Sunday, December 2, 2012

24 day Countdown- Santa Tree and Ornaments to make


Take a close look at the following photos from last years Good Housekeeping Holiday photo shoot. The "Santa Claus is coming to Town" tree is filled with all kinds of clever DIY, quick and simple crafts.


Photography by Michael Partenio
Santa's Cap's are sold everywhere during the Holiday season and make a great tree topper!.
Photography by Michael Partenio
Tying three bells to thin red ribbon and hanging as a cluster from a bough is a simple accent you can make to add some glisten to the tree.

         
These Santa Cap ornaments are so easy to make. I've included the pattern and sketch to show just how easy it is!


It was fun to see this Good Housekeeping December feature finally hit the newstands, considering how long ago it was all created.  It was last January when I worked with the Good Housekeeping editors creating the sets for the Santa tree and the two other trees I designed for the holiday issue. We found a gorgeous home with spacious rooms and we took over for a few days. 

We set up three trees in one big room and moved the trees in and out as we shot each one, changing props to get three distinctly different looks.  Editor, Sarah Lye and art director Trent Johnson and I all agreed, the Santa's caps were one of our favorites!.

Editorial assistant Caylin Harris and my assistant Monica Porter worked tirelessly finishing up more ornaments and all the last minute details to fill the trees. 



Make sure to check out the full story in the current 2012 Dec. Good Housekeeping magazine. It includes lots of ideas for your holiday decorating with two other tree themes, Dreaming of a White Christmas and We three Kings.


Red Ornament Hats

Red Felt (cut into 5" squares)
Red Yarn
Small Silver Jingle Bell
White Fur Fabric (cut into  3/4" strips)

Per each hat, cut  a 5" square of felt . Trace the semi circular bottom with a 9"plate, as shown, and cut out.  Glue gun a small loop of yarn at the top of the triangle for the ornament hanger. Run another piece of  short yarn through the jingle bell hook, knot, and glue gun that to inside so the bell is coming out of the top too. Once the glue has dried, fold felt to form the cone with back seams  overlapping in the back.  Glue. Finish by gluing fur to bottom of hat finishing with seam in back.






2 comments:

  1. LOVE the idea of a santa hat as a tree topper. We have a skinny little pre-lit tree that we love because it fits our narrow room perfectly. But... it is just too whimpy to hold much up as far as a tree-topper goes. I bought a new star last year (you know, the kind w/ the spiral that goes down over the tree-top?), and it totally bends the top down - like a pitiful Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. So... it's back to the Santa hat! It worked like a charm. =) Merry Christmas, and thanks for the other great ideas too!

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  2. Going to use your hat idea to make cute boiled egg hats for my Christmas eve breakfast for the children. Might even add a little beard

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