Christmas Craft Projects

Santa Boot Tree Holder

You Need: Metal cachepot (from garden stores), about 1 foot high; metal primer; acrylic paints: white, light blue, red, black; assorted paintbrushes; pencil.

Preparing pot: Apply one or more coats of primer to outside of pot, letting dry after each coat. With a dry brush, lightly apply white paint horizontally to all sides of pot, then dry-brush on a small amount of light blue paint to resemble snow. Let dry. Enlarge pattern as needed. Lightly trace boots and lower legs on adjacent sides of pot, referring to photograph for placement.

Painting: Paint legs red; let dry. Paint boots black; let dry. Using black paint, shade folds in fabric on legs. Using white and black paint mixed together to make gray, shade wrinkles in boots.

--Designed by Luba Kiercosz

Snowman Ornament

You Need: Several packages of white, oven-bake clay; snowman-shaped cookie cutter (ours had the hat built-in); plastic cutting board; small plastic rolling pin or 1/2" plastic dowel; craft knife; skewer; baking sheets; cooling racks; spatula; oven; paintbrushes: artist's fine liner, 1/4" flat; acrylic paints: red, orange, black, white; gloss-finish polyurethane sealer for ceramic; thin gold cord.

Cutting snowmen: Knead clay to soften. Roll out 1/4" thick; cut out with cookie cutter. For scarf, cut 1/4" wide strip long enough to wrap around neck; using knife, cut slashes at each end to form fringe. Wrap scarf around neck. Roll tiny balls of clay for buttons; press onto front of body. Using skewer, poke hole through top of head.

Baking: Using spatula, transfer snowmen onto baking sheet. Bake according to clay manufacturer's directions; place on cooling rack. Allow to cool for several hours.

Painting: Using fine brush, paint scarf red and buttons black. Paint a plaid pattern on scarf using desired colors.

Finishing: Using 14" brush, apply several coats of sealer to all surfaces, letting dry after each coat. Cut 10" of cord; slip through hole in hat and tie ends together to form hanging loop.

--Designed by Samantha Bellucci

Gold Ribbon Roses

You Need: Goldwire-edge ribbon; should be 60" piece; cut two 30" pieces to make 2 roses. Linen should be 4" x 26" pieces. Cut wire-edge ribbon into 2 equal pieces. To make each rose, pull both ends of one wire so ribbon is gathered at center of wire. Roll gathered edge of ribbon to form center of rose; twist wire together at base.

Making Linen Rose: Fold linen in half lengthwise. Fold down one corner diagonally, then sew running stitches along length of stitching through. Pull up thread to gather linen. Roll gathered edge to form center of rose; stitch several times through base to secure. Finishing: Using tape, secure roses to center top of box.

Precious Pachyderms

You need for each elephant: Wool felt: 1/4 yard each of 2 colors for sides, 1/8 yard of contrast color for underbody, remnants of assorted colors for feet and blanket; matching threads; fiberfill stuffing; sewing machine; hand sewing needle; beading needle; assorted glass beads; 2 small round black beads; tacky fabric glue; scissors; pinking shears.

Cutting: Enlarge patterns; to make baby patterns, reduce mother pattern at 70%. Add 1/4" all around to all patterns except nose and foot pads. Cut each side from a different color. Cut 2 underbody sections from a third color. From remnants, cut 4 ear sections (2 from one color and 2 from another color), 4 foot pads and one nose.

Assembling body: Note: All stitching is done in 1/4" seams, with right sides facing and raw edges even. Pin underbody sections together as shown on pattern (from C to D). Stitch, leaving a 2" opening in center of seam for turning. Pin upper seam of sides together from A to B; stitch. Starting at B, pin underbody to sides, working along legs, sides and up to end of trunk. Stitch. Turn right side out through opening in underbody. Stuff body, legs, and trunk firmly; slip-stitch underbody opening closed. Hand-stitch foot pads to bottom of each leg and nose to end of trunk. Pin and stitch each unmatched pair of ear sections together, leaving open along lower edge. Turn right side out; turn under 1/4" on lower edge and slip-stitch closed. Slip-stitch ears to head, with different color facing front on each ear. Sew black beads to head for eyes.

Making blanket: Cut one 3 3/4" x 5 1/4" piece of felt and one 4" x 6" piece of contrasting felt. Center small piece on large; stitch together. Trim edges of larger piece with pinking shears. Cut a contrasting 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece and stitch to center of blanket. Using beading needle, sew on assorted beads. Glue blanket over top of elephant's back.

