Monday, November 30, 2009

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - Day 1 - Lace Snowflake/Star

Woo Hoo!!
25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments is set to begin!!!
Now first I wanted to tell you I never even thought of Tim Holtz's 12 days of Tags when I started thinking about this in October. So, no...I didn't do this to copy him or anything. I actually thought of it while I was looking back at some old Christmas tree photos I ran across while moving things around.

So, now that you know how it came about let's begin...

I wanted to start off with a really striking ornament that is REALLY easy to create.

Lace Snowflake/Star Ornament

To begin you will need the following pattern:


lace snowflake-star 019

You will need to print this out 5-6 times per ornament (5=star, 6=snowflake). You can print this in whatever size you would like just remember that whatever size you print it out your finished ornament will be twice this size. Say for example you print out 2" squares ~ your finished ornament will be approx. 4". I am using 6" squares so they show up better in the example photos so I end up with a whopping big snowflake!

Also, I wanted to mention one other thing before we begin. This ornament looks like it takes a long time to make but once you get going it doesn't take long at all. I chose to ink and stamp my cardstock. You could cut your time way down by simply printing the pattern on pattern papers. Just a thought if you're short on time but still would like to make them.

Supplies:

Pattern

Cardstock (plain white or pattern paper)

Ink Blending Tool

Distress Inks

Archival Inks

Rubber Stamps

Exacto Knife

Glue Dots

Thread/Ribbon (for hanger)

Instructions:

1. Print out 5 or 6 of the squares on cardstock if you plan on decorating it yourself or pattern paper for the quick version. I printed the pattern out at 50% tint so it wouldn't show up as well on the finished ornament.

lace snowflake-star 001

2. Ink the unprinted side with a light color ink and the printed side with a dark colored ink. The contrast of light and dark make for a more striking finished ornament.

lace snowflake-star 003

3. Stamp both sides of the cardstock. For mine I used two different colors of ink as well as two different stamps.

lace snowflake-star 004

4. Using the exacto knife, cut along all of the dotted lines on all of the squares. Now, these lines don't have to be perfectly straight or anything so you don't have to worry about perfect cuts. I just used the exacto knife like a pencil and traced over the lines.

lace snowflake-star 005

lace snowflake-star 006

5. Fold both of the the center flaps up ~ place a glue dot on one side and secure the second flap to the first as shown.

lace snowflake-star 007

6. Flip the cardstock over and fold the second set of flaps over, add a glue dot and secure.

lace snowflake-star 009

lace snowflake-star 010

7. Continue alternating sides, securing each set of flaps to each other until you have finished each set. It should look like this...

lace snowflake-star 008

8. Repeat with the remaining 4 or 5 squares.

lace snowflake-star 011

9. Now it is time to assemble the star or snowflake. Place a glue dot at the two points shown in the following images....the point and the center -

lace snowflake-star 012

lace snowflake-star 013

10. Place the next section of your star/snowflake beside the first and secure with the Glue Dots.

lace snowflake-star 014

11. Continue adding sections until you have added the remaining sections.

Here is what the 5 section star will look like.....

lace snowflake-star 015

and here is the 6 section snowflake....

lace snowflake-star 020

Now of course you can dress this up in all sorts of ways...

-try embossing the stamped images with a tinsel or glitter embossing powder.

-use a variety of inks to tint the background.

-instead of inks, mist the squares with Color Wash or Glimmer Mist.

-apply Stickles Glitter Glue or Dimensional Pearls for added sparkle and shine.

-add a vintage image to the center of each star or snowflake.

-use twine, raffia, ribbon, gold thread, etc. for the hanger.

-transfer the pattern onto vintage sheet music or pattern paper.

So there you go,

Hand-Made Ornament #1 ready

and set to go!

Be sure to check in tomorrow for Ornament #2!

See you then!!

14 comments:

  1. I love this idea!!! can't wait to try it with the kids!!!

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  2. Roni -

    This is just a beautiful design. I think I will be making a fes. But I have to tell you, I started cracking up when I saw your inky fingers. You really do like to get your hands into your projects - LOL!!! Looking foward to tomorrow's ornament.

    Thanks for sharing with us.
    Elaine Allen

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  3. 'm going to make a set three and hang in the window. Thanks!

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  4. FANTASTIC, Roni!! You are a genius!!!

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  5. Love this project, thank you!!!
    Can't wait to try it. -

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  6. I have always wondered how these were made... Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I just came across this blog and LOVE it!!! I can't wait to try some of these out. They are absolutely adorable!!

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  8. wow this ornament rocks!!! you call that "parol" in our native tongue.

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  9. I made some of these today with one of the kids I look after. Well kinda, he decided he'd rather keep them as they were and not stick them together as a snowflake/star and I thought, who am I to curb his creativity! Great fun anyways, will def be making more!

    sab x

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  10. Hello I have had a link on my blog to this post for a couple of years. I am scheduling a Christmas in July series for a few days while I am not able to post... would you mind if I used a copy of the picture of the finished star in my post to your 25 Days of hand made ornaments??? I plan to link to a couple of your posts.

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  11. Lyneen ~ Sure, you can use what you need.

    Thanks for linking!

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  12. It heLped me a Lot today for my son's CHRISTmas decor project.Using tin cans,I manage to do it. =) thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. you did so weLL =D THANK YOU! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

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Thanks for your thoughts and comments!