If you are Making New Christmas Decorations...what are you making?!

[electric_blue68]

I'm sure I'll have my moments of misery but I'm not relinquishing the joy I get from the Holidays even w dark clouds on the horizon. Hmm... I should go see the decorations in Mid town Manhattan which I haven't done since covid, too! 👍

So my new idea... making a modest size crochetted garland. A long crochet chain of darkish green, chunky yarn - which I will add a "scallop" design; the ?shell stitch one after another next to each other. You put like 5, 7, or so double, or treble stitches in one stitch so it fans out. You attatch it at the other end of the chain. I might make a second smaller row.
Then I'll take this golden "eyelash" yarn (a base yarn where thin strips of some material come off at 90° degrees to the base yarn at various distances in between) and add it as an edging.

Anyway, I'm using a turquoise chunky yarn (all I have) to work it out first- before I buy the green one. Make one for me, my sis, a friend. If I time have maybe one for my cousin who's hosted Christmas sooo many times after our parents, aunts & uncles stopped doing it.

My mom made soooo many *wonderful* decorations over years via ? Women's Day, Family Circle. She was so talented though that she could often wing her own designs off along w what they offered. My sis, and I still have some 60 - 55 yrs old! 🥰

I tried the 8 pointed star out of straws, but couldn't figure out. I should buy a box of straws, cut some in half and try it that way; making it easier to send the needle, and thread through.

I have decorated the styrofoam balls - but need to by multi colored sequines, fake "spindle" & round pearls, and tons of straight pins again. They take awhile if you're really fancy, but they look so pretty!

Tell me what you have going on creatively for the holidays?

[debm55]

1. I am making polymer clay ornaments. I have christmas cutters I bought on sale last year after Christmas, By the way dead

Last edited Tue Nov 26, 2024, 11:05 PM - Edit history (1)

or is it just me?

[electric_blue68]

2. Yay, cool! ...

"By the way dead or is it just me?"

Wait....what does that mean?

[wnylib]

3. Not making any this year, but in the past

I have crocheted some angels, a bell (with a clapper inside), a very small wreath, and a small stocking, for hanging on the tree. I still have them and use them every year.

No instructions, just made them up as I went along. It was fun.

Another time, I bought a box of round, plain, solid colored ornaments. Then I cut some lace and other trim and pieces of cloth from old, worn out clothes and glued them onto the spherical ornaments. Sometimes I added a gem colored stone (not real gems) or imitation pearl from a couple earrings left after I lost the mates to them.

One year I bought a roll of 1" wide lace and used it as a garland for the tree. I bought a few painted wooden ornaments and hung them on the tree along with the crocheted items and home decorated spherical ornaments for a Victorian theme.

I still have all those old ornaments, plus some newer, "modern style" ones. I hang all of them on the tree as a personal history hodgepodge of past Christmasses, without any theme other than to mix them up by size, style, and color to look varied and decorative, with a gold garland and gold star at the top.

[electric_blue68]

4. Ah! You have been a busy crafter over the years! 👍

•Angels! Was the bell 3 dimensional?
•Like the idea of decorating round solid colored ornaments.
•Love the 1" inch lace as tree garland.

How nice to place your🩷work on your tree!

I just remembered from your lace comment. With Styrofoam balls my mom also used periwinkle blue w gold edging, and solid gold ric racs pinned down w the straight pins.

And once wrapped (insides blown out) eggs; one in a softish red 1/8" inch - not ribbon, something you could add to clothing for decoration. The other in a glittery gold, and added a few goldish seed beads in spots. Oh, they might be called - piping. Thanks, brain.

Ty for sharing!

[wnylib]

5. Yes, the bell is 3 dimensional.

Funny thing is, I am not usually much of a crafter. I just played around with a few ideas a couple times.

I made a few angels for friends who requested them after seeing mine and have crocheted a few baby afghans as gifts for new mothers but other than that and the Christmas ornaments, I don't do any crafting.

[electric_blue68]

9. Well, you did put more than a toe in The Sea of Crafting 👍

Cool on the 3D bell.

[quaint]

6. Round, lightweight ornaments from colored tissue paper mache. (Woman's Day, 1970, I think.)

The season is my excuse to buy myself a replacement lime tree, to also be used for my holiday tree.
Baby tree can't be loaded with glass ornaments.

[electric_blue68]

7. Sounds pretty! I used to on canvas mix acrylic paints and...

colored tissue paper. Hold the tissue down with gloss gel medium.

