Printable Shaker Ornament Tutorial

Welcome to the Club for People Who Like Pretty Things! I’m calling this meeting to order. :) If you subscribe to the Illustrated Faith email newsletter, you’ll know that we’ve been sharing pretty things you can download & print FOR FREE for the last 6 days with our 25 Days of Christmas event! I designed a fun circle image of the City on the Hill for today’s release & I’m here to share with you a tutorial for a fun Shaker Ornament!!! Let’s all throw sequins in the air! :D

To create our shaker ornament, you’ll need a few specific supplies you can probably find in your stash:

• Illustrated Faith 25 Days of Christmas: Day 6 file
• a page protector, vellum, or piece of sturdy clear packaging you can cut up
• craft sequins and/or confetti
• scissors
• a pencil
• extra card stock or patterned paper
• tape runner
• baker’s twine or ribbon
• thread
• a sewing machine or the ability to hand stitch

STEP 1:

Print & cut out today’s free file for Illustrated Faith’s 25 Days of Christmas.

STEP 2:

Use your pencil to trace your piece on to your clear transparency, page protector, or vellum. Cut out.

STEP 3:

Sandwich your printable file together with your clear transparency & use your sewing machine or hand stitch around the perimeter of your piece leaving an open space at the top of the ornament to load your sequins! You can use a tiny bit of washi tape on the edges to hold them together as you’re stitching, then remove afterward.

STEP 4:

Gather yourself a good mixture of craft sequins keeping your color palette in mind. I find that if I put a pinch of each type in a little bowl & mix it around, it gives me a more natural varied look than if I sprinkled them in one at a time. Pour some sequins into the top of your pocket, but don’t fill it too full! You want your sequins & confetti to have a little room to move around & “shake!”

STEP 5:

Cut yourself a piece of baker’s twine to the desired length. I cut mine about 8 inches long so that once I folded it in half for the ornament, I had plenty of string to hang it on my tree. Fold your twine in half & use a piece of washi tape to adhere it to the back of your ornament piece. You want it attached so the loop of your twine sticks out the top of your ornament.

STEP 6:

Use your sewing machine or hand stitch the top of your ornament shut with the sequins inside. When you sew it shut, it will sew your loop of baker’s twine right into the top of your ornament!

STEP 7:

Trace your ornament on to a piece of extra card stock or patterned paper. If you’re using patterned paper, make sure you trace it on the back so your pencil lines don’t show. Cut out.

STEP 8:

Use your tape runner to adhere the card stock circle to the back of your ornament to hide your baker’s twine tail.

STEP 9:

Shake it & hang it on your tree! :D

If you create one of these little cuties, please tag your photo with #if_25daysofchristmas so we can see your beautiful creation!

Merry Christmas, pretties!

<3 Elaine

Illustrated Faith 25 Days of Christmas: Day 6 file by Elaine Davis | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd 6×8 Basics paper pad | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd tape runner | My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist baker’s twine in gray | 12pencil | craft sequins | 8.5 x 11″ page protector | Coats & Clark thread in white