Christmas Yarn Ornaments

Um...I realize it's just the beginning of October, but we happen to have a baby due to arrive just 4 days before Christmas this year so I am trying to get a little jump-start on Christmas activities. I mean...it's true that I have about 5,000 things that are probably a little more pressing than Christmas crafts, but sometimes you just need to play with yarn.

I love yarn! Problem is I am not great at crocheting and even worse knitting. But since we've been doing this house remodel I have been envisioning our December with snow on the ground, and our little family warm inside with with nubby, fuzzy, soft yarn sprinkled here and there.

Fingers crossed our fireplace is finished by then!

For now, here is a yarn wrapped Christmas ornament that I made. I realized last year that with a curious 2-year-old running around, anything on the bottom 3 feet of the tree better be indestructible and safe for little hands. These fuzzy yarn ornaments are perfect! Avery is already toting them around the house.

To make, you will need: yarn (any kind will do, but thicker yarn will make for quicker work), foam balls (or if you have some old ornaments you're not so fond of anymore, you could easily re-purpose them instead), tacky glue, wire ornament hangers (2 for each ball you make), and scissors.

Take one wire ornament hanger, straighten it, and then bend it into a "v" shape

Next, push it into the foam ball and cover the top half-ish of the ball with glue (don't be shy with the glue), making sure to glue around wire.

Place the end of the yarn in between the wire.

Then start wrapping around the wire.

...and keep wrapping, ensuring the yarn is adhering to the glue (Don't worry if a little glue seeps through...it will dry clear),

until you get about halfway down.

Then flip 'er upside down and holding the wire, and cover the rest of the ball with glue,

and keep wrapping!

When you get near the end, cut your yarn leaving a little tail, and then poke the tail straight down into the glue so that end of yarn is secure.

That's it! Use your other ornament hook to hang from the tree.

And once you start wrapping yarn around things it might be hard to stop...
it was for me.

More yarn ideas tomorrow!