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Saturday, December 3, 2011

An ornament tutorial for you!

 I love making ornaments!!! It's the one time of year when I can really play with glitter and tinsel and not worry about what I'm going to do with the darn thing after I finish making it!! LOL!
I went to visit my friend Sandy's blog Quill Cottage, after she told me she was going to be doing a new ornament tutorial. Well I ran right over because she has been the biggest inspiration for me when it comes to ornament ideas.
After looking through it, I sat down in the studio and starting playing around with what I learned. At that point my creative muse bumped me on the shoulder and took me in a whole new direction!!
This is the first one I made as I was experimenting. As you can see from later versions, I keep refining the design with each one I make.

This is the second one I made and the one I will be showcasing as I create it in a tutorial for you!!!
Are you ready??

Here is what you will need:

14 silver pipe cleaners
1-2 pieces of scrapbook paper (either thin one-sided or thick double sided) or vintage music sheets, 
               old book pages, etc...
Silver tinsel
distressing ink pads in brown or black
glue sticks
glue gun
glitter (optional)
stickles glitter glue
crystal or small ornament to hang from the botton
wire cutters
scissors
sewing machine (if you have one)
 Start by cutting out 14 four inch squares from scrapbook paper, music sheets or book pages
(If you are using the thicker double-sided scrapbook paper you will only need 7  four inch squares.)

Glue the papers wrong sides together (unless you are using thick double sided paper)
You should now have 7 double sided squares.

 Sew a straight line down all the squares diagonally using the largest size stitch on your machine.
If you don't have a machine you can run a thin bead of hot glue diagonally down the center of each square until all 7 layers are fused together in the middle.

 Cut the shape of a heart on one side of the diamond...

 then fold the top layer over and use it as a template to make the other side match perfectly.

 Use your ink pad to "tarnish" the silver pipe cleaners if you want to dull down the finish just a bit and give it a more vintage feel.
Trust me, they still stay pretty sparkly and look beautiful on the tree.
You can also ink the edges of each heart section now if you would like to.

 Now run a bead of hot glue down the crease of your heart and place the first pipe cleaner as close to the center as you can.

 Continue doing this all around the entire heart shape. As you get nearer to the end getting the pipe cleaners as close to center as possible gets a little harder, so use a popsicle stick to help push the pipe cleaner further into the center.

Now you have a nice handle to hold while
you finish the edges and give it a little more sparkle with glitter glue on the very edge of each section.
(I love Stickles silver and platinum)
Stick the pipe cleaners in a glass or something while the glitter glue dries. (It only takes about a half or or so)

At this point you are probably going to want to cut about 2 " off the top of each pipe cleaner. You'll be able to change the look you get by adjusting this number but for your first one, lets go with 2 inches.

 Gently fold the pipe cleaners around the heart and secure at the bottom with a drop of glue from the hot glue gun. Try to keep the pipe cleaners in order as you go around. It's not mandatory but it's nice.

 This is what it will look like when they are all attached at the bottom.

 Cut a piece of pipe cleaner about 5 inches long for the handle and apply to the center of the ornament.
(On the 3rd one I made, I added a very small Christmas ball to the top before I glued in the handle.

 Now thread your bauble through a very short piece of pipe cleaner and using hot glue, secure it to the bottom of the ornament.

 These are the icicles I use, but when they come out of the package they are very straight and new looking.

 Pull some out of the package and scrunch and roll it around between your palms until it's all scrunched and messy.

 Now pull it all apart and see how much better it looks!

Add some to the top and bottom and you are done!!!
This was the third one I did. For this one I cut out hearts of sheet music and glued them front and back to each of the seven squares before I sewed them together. Then, after the heart shape was all cut out I very lightly painted Modge Podge to the blue cardstock and gave it a nice coating of Martha Stewart's fine crystal glitter.

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial! I know I'm a day late but I'm linking up with Debra at Common Ground for her Vintage Inspiration Friday and also Deck The Halls Sunday at Artful Affirmations. I hope you will all go and visit them and all the other great inspiring links!


66 comments:

Bente said...

Oh, this was fantastic beautiful.
Thank you for sharing how you make one.

Have a nice sunday

Hugs Bente

Michelle said...

Gasp!! This is the prettiest ornament ever! What a GREAT tutorial, I absolutely love it. Thank you so much for sharing.

Pam said...

Beautiful I can't wait to try it out. I love the vintage look.

melanie said...

absolutely adorable...can't wait to make my own! thanks for the tutorial...you're the best!
melanie

Lily's Lace said...

