Mandala Christmas Ornament
Every year growing up my very crafty mom would help my siblings and me make ornaments for our Christmas tree. They would be made out of all sorts of craft supplies: salt dough, paper, yarn, ribbons, sequins, pins, glue. No matter our age or skill level each ornament was saved and cherished. Now my parents have quite the collection of special and unique creations that hang on their tree every year.
My siblings and I laugh at some of them and the funny colors we used as kids or the weird way we glued the decorations on – sometimes we even call a few “loser” ornaments but I know my mom still loves them no matter how ugly they are. They remind her of when we were little and were all living under one roof so proud of our creations and excited to be a part of the Christmas celebrations.
I now continue the tradition of making ornaments with my own family. We love to decorate the tree together and reminisce about how we made the ornaments. The stories and laughter make for great family fun. Ornaments are the perfect Christmas crafts and make great gifts because they are quick, on display for the season and are precious reminders year after year of the ones who took time to make them.
If you have been visiting this blog for the last 6 months or so, you have noticed a theme of “mandalas”. I love crocheting mandalas and seeing them around my house. (In case you missed any of the mandala designs this year, please click here to see all of them – all FREE patterns) Of course this season I have to include a Mandala design among the Christmas decorations. I thought making a smaller one out of Embroidery Floss would be quick and simple. Plus, Embroidery Floss comes in so many wonderful colors!
Skill Level: Intermediate
(The stitches are not difficult for this project but working with thread can be more challenging since the hook and yarn are much smaller than what most beginners are accustomed to crocheting with. If you are a Beginner I think you would be able to make this project but I suggest first crocheting one mandala with a Medium weight yarn and an H (5 mm) hook to practice. Remember, there is also a video tutorial to take you through each step of the project.)
Measurements: 3″ diameter
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Supplies:
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4 skeins DMC Embroidery Floss – any color
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Size 7/1.50 mm steel crochet hook
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2-3” Styrofoam ornament ball (Watch this video here to see how to cover the Styrofoam)
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75 sequin pins
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75 sequins in varying sizes/colors
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50 tiny seed beads (to hold sequins on if center hole bigger than pin head)
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Ribbon
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Optional: Flatback gems and gem glue
Special Stitches and Abbreviations:
Beg. Popcorn = Ch 3, 3 dc in same sp; remove hook from working loop and insert hook from front to back through top of ch-3 and through working loop; pull working loop through ch-3 loop to close
Popcorn = 4 dc in sp indicated, remove hook from working loop and insert hook from front to back through top of first dc and through working loop; pull working loop through top of 1st dc to close
Mandala Instructions – Make 2:
Ch 5 – sl st in first ch to form a ring
Round 1: Beg Popcorn, (ch 3, Popcorn) 4 times; ch 3, join with sl st in top of Beg. Popcorn. (5 Popcorns)
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in same st; (ch 5, sc in next ch-3 sp, ch 5, sc in top of next Popcorn) around ending with sl st in 1st sc. (10 ch-5 sps)
Round 3: Ch 1, sl st into next ch-5 sp, ch 1, sl st in same sp; Beg. Popcorn in same sp; (ch 10, Popcorn in next ch-5 sp) around ending with ch 10 and sl st in top of 1st popcorn. (10 popcorns and 10 ch-10 sps)
Round 4: Ch 1; (5 sc, ch 3, 5 sc) in each ch-10 sp around. Fasten off.
Finishing:
Weave in all ends and lightly steam block mandala
Let dry completely
Using a few pins, pin mandalas to ornament ball making sure they are evenly spaced and placed
Add sequins in various spaces of mandala and around mandala by threading sequins on to pins; If sequin center hole is too big for pin to hold it securely, add a seed bead between pin head and sequin to hold it on (see photo for ideas)
Tie on ribbon for a hanger
Optional: Glue flatback gem on to center of Mandala
Hot glue on decorative trim or other accents between Mandalas (around center section of ball)
Wasn’t that fun to make? And it looks so unique and beautiful, too!
Please send along a photo of your project – I’d love to see the colors you chose – or you can post a photo on this project’s Ravelry page here.
And don’t forget to pin it to your board on Pinterest!
Copyright 2018 – Jennifer E Ryan, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others.
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