If you love crafting with felt, you can try lots of fun projects to add some crafty Christmas cheer to your tree. These fun and easy felt Christmas ornaments are great to make as gifts or keep for yourself this holiday season.
Choosing Felt for Christmas Crafting
There are a lot of reasons felt works well as a material for Christmas crafts. Amanda Cissner, owner of Muffintops, notes that felt is a great material to work with if you're not a sewing expert. "I'm not the best at sewing," she says, "and I really like that felt doesn't require you to be as precise as other fabrics. For example, you can cut it, and it doesn't unravel. It works in so many different formats, and I get a great level of detail."
Felt is also affordable and available at most craft stores, and sheets of craft felt cost less than 50 cents apiece. Cissner says that she chooses craft felt for ornaments instead of more costly wool felt. She explains, "You can do so many things with it, like adding beads to it, yarn adornments, glitter discs" and more.
Star-Shaped Felt Christmas Ornament
You can make a simple star-shaped Christmas ornament with some scraps of crafting felt, a few buttons, and a little time. This project is easier with a sewing machine, but if you don't have one, you can still sew the ornament by hand. Expect it to take less than an hour by machine and about two hours by hand.
Things You'll Need
Gather the following tools and supplies:
- Two pieces of craft felt in different holiday colors
- Several buttons
- Narrow ribbon
- Stuffing
- Scissors
- Pins
- Pinking shears
- Disappearing fabric marker, if desired
- Sewing machine
- Thread to match felt
- Hand sewing needle
What to Do
- Start by cutting a star out of felt. You can use a star-shaped cookie cutter as a guide or make them any style you want.
- Use the star as a guide to cut a slightly larger star out of a contrasting color of felt. It can help to use a disappearing fabric marker to trace the star. Use the pinking shears to pink the edges of this larger star.
- Hand sew several buttons to the smaller star.
- Pin the two stars so the smaller star is centered on the larger one.
- Sew almost all the way around the stars, leaving only the top point open.
- Stuff the star to make it three-dimensional.
- Cut a length of ribbon and pin it so it sticks out of the top point of the star as a hanging loop.
- Sew the top point closed and trim all threads.
Dapper Felt Gingerbread Man
Use a cookie cutter to make an adorable gingerbread man ornament for your tree. This festive design is a great Christmas craft to do with kids, although younger kids will need help with the sewing. Expect to spend about an hour making this handmade felt ornament.
Things You'll Need
You'll need the following supplies to make your felt Christmas ornament:
- One sheet of brown craft felt
- Red craft felt
- Scrap of ribbon
- Red embroidery floss
- Black embroidery floss
- Red narrow ribbon
- Scissors
- Gingerbread man cookie cutter
- Disappearing fabric marker
- Needle and pins
- Stuffing
What to Do
- Begin by using the cookie cutter as a felt ornament pattern to cut two gingerbread men out of brown craft felt. Trace around the cookie cutters with a disappearing fabric marker and then cut along the line you drew.
- Set one gingerbread man aside. On the remaining gingerbread man, use black embroidery floss to make two eyes, or cut two eyes out of a scrap of black felt and glue with fabric glue.
- Cut scraps of red craft felt for a mouth and buttons. Using red embroidery floss, sew these to the gingerbread man or use fabric glue to attach.
- Pin the embellished gingerbread man to the plain one and use red embroidery floss to hand sew the two layers together. Leave the top of the head open.
- Poke stuffing into the gingerbread man through the top of the head.
- Cut a piece of ribbon for a hanging loop and pin it in place at the top of the head.
- Sew the top of the head closed and trim all threads.
- Add a ribbon embellishment for a tie.
Avocado Felt Christmas Tree Ornament
If you want to make a felt Christmas ornament with a sense of humor, an avocado is an easy one to try. This ornament is two-dimensional, which means you won't have to bother stuffing it. This takes about an hour to make.
Things You'll Need
You'll need the following to make an avocado Christmas ornament out of felt:
- Craft felt in red, white, brown, and two shades of green
- One white pom-pom
- Two small black beads
- Black thread
- Red and green embroidery floss
- Needle and pins
- Scissors
- Craft glue
What to Do
- Cut an egg shape out of the darker green craft felt.
- Cut a slightly smaller egg shape out of the lighter green craft felt.
- Sew two beads for eyes to the lighter green felt either using black thread or with craft glue. Glue black thread for a mouth.
- Cut a small circle out of brown craft felt. Sew it to the light green egg shape using green embroidery floss.
- Stack the two egg shapes together. Use green embroidery floss to sew them in place.
- Cut a rough Santa hat out of red craft felt and a little piece of white craft felt for the fur trim. Stack these on the avocado and pin in place. Sew them with red embroidery floss.
- Use craft glue to attach a pom-pom to the top of the hat.
- Take a long piece of red embroidery floss and stitch it through the top of the avocado. Bring both ends together and tie to make a hanging loop.
Needle-Felted Ball Christmas Tree Garland
Needle felting is a fun felting technique, and it's a great way to make holiday ornaments for your tree. You use wool felt roving, available at craft stores, and a special tool for needle felting. Making this ball garland is an easy way to learn how to needle felt, and it's an adorable decoration for your Christmas tree. The amount of time it takes will vary depending on the length of the garland you make.
Things You'll Need
Gather these supplies:
- Wool roving in your choice of colors
- Embroidery floss or sturdy string
- Needle felting tool
- Scissors
What to Do
- Cut a piece of embroidery floss the length you want your garland to be.
- Pull off some of the roving from the skein and roll it into a rough ball around one end of the embroidery floss.
- Use the needle felting tool to poke the roving over and over, causing it to turn into felt. Keep moving the ball around as you work, adding more roving as needed.
- When you've fashioned the ball to your liking, start and add a second ball. Space the balls as close together as you'd like. Spacing them 6-12 inches apart is ideal.
- Continue adding balls of felt until you have filled the garland.
Easy Christmas Crafts That Make a Statement
Felt Christmas ornaments look wonderful on your tree, and they may also be used as crafty gift embellishments to make your wrapped presents even more special. Cissner suggests attaching a homemade felt ornament to plates of cookies during the holidays too. They have multiple uses and offer a unique way to decorate and show you care during the holiday season.