Hey pretty girl! You have been busy in Santa's workshop, I love all of your ornaments! I finished those I started and have many more to do but I just got all the glitter cleaned up!! I can't wait to see these o your tree! Hope you're having a great day,big hugs,xoxo-cindy

Gracefully Vintage said...

OMG, those are so darn Cute.. love the blue glitter touch-and how Sweet to give as a gift as well..Thank You For sharing (how to).. Love it..
True one of a kind..
Karryann

helen tilston said...

Bautiful, great work, I love them.
Thanks for sharing

Helen xx

mon-coin-joli said...

Oh c'est super joli ! merci pour ce tuto, je vais essayer :)
biz
Nicolette

Wendy @ Ravenwood Whimzies said...

These are beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Sandy said...

Oh my goodness Karen I am so copying off you!!!! I need some more ornaments for my new shabby old tree I pickup last week at the flea market. I love how you took the tutorial and made it your own, awesome! Thank you for the sweet link back too. Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheryl said...

That is an absolute gorgeous ornament, you are an absolute inspirations, thank you for the tutorial.
Hugs
Cxxx

Tink's Tinkerings said...

So Lovely I am going to place you link on my We Really Made it Facebook site, hope it's ok. If you have FB and want to jooin the We Really Made it Groupie site let me know. Tink

Karen said...

Girl you did GOOD. I love the last one with the blue! Hmmmm...that would look really nice on my tree!
Now you got my brain join'... Holy cow!

Have a great weekend!
Karen

Rebekah said...

what a great tutorial.. love these. cant wait to make some for my trees! thank you so much for sharing

sweet violets said...

Now that is just awesome!!! How vintage looking and great tut....thanks so much, will try one tomorrow when I am not so tired...hugs...cleo

Unknown said...

these are stunning! I can't wait to give them a try! ;)

Jo said...

Karen, these are beautiful! bravo!

art by wendy said...

what a great idea! I will be making these for sure! thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Holy Shamokes! How gorgeous are these ornaments??!!!! I can not WAIT to try my hand at making these pretties! I don't sew, not even at bit, so I'm thinking I can punch hearts out, fold them in half and go from there. Thank you so much for sharing these! The crinkled icicles were amazing, too.
Thanks again!

Leah C said...

Love, love, love!

Dee ⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️ said...

Beautiful from start to finish!

Dee

wordshavewings said...

Oh Karen your ornaments are lovely. Thank you so much for sharing.

Teresa said...

I never knew a pipe cleaner could have such pizzaz!

Only You!...These are so pretty!

Teresa

Betty said...

Breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!Thank you for sharing, I'll be making some of these. Warm Hugs,

Terri said...

Gorgeous! What a creative project. Thank you for showing us exactly how you made it. They all look amazing!
Would you like to link up to my Deck The Halls Sunday and share it?
Hugs,
Terri

Linda Carole Bloom said...

These ornaments are beautiful and the tutorial is so easy to follow - I can do this - off to get supplies tomorrow! Thanks!

Sharron aka Sharrahug said...

Very pretty! Thanks for the step by step tut. Great pics!
Huggies ~
Sharron♥

Karin said...

Love them all....I'm putting this on my to do list!!

Unknown said...

Stunning idea!!!! THANK YOU for sharing this brilliant piece! Im sure Ill try it sometime soon! :D

Hugs,

gracie said...

I must try this...thank you!

Zaa said...

OMG.. THese pipecleaner ornaments are delightful ... You've inspired me ... Thanks for sharing...Hugs

Chris said...

This is gorgeous! Can't wait to try it out. Chris

Kathleen said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! I made a book page feather tree and this ornament will be a perfect addition. Your blog is wonderful and you are very talented!

Donna (Timeless Settings) said...

Thanks for this great tutorial!
Donna

Lululiz said...

Brilliant tutorial, thank you so much. The ornaments are amazing.

Carrie said...

Thank you for this wonderful tutorial...the ornament is fabulous!

Unknown said...

Very cute Karen, and I have all the supplies! How fun, thanks for sharing! Hugs, PS Check you mail when you have time, Thanks and have fun, looks like you are! Marilou

Robin said...

Absolutely gorgeous, each of them!! You and Sandy are both so very talented and beautiful ladies!! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,
Robin

Holly Loves Art said...

Wow Karen this is such a wonderful project and so sweet of you to share all the details! I love how ALL of yours turned out. They are just scrumptious!
Happy holidays!
Holly

Romeo said...

