Hello! Recently I found a bag of vintage, wooden curtain rings and instantly thought they would make wonderful ornaments. So, today I thought I would share with you a little tutorial to make these ornaments. I warn you, they're addicting. I've made them for my Mom, a sweet swap partner, my daughters, and even some to keep! Ha. I still have enough curtain rings to make some kits though!
So, to make this particular ornament, you will need a vintage, wooden curtain ring, some lovely ivory yarn, a printed image, chipboard, a bit of vintage sheet music, and some mica flakes and glitter. You'll also need a bit of vintage millinery and craft store greenery, as well as a strong adhesive. (I used the Ultimate glue, of course. It's my favorite!)
To find vintage curtain rings, search thrift stores, etsy, and maybe even ebay? I don't think they would be too hard to find.
1. Print and cut out your image. Adhere your image to a bit of chipboard (even a cereal box cut up will work), and then add sheet music to the back. You're kind of making a paper "sandwhich". Not shown in the steps here, but at this point, I added a bit of mica glitter to my image as well. Clip the corners so that it fits the ring.
A note about mica glitter: It is made from mica flakes, and is ground very, very fine. It's not fluffy and white like mica flakes, but actually has a more "aged" appearance. It definitely has sparkle and shine, and is wonderful for working with things you want to look vintage.
2. Cut a large section of yarn and adhere a starting spot on the back of your curtain ring.
3. Begin winding the yarn all the way around as if you were going to make a yarn wreath. Be sure to keep the yarn tight as you wind it around the ring. Finish it off by adhering the yarn in the back with your glue as well.
4. Glue the image in place on the back of the ring.
5. Now all you need to do is embellish with some vintage millinery, a bit of glittered greenery from the craft store, and mica flakes. I simply added a line of glue around the front of the ring and shook on some mica flakes. Shake off the excess. That's really it! Tie another length of yarn through the loop and hang it on your tree. (Or tie to a package!)
Here is the sweet image I used for the ornament. Just save it to your computer and print out to size of your ring.
This is a variation on the ornament above. For this one, I just used a nice dark wooden curtain ring and did not wrap in yarn. I added my mica and embellishments directly to the ring. You might like this if you enjoy a more "woodland" decor or more natural elements.
I told you, I couldn't stop making them! Here I added a sweet gold, glittered bow and a bit of vintage millinery at the top.
For this ornament, I altered my image using picmonkey to add a swirly wreath around the image and the words "Merry Christmas".
For this ornament, I decided to paint the ring. I painted it with two coats of a lovely ivory paint, then washed it with a bit of taupe paint, (and rubbed off the execess). I also did a wash with gold paint as well.
I then added my mica flakes, a bit of vintage, ruffled petticoat, some vintage pink tipped stamens, and a sweet vintage, velvet flower. -This one might be my favorite. :)
Here they all are together. I think I may go make some more. :)
I did put together some kits to make these. Each kit contains a wonderful assortment of materials to make 4 different ornaments. The kits contain the vintage curtain rings, yarn, various images, bits of vintage millinery, mica flakes, mica glitter, little gold bows, and even a bit of ruffles. They can be purchased right here!
We're shipping every day, so no worries about getting them on time, there is still plenty of time!
If you make one of these ornaments, I would love to see!
Happy creating, Cerri
Good idea, I think I may have some of these around some where! Very cute. :-)
Posted by: Kelly | December 12, 2012 at 05:34 PM
Sooooo cute!!!!
Posted by: Cindy (Junque Art) | December 12, 2012 at 07:37 PM
these are so adorable and appear to be pretty simple to make. (and of course, I love kits!) Thanks Cerri for this sweet tutorial!
Posted by: Rosetta | December 12, 2012 at 10:17 PM
Thank you for the tutorial. I love the deer! Fancylinda (for some reason I am signed in as "D")
Posted by: D | December 12, 2012 at 10:46 PM
I have those exact little curtain rings, with the same color paint! What a great idea....so original! I might even try this today. Thanks for the tutorial and inspiration!
Posted by: Mitzi Curi | December 13, 2012 at 06:30 AM
Hi Cerri! I just wanted to let you know that my sister and I made some of the wineglass dome ornaments that you posted about recently. I posted photos of ours here if you want to see: http://www.fancylinda.com/2012/12/crafty-afternoon-snow-dome-ornaments.html
Posted by: Linda | December 18, 2012 at 07:49 PM
Oh my! I love these!
Posted by: Sherry B | December 19, 2012 at 06:10 PM
beautiful little deer image, and such a sweet ornament!
i love how you put it together.
thank you Cerri,
Merry Christmas
Posted by: Julie Collings | December 22, 2012 at 09:34 AM