Fabric Covered Ball Ornaments

My version of the fabric coverd ornament. (actually it is Martha's, but with my twist)

 One day last week, a friend of mine mentioned she saw "that guy" that you went shopping with in Charlotte on HGTV, decorating Kathy Lee Gifford's home for the holidays.   "that Guy" just might be "THE EDDIE ROSS!" I said!"  Anyway, she started talking about the Fabric covered balls that he did with Plaid shirts.

I have created these ornaments before, and now that my color scheme has changed in the new house, they were due for an update.  (the rusty red, and gold weren't going to cut it!)  My version is slightly different.  But has a similar effect.  Mine might be a little bit more taylored, but I love the way his turned out as well.  It actually would be nice to mix the two techniques.  I had learned mine years ago, from this tutorial by Martha Stewart how to create them.

So, I decided to update my ornaments.  My friend brought her kids over, and while all the kids created salt dough ornaments, out of dough that wasn't made correctly...woops:) (for another post) we created our fabric covered ornaments.  (muli-tasking at its best!)  AND everyone was happy!

The Materials for this project are simple.

2 or 3 inch styrofoam balls.  (I actually had a few of the 3 inch lying around)

 

Straight Pins.

6 strips of fabric cut on the bias, using this template.  I like to use dupioni silk and cotton.

 

Ribbon for trim and decoration.

The directions are simple.

1) Stretch your first piece of fabric from the top to the bottom (since it is cut on the bias it lays flat) Securing with your push pins. Continue around the ball until fully covered.

2) Then cut 6 pieces of ribbon and/or trim to cover the raw edges.

3) the top and bottom will be covered with pins, so it is nice to cover it up with some sort of embellishment.  I created a small bow with a vintage button attached and then looped a piece of ribbon around it to hang.  Martha has all sorts of other ideas from pretty pins to tassels.  OR if you just plan to put stack them in a decorative dish, just try to hide the imperfections:)

There you have it, really pretty ornaments.  I had fun updating my old ones and my friend used the Eddie version with scraps of fabric she had of clothes she had sewed for her 3 girls (very talented girl!)

We were joking that not only does she feel a little closer to Eddie, she feels a little closer to Martha, thru Eddie, thru me...Oh and to Kathy Lee.  You know 6 degrees of seperation:)

(and if my tutorial wasn't clear enough, I am sure that Martha's will be:)

Happy Monday!

A Wreath Tutorial

looks real doesn't it...????

Yesterday I set out to finish my wreaths...I finished my front door with REAL boxwoods....and then moved onto the window wreaths.

After the first one, it was becoming incredibly apparent that I was a) not going to have enough boxwoods b) that it was going to take forever c) that they were probably going to die before Christsmas...sooooooo, I went back to the drawing board.  I really absolutely, do not care for the Faux wreaths on the front of the house, it just isn't my style...what to do? What to do?  Well, I hit the internet of course and came across an idea....from the Suzie Harris Blog.    They seemed real looking without feeling "faux". And off to Hobby Lobby I went...

Her tutorial  became the basis for my wreath, with a little tweaking.  I pulled all of the stems off, and put more around the sides of the wreath....just depends on the look you are going for.

Materials:
14" Grapevine Wreath (3.99)
1 1/2 Faux Boxwood branches (7.99 (3.99 each 50% off )
Total for project: @$8.00 ($40 for 5 wreaths)
(Way less expensive than the other faux wreaths, and WAY better looking!)

Next

Pop the individual branches off of the main stem.

Then start stuffing them into the grapevine wreath.

Work your way around the wreath
(I added it to the sides as well to fill it out)

VOILA!

a VERY "real" looking wreath that I can use year after year. 
And it only cost @ 9.00 for each wreath! WOOT!

Off to finish the other 4...and my dear Husband will be hanging them outside this weekend...I will be sure to show you all the finished product!

Happy Friday..with lots of holiday decorating in my future!