HOW do you do it?!?! All this creativity, a tutorial, and posting?!?! I'm going to have to yank a knot in "her" tail because "she" certainly isn't performing to "her" full potential. Or maybe "she" is -- now that's a scary thought...I got adopted by a creative factory reject! MOL These are beautiful. So beautiful that I 'might' even leave them alone once they were on the tree. Anything other than on the tree however, is fair game ;)

Purrs!

Romeo

Little Miss Maggie said...

Thanks so much for the tutorial. I must try my hand at this for the holdidays.

Little Miss Maggie said...

Thanks for the tutorial. Great ornament.

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

Hi Karen, Thank you for sharing the tutorial for these beautiful ornaments. I love all of your creations of your last post as well. Your tree must look jsut fabulous.
Have a wonderful Advent season!
Hugs,
Julia

Rebecca said...

Hi Karen
Thank you so much for this fun ornament! I am going to try it this week, your turned out beautiful-love the last one!
Wishing you a wonderful week
Blessings
RE

Lynn said...

Very ingenious , is that a word? LOL, but seriously very beautiful, thank you for sharing your tutorial with us :)

Dorthe said...

Dear Karen,
they are fantastic beautiful-fabolous, and so lovely full of glitter :)
xo,Dorthe

time worn interiors said...

Those are adorable! Love um!
tot

Cynthia said...

Oh my gosh! This is gorgeous, and doesn't look too complicated to do, either. Thanks so much for sharing this. I am now a follower!

Creative Grammie said...

Aloha Karen,
Thanks so much for doing a tutorial on this beautiful ornament! I'd like give this a try. Hmmm, my "to try" list is getting longer.
Have a wonderful Christmas!

Sherry said...

Your ornaments are just beautiful. I hope to try some soon. Thanks so much for sharing your tutorial.

FLOWERSHOPGURL said...

Hi, I love your beautiful ornament, I too recently did some ornaments with pipe cleaners and paper, however, I have not had the time to post them yet. I'm visiting from Deck The Halls Sunday! Take care!
Hugz,
Kim

Sonya Badgley said...

Hi Karen,
Your ornament is beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us!
Merry Christmas to you!
xo,
Sonya

Elizabeth Johnson said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!! Thank you!

Amy said...

I love it and now I am inspired. Off to the studio I go. Thank you.

Sandy Navarro said...

Oooh,this is FabUlous, girlfriend! Thank you so much for sharing; I LOVE it! I'm sorry I didn't get back to you on your last note; been totally jammed lately but that's a good thing. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Hugs

Cathy said...

Oooooo! It's absolutely gorgeous!! I've been looking for an ornie to make my daughter and I think this is it! Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous tutorial with us!

Cathy ♥

MaryAnn said...

This is gorgeous.. I have your pinned on Pinterest. I definately have to make one! Thanks for sharing!
MaryAnn

Terri said...

OMG I just finished making this. Your directions couldn't of made it any easier. Thank you so much and Merry christmas!
Terri

Susan Walker said...

Thank you so much for generously sharing this tutorial, Karen. I shared your link on my blog for my friends too.

This is so beautiful...can't wait to create my own. :) Susan

Hanni said...

Thank you so very much for this wonderful tutorial, these ornaments are just out of this world! Love all of them!

Annette said...

oh I am certainly goin gto make these they are beautiful and you are a great teacher. I sort of made 4 ornaments like your giant letter ones, except I just used smaller letters I made on the computer. One for hubby and I and then one each for our grown grand children. I am so proud of them not exactly like them but an inspiration and your home is just to die for thanks for posting that also. Merry Christmas

sweetjeanette said...

Gasp! It's beautiful! I pinned it Thanks for sharing

Ande said...

Swoooon! I LOVE this...I cant wait to make one! Thank you so much for sharing inspiration :)
xoxo Ande

Ms Liz said...

Hey there :) I just purchased your "Beautiful Bloggers" book online and when I downloaded my computer gave me a problem comment. I paid for the book through Paypal. Would it be possible for you to mail the book to me and I will pay the postage fee upon receipt at the post office. I am excited to receive and began creating my blog. This is the first information that I find that sounds to be helpful for me. I like the presentation of your blog and want to start mine soon. Thank you. Blessings and Smiles, Liz

Unknown said...

Adorable, I love it. I will try to make it with my kids. They will love it too. Thank you for sharing the tutorial

Linda Kay said...

Oh my goodness I just love this ornament....I always make a new one for us each year and this will be the one... thank you for posting this tute....

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