Ornamental Mandala Monday

'Twas the Mandala Monday before Christmas, and thus it seems the perfect time for Dylusions Dyamond Boards... )Small Trees and Small Stars, to be exact) ...zen-doodled with my Letter It Fineliners, o'course! These are going to be tags on a few holiday presents; there is a possibility I will add a bit of color first, but I want to see them next to the wrapped gifts before deciding. 

In the meantime, I hope your Week Before Christmas is off to a productive and stress-free start! ♥

Winter Wildlife Ornament Tags

As the holidays approach, we don't just need cards, we need tags, too. And if they're Dylusions' Bauble Shaped Dyamond Boards adorned with Eyelet Outlet brads and washi, so much the better! These bauble-shaped beauties feature EO Snowflake Brads, Moose, Polar Bears and Deer; all set in a sparkly landscape of Glitter Winter and Glitter Tall Trees Tape.

Winter Wildlife Shopping List:

Snowflake Brads

Moose Brads

Polar Bear Brads

Deer Brads

Glitter Winter Tape

Glitter Tall Trees Tape

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store to find all the bards, tapes, flowers, enamels, bling and sequins you could possibly need; for the holidays and beyond!

Dylusions Dyamond Board Ornaments

Just in time for the holidays, Dyan Reaveley has designed Dylusions Dyamond Boards in festive shapes like baubles, stars and trees; available in two sizes for extra variety. Perfect for making garlands, place settings, gift tags and more. Follow along on the Ranger Project Tutorials Page as I decorate them with Letter It stamps and stencils, Ranger Archival Inks and Stickles Glitter Gels to create super-colorful multi-layer Christmas tree ornaments...

...which also make awesome package decorations or name tags!

I cannot tell a lie: I really LOVE this project; I hope you'll check it out! ♥

Holiday Treats

These adorable crocheted macarons were this year's handmade ornament, and while you can't eat them, they're still pretty sweet! 

This paragraph is the knitty gritty details, so if you don't crochet or have any interest in yarncraft, you can skip it! French Macaron Cookies pattern by JuliHMtoys available in her Etsy Shop. Macarons crocheted with a C-hook in Lion Brand Yarn's TruBoo, rayon yarn made from bamboo; this was my first time using it, and admittedly I chose it for the colors, slightly glossy finish and (crucially!) the fact that it was on sale and the correct weight for my project; but like everything from Lion Brand, it's a very nice yarn to work with and I recommend it heartily. Colors: Goldenrod, Mulberry, Mint, Light Blue and Cameo, with soft Silver for the frosting. (They do make a bright white as well, but it was not in-stock at the big box store on the day I was shopping, so I went with the best shade available.)

Sequins, Clearly Seen

Eyelet Outlet Sequins come in Round, Star-Shaped and Snowflakes, in a whole rainbow of colors. Usually they are the finishing touches on a holiday project, but I wanted to make them the center of attention this time! 

I cannot take credit for this concept, because I am sure I saw ornaments similar to the little tree on Instagram; but when I went back to find them, they proved elusive. The idea is pretty simple, though: cut two shapes out of clear plastic, fill them with sequins, and stitch them shut.

About the plastic: it needs to be sturdy but flexible! I cut up a heavy duty clear plastic sleeve like the kind used for storing craft dies. Speaking of dies, I used a medium sized heart and a medium sized star from two sets of nested dies. You definitely want to stick with simple shapes, and it's easiest to cut them one at a time and roll through the machine more than once.

About the sequins: you need to place them pretty much where you'd like them to be in the finished ornament, because they're not going to move about as much as in a shaker window. But you can't get them too near the edge or they will try to escape while you are sewing. And trust me, less is more! 

About the sewing: I machine stitched, but hand cranked the machine. Start and end at the top of the ornaments and leave long tails, so they can act as the hangers. I used the same white heavy duty upholstery thread for my bobbin and top thread. You can use a tiny piece of washi tape to secure one edge of the ornament while you start sewing, but it's kind of fiddly to remove. I found that holding the two shapes together and just working slowly and carefully was the easiest. 

My favorite thing about these little ornaments is that I got to use ALL the styles (and quite a few colors!) of Eyelet Outlet Sequins!