Finishing: Cut a 2 1/4" x 1/4" strip of felt for tail and a 1" square of contrasting felt for tail end. Cut fringe along one edge of tail end; roll and glue around one end of tail. Poke hole in back of elephant, using large needle or seam ripper; insert top of tail into hole and glue to secure.

--Designed by Robin Tarnoff

Festive Felt Shopping Bags

You Need: Wool felt: 9" x 18" piece of main color, remnants of other colors as desired; remnants of synthetic suede as desired; matching thread; 1/2 yard of 1/2" wide braid trim; hand sewing needle; sewing machine; pins; scissors; pinking shears or scallop-edge scissors; fabric glue.

Making bag: Overlap short edges of large felt piece by 1/4"; sew through both layers to form 9" high tube. Fold tube along seam; stitch through all layers very close to edge to form one side seam of bag. Measure 6" from this seam; fold tube along this line. Stitch through all layers very close to edge to form another side seam. Measure 3" from this seam and stitch in same manner. Measure 6" from last seam and stitch in same manner. This forms a front and back, each about 6" wide, and 2 sides each about 3" wide. Forming bottom of bag: Measure up 2" from lower end of tube. Fold up along sides, then along front and back; pin layers together, forming flat bottom. Stitch close to edges along bag sides. Hand-stitch through all layers at center bottom of bag. Decorating: Cut two 1/2" slits in front of bag, placing them 2" below upper edge and spacing them 2 1/3" apart. Cut braid trim in half; slip ends of one piece through front slits and glue ends to inside of bag to make front handle. Make back handle in same manner. Fold under 1 1/2 " on upper edge of bag; pin, then glue lower edge inside bag. Cut desired shapes to decorate bag, such as a tree, a gift or snowflake. Glue shapes to front of bag. To make tree ornaments, cut 1" circle of felt. Sew running stitches close to edge; pull up thread and take several stitches to secure, forming ball. Flatten ball with fingers; glue back of each ball to tree. Using pinking shears or scallop-edge scissors, cut 1/2" wide strips from felt or suede; glue to upper and lower edges of bag.

--Designed by Luba Kiercosz

White Stocking

You Need: 1/2 yard of white textured cotton fabric; matching thread; pins; scissors; sewing machine; iron; 1/4 yard each of red and white rickrack; remnant of red satin fabric; 1/2" self-covered button form; hand sewing needle.

Cutting: For pattern, trace an old Christmas stocking. Cut stocking front and back from white fabric.

Sewing: Pin front to back with right sides facing and raw edges even. Stitch sides and lower edges in 1/4" seams, stopping 4 1/2" from upper edge on each side and leaving upper edge open. Clip seams; turn right side out. With right sides facing and raw edges even, pin and stitch remaining 4 1/2" on each side so this section of seam is reversed from body of stocking. Turn under 1/2 " on upper edge of stocking; press. Turn down 3" on upper edge of stocking to form cuff.

Making wreath: "Weave" pieces of rickrack together for candy-cane effect. Bend into ring; stitch ends together to form wreath. Follow manufacturer's directions to cover button form with red satin; sew to wreath, covering previous stitching. Pin, then stitch wreath to center front of stocking.

--Designed by Sandra Withers

Red Gingham Stocking

You Need: 1/2 yard of red gingham satin fabric; matching thread pins; scissors; sewing machine; iron; remnant of white felt; remnant of red satin fabric; 1/2 " self-covered button form; hand sewing needle.

Cutting: For pattern trace an old Christmas stocking. Cut stocking front and back from white fabric.

Sewing: Pin front to back with right sides facing and raw edges even. Stitch sides and lower edges in 1/4" seams, stopping 4 1/2" from upper edge on each side and leaving upper edge open. Clip seams; turn right side out. With right sides facing and raw edges even pin and stitch remaining 4 1/2" on each side so this section of seam is reversed from body of stocking. Turn under 1/2" on upper edge of stocking; press. Turn down 3" on upper edge of stocking to form cuff.

Decorating: Cut 3 holly leaves from felt. Pin leaves together at lower ends. Follow manufacturer's directions to cover button form with red satin; sew to leaves, covering previous stitching. Pin, then stitch leaves to center front of stocking. —Designed by Sandra Withers.