Awesome Handmade Ornaments of 2013

I am always awed by the great handmade ornament tutorials that come out each year, so this year I decided to share some of my favorites from various blogs. All of these would make a great embellishment on a gift in place of a bow, or would make a great small gift themselves (I'm thinking of making some for gifts to go along with cards at the office this year)! Feel free to share links to some of your favorite handmade ornaments in the comments area below as well :)

I love this terrarium ornament from Farm Fresh Therapy. A great use for small succulents in the Winter months!

I'm obsessed with these cute (and super easy!) felt ribbon candy ornaments over at The Purl Bee. They are so bright and fun (did I mention easy?).

Speaking of easy, these Confetti ornaments from In a Creative Bubble fit the bill! You can change them up with about any confetti filling you like!

Our Nerd Home is one of my new favorite blogs, check out these nifty 8 bit ornaments they made this holiday season!

My ornament contribution this year is this adorable fox. Click over to get the full tutorial and download the pattern!

Have you made any ornaments you are especially proud of this year?

Felt Fox Ornament

I am still doing some last minute Christmas prep and decided I wanted to make ornaments for some of my coworkers. I came up with this little felt fox pattern and decided to share it with you all. While I used needle and thread to put mine together, you can also use hot glue or fabric glue if you want to whip up multiples of these for gifts yourself and save time :)

To make your own fox ornaments at home you will need:

Fox ornament pattern (free pdf download here)
Two colors of felt (I used red and cream, you can change up your foxes to be any color you like)
scissors
pen
needle and thread
buttons in various sizes
polyfil or other soft stuffing
ribbon, thread or cord for hanging the ornament

Start by downloading and printing the fox ornament pattern. It comes in two sizes, so you can make a whole family of foxes if you like (or use the pattern that fits your tree best). Trace the patterns onto your felt and cut out the pieces (you will need two of the larger head piece and one face piece for each ornament).

Arrange the face piece onto the head, move around until you are satisfied. Felt tends to stick to itself a bit, but feel free to pin your face pieces in place before sewing together (or just use fabric or hot glue to put these together).

Select buttons in a color and size you like. Place them onto the face piece and glue them down or sew them on. Once you have this piece completed, you can layer together the two head pieces and begin sewing or gluing those together (make sure to leave a hole for adding stuffing). Before sewing up the top of the head, I add in a ribbon or some metallic cord to use to hang my ornaments from the Christmas tree. I used a blanket stitch to sew my pieces together, but you can use any stitch you are comfortable with (or again, glue is great and makes this super fast and easy--the kids can even help!).

Hang your finished product on the tree or give these as gifts (they are super cute on packages instead of bows!). Stay tuned, Friday I will have a roundup of some of my favorite DIY ornaments from 2013 :)

Holiday Treat Roundup

It's no secret that I have a heck of a sweet tooth. What better excuse than the holidays to whip up bunches of sweet treats to share with everyone you know? Below you will find some of my all time favorite recipes for making up cookie plates for the holiday season!.

I replaced half the chocolate chips in these cookies with red and green M&M's for a more festive look.

If chocolate and peanut butter are your style, whip up these quick bars that my sister and I lovingly dubbed "Sugar Shock" bars, due to their super sweet richness!

You can't go wrong with these soft double ginger cookies!

We begged my mom every year to make Mounds Bars for the Christmas cookie tray. Add some colorful sprinkles for an extra fancy touch!

Almost nothing is easier than a batch of these Dark Chocolate Peppermint Truffles. Put them on the cookie tray or give them as gifts!


What are your favorite holiday treats?

Gift Bow Roundup

The holidays are fast approaching, and there is no better time to start making a batch of your very own handmade gift bows! I found the awesome sweater patterned paper above in a photorealistic package of papers and had to make some snuggly bows of my own. Below you will find a big list of options to choose from (and many can be completed by using fabric, felt or Ribbon instead of cutting paper). Settle down with a great holiday movie and some paper and whip up a stack of ribbons this week!

Paper Bows from How About Orange

Accordion Fold(Snowflake)Bows

Small Gift Bows

Jumbo Gift Bows

If flowers are more your style, you can check out these paper flowers or some easy tissue paper flowers. Happy Wrapping!

Giving Back

It's that time of year: everyone is getting ready for the upcoming holiday season. There will be plenty of posts here on The Craftinomicon devoted to DIY gifts, packaging and yes, even some recipes. However, don't let all the hustle and bustle allow you to forget that you still have time to help those in need! There are tons of ways you can help out someone less fortunate-- and many of them don't involve donating money. If the holiday budget is tight, your time is a gift that can be far more valuable. If you'd like some great ideas on how to make this holiday season a little brighter for people in need, keep reading!

When lots of people think about giving to charity at the holidays it is a food drive around Thanksgiving, or donating toys for kids at Christmas/Chanukah. Both of these are great, but don't forget that food drives are great all year round and not only children, but the elderly and everyone in between could use some holiday cheer. You can also volunteer to serve a meal at a local shelter, or contact a local Meals on Wheels program to see if they need help this season.

I am fortunate to work for a company that has it's own charitable foundation. We can have a small deduction taken out of each paycheck and the foundation partners with several other local charities. We work in long term care facilities, and part of our mission is to include our residents in many of our charitable activities. I would strongly encourage you to take a look at the webpage and maybe get some ideas that you could practice in your own community! You can also like the Vital Life Foundation on facebook to find out about activities going on throughout the year (we are based in OR, but have facilities in several other states).

One thing many people don't think about is their local blood bank. I know that donating blood isn't for everyone, but there is always a need and many people don't consider donating blood to their local blood bank unless a tragedy has happened somewhere in the world. Contact your local Red Cross or think about setting up a blood drive in your community or at your workplace this season!

Consider volunteering at a long term care facility or assisted living center. Whether reading a book to a senior or just visiting with them for a short while, I can assure you it will be appreciated. If you have a child that sings in a school choir or plays in a band or orchestra, you may also want to see if they could perform for residents (and possibly work something out between the facility and the school to keep this going year after year!).

For those of you with artsy/crafty kids, consider making Holiday cards to send to a local Hospital or long term care facility.

Donate books to a local school or include books along with toys in your local holiday toy drive. I know I always loved getting books and reading when I was young. I know I liked getting toys too, but I can't off the top of my head name a toy that impacted my life the way books did. If you have "like new" books in your collection that your children have outgrown or no longer read, inquire about donating them to a local school or reading program. One of my favorite publishing companies, Chronicle Books, is also having a holiday book campaign by tweeting, pinning or giving an online signature, you will be donating a children's book to First Book through Chronicle!

Last but not least (as this IS a crafting blog), you can find organizations online like Made 4 Aid, where you can donate various craft projects to be sold (the money is then donated to charity). You can also sell your wares at a local craft fair and donate a percentage of your sales to the charity of your choice (make sure to post that you are doing so, and leave a small donations jar on your table for anyone that may want to toss in their loose change as well!).

What are some of your favorite ways to give back around the holidays?