HAPPY DECEMBER, MY FRIENDS!!!
Honestly, it's baffling to me that it is now December already. Ya feel me? This holiday season my husband, Aaron, and I have decided to decorate earlier than normal and put more intention in the ways we welcome the holidays since our normal traditions won't be able to happen in the same ways as previous years. We are missing making memories with our family in our usual ways, but instead of feeling upset, I decided to instead figure out how I could make lemonade out of these darn lemons.
I decided to go back to the beginning - back to the basics. Aaron has incredible memories from his family's tradition of receiving a new ornament each year and decorating the tree with each of these specially picked ornaments. Aaron and I adopted the tradition the first year we were married, which was also just days after he proposed to me WITH this tradition. <3 Maybe I should share more about this special moment one day... what do you think?
Anyway, ornaments have always held a special spot in my heart and we have continued this tradition each and every year since. We may not get ornaments for each other each year, but we now have two children together who we gift ornaments to. I thought it was so special that when Aaron and I moved in with each other, his parents gifted us all of his childhood ornaments so we could use them on our tree. So sweet, right?!
So, this year I decided I wanted to make DIY ornaments to mail to family and friends as a small way to "be" with each of them this holiday season, even if we aren't together in-person. I created three different ornaments (well, actually five, but the other two didn't work out soo... here we are) and created little simple tutorials on how to make each of them so that you can share the connections as well. Which one is YOUR favorite?!
We all know I may or may not have a large supply of The Hook Nook yarn on hand (ahem, my garage is my shop's warehouse!) so, instinctively I am excited to use my own brand of yarn. (Have you tried it yet?! If not, you check out all of the different styles and colors in my shop - click here). However, what I definitely don't have a plethora of is everything else I wanted to use to make my ornaments. I absolutely love visiting my local JOANN Store, mainly because the manager, Tiffany, is kiiiiiiind of one of my favorite humans ever.
JOANN is basically my one-stop shop when I have a project in mind that I want to create, but don't know what exactly I want to use since the product variety is AMAZING. After leaving the kids with Aaron, I was STOKED to go to the craft store solo with no time limit. YUHHHHHH. I had a general idea of what I wanted to get, but honestly I walked down each and every aisle a minimum of three times to see if anything looked fun to play with. (And yes, I flagged down a staff member to see if Tiffany was there and to tell her that Jessica with the pink hair was here but she doesn't have pink hair anymore, and we got to catch up and say all the jokes - haha!)
ANYWAY, I filled my cart with a little bit of this, and lot bit of that and then a sort of kind amount of this AND that. After I got home, I dumped out my bags, stared at my haul and literally said to myself, "huh... fun, but.... huh."
One of my favorite things to do creatively is have a bunch of items in front of me and be told to make something. That's so much easier than picking and choosing specific items out of countless options. I applied that idea to this project and, I've gotta say, it didn't turn out too shabby! Well, if you think it did, just don't tell me. I'm happy with these little gems of cuteness.
This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of Jessica Carey, designer of The Hook Nook. This post was sponsored by JOANN Stores but all ideas and opinions are my own.
I've already begun making extras to send here and there and can't wait to send them out! I do hope that you join me in spreading some holiday cheer this year in new but just as memorable ways. This year will certainly be remembered, it's just up to us how we choose to use these darn lemons.
Let’s do this!
ORNAMENT ONE
MATERIALS:
- 3" gold metal hoop (found in the section with felt, poms, DIY dolls and a lot of other stuff)
- Red ribbon (pick your favorite from the 378949weur903ti4989048503 options)
- Artificial holiday florals (I found a bag of these little ones in the holiday floral section)
- And, of course, The Hook Nook Yummy Luxe yarn in color Silver Lining - get it hurrrrrrr
- Oh, and I used a hot glue gun and hot glue. That's at JOANN also.
KEY:
- Sl St : slip stitch
- CH : chain
- SC : single crochet
STEP 1: Attach yarn to hoop using a Sl St. CH 1, SC around hoop. I scooted the stitches together as I went so it was more "full".
STEP 2: Sl St to first SC. CH 10, Sl St into same sp. Finish off, leaving a tail. Tie both ends together to create a loop.
STEP 3: Create a small bow out of the red satin ribbon, set aside
STEP 4: Attach the holiday florals to your crocheted "wreath" and secure with hot glue. Attach the bow near the top using hot glue.
STEP 5: Make a few more because AREN'T THESE SO DARLING?!
ORNAMENT TWO
MATERIALS (literally only two things):
- 3" gold metal hoop (found in the section with felt, poms, DIY dolls and a lot of other stuff)
- And, of course, The Hook Nook Yummy Luxe yarn in color Latte Art- get it hurrrrrrr
STEP 1: Tie the yarn onto the loop using a regular knot. I recommend placing the knot over the "seam" of the ring.
STEP 2: Using decent tension, wrap the yarn down the center of the hoop and back up the other side, to the right of the knot.
STEP 3: Wrap the yarn down the center and place to the left of the center wrap. Continue using decent tension and continuing this pattern of keeping the wraps on the right at the top, and left on the bottom.
STEP 4: When you complete wrapping your hoop, secure by tying a knot to the original tail. Finish off and tie a knot in the two tails.
STEP 5: Voila. Boom. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
ORNAMENT THREE
MATERIALS:
- Clear ball ornaments - I found a HUGE pack of them at the store! I actually chose to use an iridescent option I found!
- Various beads in colors and textures that make you oh-so-happy. I found these ones on the bottom shelf in bags and are Hildie & Jo brand
- Gold ribbon, or really any kind of ribbon that you think pairs well with your bead choices. Remember, there are 59u492ur49u5903 different ones to choose from!
STEP 1: Remove the top of the ornament by gently pulling it out. There are two "arms" holding it into the bulb.
STEP 2: Fill ornament about half-full with your beads.
STEP 3: Put the top of the ornament back onto the ball by gently and carefully squeezing the "arms" together and fitting them inside the top of the ornament.
STEP 4: Cut off included ribbon tie and replace with the specific one you picked out.
STEP 5: Fill a ton more ornaments because I bet you have a bunch of beads left over - besides.. it's quite relaxing, isn't it?!
Aaaaaaand boom. I do hope you enjoy these quick and easy DIY ornament projects and use them to create easy gifts for those that are celebrating from afar. We will get through this, my friends. Let's never forget to turn our lemons into lemonade.
Don't forget to share your progress online and use hashtag #thehooknookers to share with our communities! Be sure to follow along with me on Instagram to see more fun inspiration and stay in the loop with what’s to come! Thank you to my friends at JOANN Stores for helping me create such a fun project!
Want to check out more beautiful, modern crochet and knit patterns? Check out ALL of our blog posts featuring patterns, projects and more designed and shared by some of the community's best designers and dreamers here on THNLife Blog!
xo,
Jessica
