These are two of several Christmas ornaments I made a few years ago. The center design is counted
cross-stitch. I designed them to
have "points" so they would be shown off by the fabric that surrounds them.
These squares of fabric are folded, then attached to a Styrofoam ball
with straight pins. I chose fabric
for its color rather than design since they end up so small. Then pieces of gathered lace and ribbon
are hot glued around the raw edges of fabric, which meet at the outside
edge. I used a corsage pin to
attach many lace and ribbon bows and a hanging loop to the top of the ball. The large pearl on the head of the pin
adds the final touch.
The designs on the back of these balls are the same as the fronts. However, some balls
I made had something printed in counted cross-stitch, such as the date, or "Our
First Christmas Together", or the name of the person it was made for. I had a lot of fun personalizing the
ornaments, and choosing the right colors for the recipients. Giving hand made ornaments is always fun
because I get to work with colors that don't match anything in my house. Variety makes the work much more
interesting!
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