The Pajama-ed Princess Ornament Tutorial

The 4-day Thanksgiving weekend was much needed. I spent much of it trying to get inspired to create.

I wrestled my Christmas tree and got it up-without the Christmas Tree Nazi complaining that I hadn’t fluffed enough. Every year, I promise myself that I will buy coordinating ornaments and have a themed tree. In my mind, this tree of calculated coordination would be Macy’s worthy-glittery gold and matching with pink and cream feathers and ornaments.

Yet, each year, I pull out the dried glue gingerbread man with a picture of little mister as a toddler and the glittery reused spool that little miss constructed in first grade and I just can’t make myself pack these away for the sake of design. So, yes, this time of year to me is about tradition.



This summer, I subscribed to Marie Claire Idees after reading about it on more than one blog. The kicker is that the whole magazine is in French and I haven’t a clue what any of it says. BUT oh my, the wait was well worth the pictures.

(Amazon offers a subscription but some bad reviews about people not receiving anything, so I subscribed through UNI-PRESSE. Got my first issue, as promised, 8 weeks later. The only glitch is that I am Mr. Rebekah on the address label, but whatever.)

On a side note: Do you ever play that game-“Would you rather be blind or deaf?” and have ridiculous debates with your friends? I never could come to a conclusion, but I’ve since realized-Deaf would be my choice.)

The inspiration for the rest of this post stems from this photo-courtesy of Marie Claire Idees.

I love my children, who doesn’t right? Why not immortalize them and add to my sentimental collection of ornaments?

The Pajama-ed Princess Ornament Tutorial

Supplies:
-Favorite Photo

-“Pabric” or Fabric (Don’t have time to wait, visit this link for printing from your inkjet directly onto fabric)

-Ribbon (3" piece or so for hanging)

-Fabric Scraps or Paper (for ornament backing)

-Some Type of Stuffing- Fiber Fill Etc (I have so many pieces of scrap fabric that sometimes I use these to fill too.)

-Embellishments, if you’d like

-Take your photo. Using photo editing software of some sort, remove the background from the picture. I use PaintShop Pro and the eraser tool. I also changed my photo to black and white.

-I like to insert my image into a text box in Microsoft Word. There I resize (this ornament is approx. 6” tall) and copy to get the correct layout so I can see how it will print onto an 8.5” x 11” piece of Pabric. “Pabric”. Not paper, not fabric. Genius.

-Layout your photos making sure you leave enough space to cut ½” border around each picture.
Print.

-Decide what you’d like to use for the back of your ornament. You can use fabric scraps, paper, whatever.
Pin the fabric with your photo and your backing fabric (or paper) wrong sides together. Cutting through both layers, leave ½” or so border around your image. (You’ll need somewhere to sew the two together.)

Insert ribbon into the top (fold in half) and pin, catching it in the seams when you begin to sew in the next step.

Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew around your photo leaving an inch or so opening to allow a place to stuff your filling.


Stuff your ornament to your desired fullness. I like the “less bloated” look so I used less.

Close the opening by handstiching or machining the opening closed.

If you’d like, you can now dress these up. My glitter addiction made me add some, and little Miss looks lovely with a little crown.

TADA..Easy, Personalized and so cute.....

P.S. Thank you, friend of little Miss, for your photo.

If you have any questions after embarking on this little journey of creativity, please contact me. (In a hurry? If you don't have time and would like me to whip some up for you, please email me.)

Happy creating!