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Thursday, December 8, 2016

DIY Clothespin People Family Christmas Ornament Tutorial

I have this tradition, where every year, I make a Family Christmas ornament.  One year I made felt cupcakes, then clay Hungary-shaped ornaments, and last year I made wood ring ornaments with our picture modge-podged onto it.
This year, I was wishing we could all be together, and was trying to think of a way to recreate that somehow.  So, I decided to make miniatures of each of us.  I bummed around online to try to find something, but came up kind of short.  I could find pictures, but no real tutorials.  So I hope you come across this, and it is EXACTLY what you were looking for! :)

Here is the finished project:




Here's what you'll need:
- Wooden clothespins (you can find them at craft stores)
- Small screw-in hooks
- Wire that's been wrapped in butcher paper (again, craft stores)
- Acrylic paint
- Fabric swatches
- Pencil
- Super glue
- Drill
- Paint brush
- Pearl-headed pin

1. First thing I did, was paint the pin heads and feet with a skin tone.  (I made a few extra, and ended up being very glad I did, as I messed up a couple, and one split down the middle when I screwed in the hook.)


2. Next, I painted the hair.  (For the girls, I glued a bead to the back, and painted that too, to make buns.)

 


3. In hind-sight, this is when I would've screwed in the hook.  I did it at the end, which meant that when the head of one split, I had to scratch the whole thing.

4. Next I started working on the facial features.  For this, I used the pearl-headed pin, and a very thin paintbrush.  (For the glasses, I used a pencil, because I didn't want them to be a very "heavy" feature.)

 


5. Next I picked out fabric.  I knew I wanted cool colors, blues and grays.  So, I went to a craft/fabric store.  Initially I was looking for those groups of quilting squares you can buy, where all the squares go together, but couldn't find any.  Finally, I found where they have the left-over pieces, and found fun things in there.  I also got a yard each of some fun knitted ribbon/edging stuff.  (I don't know any of the technical terms, I am so not a seamstress.)  This is what I decided to go with:


(I got the red for my aunt and uncle's set, which had a different color-scheme.)

6. Next, I decided who got which material for a scarf.



7. In the meantime, I had Dan drill a hole for their arms, right where the ridge is.  I thought it made for a natural looking shoulder.

 


8. After that, I threaded the butcher paper wrapped wire through, and cut it to the desired length.


9.  Now for the clothes.  I went with pretty much solids, and stayed in that blue-gray color family.  (Again, this is the set I made for my uncle, hence the reds.)




10.  Then, I created the miniature scarves, and super glued them in place.

After all that, I took a "family picture" of all of us together, which was the idea behind it in the first place. :)


Here are the corresponding ornaments side by side.

Mom and Dad














Our family















Jonathan and Katie















Stephen















Our friend who we live with, Amy















My Aunt and Uncle, who host us for Thanksgiving every year




So, I gave everyone "themselves" for Christmas.

For wrapping, I found these beautiful, simple boxes at Michael's, too!  (And used red ribbon, and tags made out of old scrapbooking paper.)














And there you have it!  Please let me know if you've ever made anything similar, I'd love to hear your tips!

Do you have any similar family traditions or ornament exchanges?

Merry Christmas, and happy New Year!

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