onto the wool. This makes cutting out exact shapes so much easier.

You Will Need:

• wool felt in red, white, pink and flesh tone/peach
• Freezer paper
• felt glue
• pink marker
• permanent black marker
• embroidery floss
• embroidery needle
• batting or cotton
• 5" of ribbon
• sequins, white or opal
• seed beads, white or clear

Cut  out all the pieces using your template.

I used a pink marker to create rosey cheeks for Santa, then used a little felt glue to attach the face to the back of the beard.

I embellished the mustache and tassel of Santa's hat with some sequins and seed beads before stitching the mustache to the front beard pieces. Then I stitched around the bottom of the beard leaving the top open for a little bit of batting.

I wanted to give his beard a little dimension.

Once filled, I stitched down the top of the beard and glued on the nose.

Use a marker to fill in eyes and any other detail on the face.

Then I glued and sewed the ribbon hook to the bottom piece of the hat. With the blanket stitch I went around the top of the hat and added the tassle,

Then I used the two white brim pieces to sandwich together the hat and attach it to Santa's head. Simply stitch around the brim to hold it all together.

Then Santa is ready to adorn your tree. I hope this inspires you to whip up some one-of-a-kind felt ornaments for your own tree this year.

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