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! A huge thank you to Erlene from My Pinterventures for hosting this fabulous and creative event.
Meet the 2017 Ornament Exchange Hosts
Erlene ⋅ My Pinterventures Kim · Made In A Day Pili ⋅ My Sweet Things
Amanda · The Kolb CornerShirley · Intelligent Domesticatons
Michelle · Our Crafty MomBeverly · Across the Blvd. Cindy ⋅ DIY Beautify
Christene · Key to InspirationNicki · Sweet Parrish Place Katrin ⋅ Kreativ K
Megan · C’mon Get Crafty Hilary · Raising Fairies and KnightsEmily · Two Purple CouchesTina · One Crafty Mess Marie · The Inspiration VaultDebra · Shoppe No. 5Trisha · Rosewood and Grace Jeanie · Create and BabbleTerri · Christmas Tree Lane Maureen · Red Cottage ChroniclesToni ⋅ Small Home Soul
Ula ⋅ Lulu & Celeste Sue ⋅ A Purdy Little HousePamela · Home On The CornerLorelai ⋅ Life with LorelaiDebbie ⋅ Tweak and Style Stephanie ⋅ Swoodson SaysChelc ⋅ 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 JourneyTylynn ⋅ Bitterroot DIY Sam ⋅ Raggedity Bits Mary ⋅ The Boondocks BlogCyn ⋅ Creative Cynchronicity Dione ⋅ Clever Chameleon QuiltingErica ⋅ Erica Ever After
Chelsea ⋅ Love Paper Crafts Evija ⋅ From Evija with Love Anne ⋅ Orange Bettie
Samantha ⋅ Little Bits of Home Hope ⋅ Hopes Crafty NichePam · P.S. I Love You Crafts
For this fun blog hop, I was paired up with Ula from Lulu & Celeste who primarily focuses on sewing. For her home and Christmas decor, Ula has a traditional and rustic style. I really wanted to capture both those styles into her special ornament, but more importantly to include fabric, since sewing is such a huge part of her life.
Ula’s family initial is a ‘W’, and I could tell from her instagram account, that she’s into monograms.
To start my ornament, I went to Michael’s and picked up a ‘W’ and some Mod Podge. I also went to my local fabric store and chose the most traditional Christmas plaid I could find.
There was a bit of a trial and error that went with this process. I initially started by thinking I could mod podge the fabric all around the letter. As it turns out, a ‘W’ is really hard to wrap fabric around.
After ripping off the fabric and starting over, I then decided to paint the back of the ornament in a matte black.
After I traced the letter onto the fabric, I tried to use an exacto knife to cut it out. That didn’t work…. So, I mod podged the fabric to some cardboard from a cereal box to give it some stiffness.
Once it was dry, I was able to easily cut it out. It worked beautifully, and there were no wrinkles.
Here is a back of the ‘W’, which also helped with the gluing of the fabric to the monogram.
Adding the rustic touches to this ornament was easy. I cut a twig into small discs using my mitre saw.
After I hot glued the cardboard on to the letter, I then glued the wood discs onto the ‘W’ in a flower shape.
For the last rustic touch, I gave the back and sides a light sanding to make it look aged.
For the final step, I added a tiny eye hook with some jute twine and called this little DIY Monogram Ornament project finished. Be sure to PIN IT to save this tutorial so you can make your own personalized ornament.
This traditional and rustic ornament is on its way to Ula now, and I sure hope she likes it once it arrives.
Merry Christmas Ula and family!!!
Sue
FIND ALL 47 HANDMADE ORNAMENT TUTORIALS BELOW AND SHARE YOURS TOO! Use Hashtag #2017OrnamentExchange so we can see your creations on social media.
Thanks for the sharing this craft, I’ll try making it on december 😉
I loved this ornament! And I loved how you shared the struggle to get it right…so authentic:) Stopping by from exchange and will share!
I love the tartan inspired fabric. That would look great on a mantelpiece or buffet as well!
I also participated in the #2017ornamentexchange, what beautiful ornaments everyone has made!
That is adorable! I love that you sanded the letter to give it that aged look. Great job persevering when the going got tough. Pinned.