Christmas Ornaments Guide

Beaded Ornaments by Alaskan Bead lair

When we think of Christmas and ornaments, the tree is a large part of the overall effect. The Christmas tree takes center stage in all our Christmas preparations and a large part of the event is around the tree. Do you plan your Christmas theme early in the year or just let it happen? There is no doubt a themed Christmas display can look stunning, but sometimes just letting the children put up all their favorite and homemade decorations can look great too. What kind of themes are there? Well there is the winter wonderland, country effect,one color and the as it happens!

Winter wonderland

I have a friend who is passionate about her Christmas tree, no-one gets to dress the tree except her. It looks great, all white and crystal, white Christmas ornaments, white string or fairy lights and white tinsel, a true winter tree. She has glass  Christmas tree ornaments in white with crystal beads, which glow under the Christmas lights. I love Christmas trees decorated like that, but I don’t have the discipline required to keep my tree pristine!

Country Effect

This is where the wooden Christmas tree ornaments come into their own. This is where anything “natural” works well, so wood or straw or dried fruits. Many painted wooden decorations look great on and around the tree. Dried fruits were one of the earliest forms of Christmas tree ornament and can look lovely, if you add cloves into them to make pomanders they can also smell great and add to the festive aromas.

One Color Christmas

This is where everything on the tree is variants of one color and can look stunning as all the textures and shade you have create a visual treat. So any kind of Christmas tree decoration can be used. Pick your color try to get Christmas tree lights and tinsel that have slightly different shades of the color. In a single color theme lots of the same shape such as baubles can work well and it is easy to find packs of the same shade Christmas balls in the store or online.

As Is Happens

This is the theme we use at my house! There are some items that always go on the tree like the tree lights and tinsel, but after that it is whoever gets there first! There are always homemade Christmas ornaments – especially the new ones and some old favorites. Then the favorite ornaments get carefully placed – the height they go depends upon the height of the child dressing the tree. The angel Christmas tree topper has to be placed by an adult and it is another old favorite handmade Christmas ornament when they were little.

Personal Christmas

All in all how you dress you tree is a personal thing and can be to provide a stunning backdrop to your entertaining or for the children to be part of the family celebrations. Of course we put presents around and the tree and also form part of the overall decoarations. To find out what are the top Christmas presents? Have a look you may or may not be surprised! Have fun with yours!

There are a variety of beaded Christmas ornaments about- from the simple beads threaded on ring tied with a bow to quite complex arrangements for snowflakes. I usually look for unusual or interesting ornaments to make; I like something that is out of the ordinary and requires some level of skill to make and that I will be pleased with when it is finished as it stands out from the crowd.

Beaded Angel

I discovered bead work this way. I was looking for a simple beaded angel to make for my girls. I found a number of different styles of making angels and along the way to finding what I was after I came across brickwork stitch for beading. I came across some patterns to make earrings, but realised that they could be adapted to be used for other ornaments. These beaded Christmas charms are just sewn together using a needle and thread (OK a long needle and strong thread!). The designs can be worked out on squared paper and made up using different colored beads to make the finished item. The hardest thing was learning how to sew beads using brickwork stitch. But once you get into a rhythm that just flows.The best beads to use are Delica beads as they come in a consistent size and have an enormous range or colors and shade, metallic, silver and gold.

Beaded Christmas Decorations

These beaded Christmas decorations can be used as gifts for earrings or for handmade bonbons or crackers. They can be added to key rings or bookmarks.They can also be added as a tassel to a bauble to hang on the tree. There are many different designs such as Santa, Mrs Santa, elf, trees, angels, snowmen, reindeer,and the principle can be extended to other themes. Beaded Christmas decorations can really add a unique and personal  facet to your Christmas theme.  Use them as covers for Christmas baubles with the color of the beads contrasting or toning with the color of the ball. They can be added to glass ornaments as an accent. Make beaded napkin holders for your Christmas table napkins, or wine bottle covers.

BeadCover by Prized Possessions

Glass Beaded Christmas Ornaments

Another type beaded Christmas ornaments is using glass beads to make up an ornament like an angel or a snowflake. In these kind wire is used to hold the beads in the design chosen, the beads can be plain or colored and the ornament can be hung on the tree. A variant of this type is the free standing ornament such as an angel where the beads are joined together to create a small figurine to sit on the table top.

Beaded Christmas ornaments add a variety to my Christmas tree ornaments and I get a sense of satisfaction from making them.

I have a story about one of my handmade Christmas ornaments – a temari ball. When my children were younger I used to go to a mothers group and one day they invited a lady to come and show us some craft. She introduced me to temari balls, although for a long time I had no idea what they were called! Temari balls are an old Japanese folk craft for making toys. The balls are usually 3-5inches but can be any size. The balls were probably made from old kimonos, but became an extravagant art form in terms of the richness of the designs and colors and the intricate nature of the sewing involved.  We started off using some felted wool to make the basic ball shape, but these days Styrofoam balls can be used, scraps of materials or even a bag filled with rice hulls or tissues. The next step is to choose a color scheme for your Christmas decoration I love blues and silvers, so mine was a lovely blue.

We need

Temari design

Basic ball either felted wool or Styrofoam ball

yarn any color will do as it will not be seen, 4 ply or thinner.

thread a reel in the color of your choice.

embroidery threads to suit your design.  Can be pearl cotton, silks, metallics or ribbons

long needles

long pins

scissor

paper to help with marking and dividing the ball

Tassels optional

Steps

1.Take the ball shape and wrap the yarn around it randomly so that the ball is evenly covered. You are looking to cover the ball with this step.

2.Take the thread (ordinary cotton sewing thread is ideal) and wrap this around the ball in a similar manner until all the yarn is covered. This gives you an interesting texture to base your embroidery on. About 300 yards of thread will be needed for this step.

3. The next step is to mark out the poles and equatorial regions on the ball. Most of the temari designs are geometrical. Depending upon your design you may need marking threads as well as pins. The marking threads can be in the same thread as the background (to be invisible) or can be in a contrasting color and form part of the design or can be a thread that will be removed at the finish. The divison are based on mathematical interpretations and will vary with the complexicity of the design. The best thing here is to choose a simple pattern and follow detailed instructions.

4. Sewing using long lengths of thread following the pattern.

There are many designs available so look out for books on the subject. For free patterns try TemariKari

Photo Courtesy WKlager