2017 Ornament Exchange & Blog Hop

Welcome to the 2017 Ornament Exchange & Blog Hop! This year, there are 47 amazing bloggers participating in the exchange. The rules of the challenge were simple: be partnered with a fellow blogger, create a handmade ornament for $15 or under, create a tutorial, and ship the ornament off to a new home!

This is my first year to participate in this ornament exchange. I was a little unsure of what to expect but was excited all the same! I am paired up to exchange ornaments with Toni from Small Home Soul. We both have traditional trees decorated with red, white and silver which made it really easy to come up with an ornament idea (see my tutorial below)! She sent me a link to a post with a picture of her tree. If you click on the link above you can see her tree. I couldn’t seem to find any pictures of my tree but it actually looks very similar to Toni’s tree!

Meet the 2017 Ornament Exchange Hosts

Erlene ⋅ My Pinterventures Kim · Made In A Day Amanda ·Domestically Creative

Shirley · Intelligent Domesticatons Michelle · Our Crafty Mom

Beverly · Across the Blvd. Christene · Key to Inspiration Pili ⋅ My Sweet Things

Nicki · Sweet Parrish Place Megan · C’mon Get Crafty

Hilary · Raising Fairies and Knights Emily · Two Purple Couches

Tina · One Crafty Mess Marie · The Inspiration Vault Debra · Shoppe No. 5

Trisha · Rosewood and Grace Jeanie · Create and Babble Katrin ⋅ Kreativ K

Terri · Christmas Tree Lane Maureen · Red Cottage Chronicles

Toni ⋅ Small Home Soul Ula ⋅ Lulu & Celeste Sue ⋅ A Purdy Little House

Pamela · Home On The Corner Lorelai ⋅ Life with Lorelai Cindy ⋅ DIY Beautify

Debbie ⋅ Tweak and Style Stephanie ⋅ Swoodson Says Chelc ⋅ Inside the Fox Den

Susan ⋅ Super Mom – No Cape! Molly ⋅ Just a Little Creativity

Roseann ⋅ This Autoimmune Life Angela ⋅ Simply Beautiful by Angela

Vicki and Jenn ⋅ 2 Bees in a Pod Joanne ⋅ Our Unschooling Journey

Tylynn ⋅ Bitterroot DIY Sam ⋅ Raggedy Bits Mary ⋅ The Boondocks Blog

Cyn ⋅ Creative Cynchronicity Dione ⋅ Clever Chameleon Quilting

Erica ⋅ Erica Ever After Chelsea ⋅ Love Paper Crafts Evija ⋅ From Evija with Love

Samantha ⋅ Little Bits of Home Hope ⋅ Hopes Crafty Niche Anne ⋅ Orange Bettie

Pam · P.S. I Love You Crafts

No Sew Quilted Ornament Tutorial

Supplies:

1 – 4 inch styrofoam ball

straight pins (about 150)

¼ yard each of 2 different fabrics

1 inch wide ribbon

3/8 inch wide ribbon in 2 different colors

sequin

Directions:

Cut 3″ squares from your fabrics. Then fold fabric in half then fold sides in to form triangles and iron.

For first row: open 1 piece of fabric and put straight pin into center. Push the pin into the styrofoam ball. Then fold the fabric back into a triangle and secure to the ball with more straight pins. Repeat with 3 other pieces adjusting as necessary to cover the styrofoam.

For second row: measure down about 3/4 inches from where points come together on first row. Pin second color in the same manner as the first layer. Put 4 white (second color) triangles over the 4 red (first color) triangles from the first row then add 4 more triangles in between those. Adjust as necessary to cover the styrofoam. Then pin down to secure 2nd row. You should see a star created in the center.

For third row: using 8 red triangles, measure down 3/4″ and position them over the white triangles. Secure with pins.

Turn the styrofoam ball over and repeat rows on the opposite side until material meets in the middle.

Ribbon Top:

Cut a piece of the 1″ ribbon long enough to wrap around the ball where the unfinished edges meet. Either pin or glue it to the ornament making sure to cover all of the fabric edges.

Make a bow out of the 3/8″ ribbon by wrapping it around 4 fingers about 8 times. Pin the center of the ribbon to the ball then fan out the ribbon layers. Make a slightly smaller bow out of the second color 3/8″ ribbon by wrapping it around 3 fingers about 8 times. Pin it over the first bow and fan out the ribbon layers. Cut a piece of either color ribbon long enough to make a hanging ribbon (about 8-10 inches). Make a loop out of the ribbon. Put a pin through the sequin then through ribbon where the edges are overlapping. Pin to center of the bows. You can use a little hot glue if necessary to hold everything in place.

I first made one of these with my mom when I was in girl scouts. They are relatively easy to make yet turn out so pretty! I hope Toni enjoys hers! Merry Christmas!