So is your lime tree in a big bucket? Sounds sweet! 🥰 Love lime juice.

Ty

[quaint]

10. It's called a "5 gallon bucket" but I don't think it's a liquid measure.

It's about a foot across. It's a faith purchase since I'm almost 75.
Forgot to mention I blow up balloons to the size I want, then paper mache. When dry, put the hangar through the knot and pop!

[electric_blue68]

11. Well, hopefully we'll be sticking around somehow! Ah, I see how you create them then.🎈👍

[Harker]

8. I had an idea... so I'm cutting 6" snowpeople out of white merino felt...

and cutting small vertical slits on each side where there arms would be, using various beads, etc. for eyes, mouths, buttons, orange painted wood for noses, fabric scraps for scarves and headwear - then stringing them along garland style on a stretch of wild grapevine from out in the yard.

The resultant effect when hung being that they'll be linked by holding hands, a sign of cooperation and togetherness.

And fun, I think.

[electric_blue68]

13. This sounds adorable, and fun! And on a wild grapevine? Niiiice!

My aunt & uncle moved to Switzerland in a small village with the side door to her art studio, and then the house (front door around the corner) was a double French door. A mass of grapevines around the tops of the doors, and down the sides. But the grapes never matured: they stayed small, and green but not translucent green of grown grapes. Still, the twining vines, and all the leaves were sooo beautiful..

I never really thought of Switzerland, and wine; but driving from Geneva airport north to their village (and occasionally other places) I saw so many vineyards!

So... merino wool felt?! Ooooo, that sounds lovely! And what fun mixing and matching fabric scraps, using beads, and button.
Do you ever by that felt in other colors for any other projects? That's not your average felt, imho. 🙂

TY for sharing!

[Harker]

14. My wife used to own a yarn shop, thus the natural fiber felt.

She's a knitter and crafter, and I sometimes sketch her ideas on paper as an aid for various crafting projects.

This will be my first project along these lines, and I'm pretty excited about it, and waiting for the felt to arrive. She has scraps from her own work in various colors available, and I will also be using some bits of woven tweed I picked out while visiting Ireland together a few years ago for caps and scarves

The French woman who owned our home before us had wild grapes growing around the garden fence. They're tiny little, bitter, purple grapes. No good to us, but our local turkeys love them. Like you, I appreciate the beauty of the leafy vines.

I hope this will be the first of many fun projects.

Fun to see what others are up to. Thanks for posting about this!

[Niagara]

15. Do we get any photos or links, Harker?

Inquiring minds would love to see this!

[Harker]

16. That could happen, Niagara...

I can probably figure it out.

[Niagara]

19. That would be spectacular!

[electric_blue68]

21. Hope you will. 👍

[Niagara]

12. Victorian Paper Fan Medallions

Last Christmas, I started reusing Christmas wrapping paper to make Victorian Paper Fan Medallions.

I have a weakness for Victorian era items and traditions.


I'm new at this so it's going to take me awhile to figure out how to make them how I want them.


I know that there's a gap in the middle of the larger medallion. I'm not sure if I want to hot glue it or cut out an old Christmas card in a smaller circle shape and hot glue it to hide the gap.

[Harker]

17. Nice!

Your photos are an inspiration.

[Niagara]

20. Thank you. I watch way too much YouTube, Harker

I'm not into glitter though.

[electric_blue68]

24. Ty for the vid! (and look at the size of her cutting mat)

I only have a ? 8" x 10" right now.

It can be any colored, or patterned paper you like, but really I love the music sheets! If you consider Christmas/Holiday music and song it makes sense.

[Niagara]

25. You're welcome, electric_blue68

[electric_blue68]

22. Sweet! Good on you.👍

[Kali]

18. my ususal intention that rarely happens

is popcorn and cranberry garlands.

the one thing that does seem to get done is grabbing some mistletoe and tying it up in little hanging bunches with ribbon to give out.

[electric_blue68]

23. Well, that's a sweet little holiday momento! A gazillion yrs ago my aunt -might- have strung popcorn...

I'm talking 60 - 62 yrs back! 😄 Though I mostly have a good to very good memory.

[kkmarie]

26. Outdoor lights

I bought 3 tomato cages that I've wrapped in twinkling multi color lights. I'll be attaching to the porch railing with zip ties.
Outside decorations are removable and store able without having to redo next year. My favorite kind