Country Snowman Snowcone

Technique: No Sew Fabric

Materials
styrofoam cone
styrofoam ball of a complimentary size to the cone
scrabs of fabric
buttons or eyes for stuffed toys
coloured pencils
sandpaper
cotton bud
foam glue
white quilt batting
black embroidery floss
raffia
small cuphook

Tools
scissors
serrated kitchen knife
embroidery needle
hot glue gun

Isn't he adorable! He's really easy to make too.

Start with your foam pieces. You want the ball to be a good enough size that it proportionally looks like a scoop of ice cream when placed on top of the cone. Now take a serrated knife and cut off a third from the ball, this helps it sit better and makes it look like the scoop of icecream is sitting inside the cone, just like a real one. I also dug out a little bit from the top of the cone with a teaspoon to give a little cavity for the fabric to sit in, so that the ball would sit flush on top of the cone.

Starting with the head, no glue yet, drape a piece of batting over the ball and draw in the V shape for his mouth. Using the black embroidery floss backstitch in the detail of his mouth. Now you can use foam glue and glue the piece of batting onto the ball, smoothing over the surface and pulling the pleats underneath to get it as flat as possible around the ball.. Once smoothed over I used an elastic band to secure it underneath while I set it to dry for an hour.

Choose a fabric for the cone and glue to cover. You could use 2.5" squares that you have tattered slightly for a more country look if you wish. I used one piece and started by folding a corner over the bottom tip of the cone, and then wrapping around and securing with glue, kind of like wrapping a present. Trim the excess at the top to about half an inch, and secure the excess into the recess you made with foam glue.

Once the head is dry, trim the batting underneath the ball. Use hot glue to secure the head to the cone. Rub a pink coloured pencil against sand paper so that you get pink coloured dust. Rub over the snowman's cheeks for colour. I used 7.5mm black eyes with screw points designed for use in stuffed animals for the eyes, these are great as you can screw them into the foam and they sit securely. If you cannot get any of these, buttons will be fine, I used a red button for the nose attached with hot glue.

I tore a one inch strip of checkered fabric from an old shirt and wrapped this around the join between cone and head as a scarfe, together with some raffia. To hang, screw a small cuphook into the top of the head.

Primitive Plum Pudding

Technique: No Sew Fabric

Materials:
styrofoam ball
unbleached calico
acrylic paints
string
cinnamon powder

Tools:
pinkingshears or regular fabric scissors
painting sponge or brushes
printer
dusting brush, or a cosmetic blusher brush
hole punch

Cut a small slice from the styrofoam ball so that it has a flat bottom. Cut a circle from the unbleached calico large enough to cover the ball and be tied at the top. I used a dinner plate as a template for mine. Gather and tie off with string.

Using the dusting brush, dust the ornament with cinnamon. Not only does this give it a gorgeous smell but it gives it that aged, primitive appearance. Cut two holly leaf shapes from the calico and paint them green and set aside to dry.

Print the two images below and glue back to back to make a double sided hang tag. Age the holly and the card with cinnamon. Make holes in the holly and tag with a hole punch and tie to the pudding with the string.

Pisces Kimekomi Ball

Technique: Kimekomi (Or New Sew Fabric)

Materials:
styrofoam ball
fabric
cord, braid etc
paper
piece of string

Tools:
orange stick (cuticle stick)
scissors
ruler
scalpel
compass

Long before it had the name Kimekomi, I had seen fabric Christmas ornaments at fetes and fairs. Now that it has the name Kimekomi there are of course specialized tools you can buy, but it's not necessary at all.

Firstly, wrap a piece of string around the middle of your styrofoam ball to measure the circumference. Whatever length it is, divide that by six, and mark that on your string. Your ball should have a mould line, a straight line around the circumference. Using the string, mark the 6 segments around the mould line.

There are lots of tutorial videos to show you how to segment Kimekomi balls, this is just how I do it. Using your string, make marks around the ball, then with a pencil, join opposite marks, like a dot to dot around a ball. This should create six evenly spaced segments around the ball, like an orange.

Set your compass to the same width as the segments, and starting at lines that intersect begin drawing circles around your ball. Rather than give you a specific pattern direction, I encourage you to draw circles on the ball until you find a pattern you are happy with.  The larger the pattern segments the easier the ball will be to construct, so bear that in mind. I will often have many circles overlapping before I find a pattern that repeats that I like.  When I did find the pattern I wanted, I outlined the score lines in red, so that it was clear which lines I needed to score.

Score each of these lines lightly with a scalpel, you want to cut down about 1/4" of an inch.

Start with one colour of fabric and cut a piece that is going to be just a bit larger than the segment you wish to cover (you can trim this as you tuck so its better to be generous than skimpy here). Hold firmly in the centre of the fabric and using the cuticle stick, tuck one edge into the groove, and then the other, working each side evenly so that the fabric remains true and doesn't distort and end up uneven. Tuck the points in and trim any excess fabric if necessary. Continue in this manner until all six wedges of fabric have been used.

Chose a cord or braid that compliments your fabric. If using a thin cord this will sit neatly into the channels, and the ends will tuck into the ball nicely. Braid is thicker and will sit over the channel, you can use glue or decorative pins to secure this in place. The same process applies to the hanger. You can push some cord into the top of the ornament with a skewer, or use a decorative pin to secure a loop of braid to the top.

Aquarius Quilted Ornament

Technique: Kimekomi (Or New Sew Fabric)

Materials:
styrofoam ball
fabric
cord, braid etc
paper
piece of string

Tools:
orange stick (cuticle stick)
scissors
ruler
scalpel
compass

Long before it had the name Kimekomi, I had seen fabric Christmas ornaments at fetes and fairs. Now that it has the name Kimekomi there are of course specialized tools you can buy, but it's not necessary at all.

Firstly, wrap a piece of string around the middle of your styrofoam ball to measure the circumference. Whatever length it is, divide that by six, and mark that on your string. Your ball should have a mould line, a straight line around the circumference. Using the string, mark the 6 segments around the mould line.

There are lots of tutorial videos to show you how to segment Kimekomi balls, this is just how I do it. Using your string, make marks around the ball, then with a pencil, join opposite marks, like a dot to dot around a ball. This should create six evenly spaced segments around the ball, like an orange.

Set your compass to the same width as the segments, and starting at lines that intersect begin drawing circles around your ball. Rather than give you a specific pattern direction, I encourage you to draw circles on the ball until you find a pattern you are happy with.  The larger the pattern segments the easier the ball will be to construct, so bear that in mind. I will often have many circles overlapping before I find a pattern that repeats that I like.  When I did find the pattern I wanted, I outlined the score lines in red, so that it was clear which lines I needed to score.

Score each of these lines lightly with a scalpel, you want to cut down about 1/4" of an inch.

Start with one colour of fabric and cut a piece that is going to be just a bit larger than the segment you wish to cover (you can trim this as you tuck so its better to be generous than skimpy here). Hold firmly in the centre of the fabric and using the cuticle stick, tuck one edge into the groove, and then the other, working each side evenly so that the fabric remains true and doesn't distort and end up uneven. Tuck the points in and trim any excess fabric if necessary. Continue in this manner until all six wedges of fabric have been used.

Chose a cord or braid that compliments your fabric. If using a thin cord this will sit neatly into the channels, and the ends will tuck into the ball nicely. Braid is thicker and will sit over the channel, you can use glue or decorative pins to secure this in place. The same process applies to the hanger. You can push some cord into the top of the ornament with a skewer, or use a decorative pin to secure a loop of braid to the top.