Love Where You Live Ornament Tutorial

I'm so excited to share this ornament tutorial as part of Gwen's Haul Out The Holly party.





Each year we give our children Christmas ornaments, just as my parents did for me.  Because of this tradition, after we were married, Mr. Pickup and I had a box of ornaments to decorate our tree with. I wanted to give our children the same gift.  I don't always make the ornaments, but I try to if possible.

With all the moving we did this year, and some darling state related ideas I'd seen by KoJo Designs (via Little Miss Momma) and in this Sew Mama Sew post, I wanted to do something to commemorate the two places we lived in Idaho this year.
This ornament is actually super simple to do, and requires minimal sewing skills.  Ready to make some?  First, you'll need to download the dingmaps font.  Play around and figure out which combination of shift and letter/number will show your state or country.  Idaho was {shift s} for example.

You'll need:

• Small embroidery hoop (mine are about 3" in diameter)
• Scrap of pretty fabric for the state
• White or ivory fabric for background, plan on double the size of your hoop.
• Embroidery floss in one or two coordinating colors
• Interfacing, same size as background fabric
• Ribbon for decorative edge (1/4") and hanging the ornament (1/8")
• Heat n bond lite
• Hot glue and tacky glue
• White cardstock
• Scissors, embroidery needle, pencil, computer & printer, and your iron and ironing board

Step one.  Using your computer & printer, print a large scale version of your state.  To do so, open up your word processor software, and type in the state you want and the size.  In my word processor, I had to manually input what size was needed to fit inside the embroidery hoop.   In my example, you can see the difference in 100 point and 150 point.

Print out a few, and see what size looks best for the embroidery hoop you've selected.  Carefully cut out the state shape with scissors.

Step two.  Create your state applique.  Trace the shape of your state backwards onto the heat n bond lite.  This will make sure that your state faces the right way on the fabric.

Apply the heat n bond to your fabric scrap with your iron, following package directions.

With your scissors, carefully cut out the state shape.

Step three.  Apply your state to the background fabric.  Before you do this, you'll want to apply the interfacing to the wrong side of your background fabric.  This gives the fabric a little more heft and makes the later step of embroidery easier.

Now centering the state where you want it, press the state shape into place with your iron.

Step four.  Using 2-3 strands of floss, embroider a straight running stitch around the state shape.

Make a small knot in the back to secure your floss.  Next, if you want, make a little heart for your favorite spot in your state.  In my case, I made two little hearts for the two places we lived.  To make the heart, you use a daisy chain stitch, just do two petals.  I'll refer you to this great tutorial on Stitch School if you need more info.

Step five.  Frame your state.  Separate the embroidery hoop  by loosening the top screw, and center the outer hoop on your design.  Take the inner hoop and press it into the fabric from the back.

Carefully pull the fabric through the hoop and then tighten the screw.

Trim the excess fabric with your scissors.  I left about 1/2" showing.

Using a hot glue gun, tack down the fabric to the inner hoop.

To cover the back, trace the hoop onto some cardstock and carefully cut the circle out.

Make sure the paper won't stick out and show from the front.  Glue the circle into place with tacky glue.

Place something heavy on top of the hoops until the glue is set.

Step six.  Final embellishment.  If desired, glue some 1/4" wide ribbon along the perimeter of the hoop.  I tucked the edges under the metal at the top of the hoop.

Finally cut some thin grosgrain ribbon for a hanger.  I used about 20" so that I could also tie a bow.  To do so, first tie the ribbon into a knot, about 2 inches from the screw.

Then, tie the bow.  Now it's ready to be hung on the tree or wrapped up to be opened later.

Arent' they cute?  I hope this might help someone trying to think of a fun personalized Christmas ornament this year.

In case you're wondering, here are the ornaments that I made in previous years:

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2009

Do you make ornaments?

Sharing with Tatertots and Jello, Creation Corner, KoJo Designs, Be Different, Act Normal, and Someday Craft's Chrismtas linky, and Singing Three Little Birds.

Featured by Craft Gossip, Kojo Designs, Favequilts.com, and Grits and Giggles!