Here's a sweet little crocheted scalloped ornament that I made for Chanukah, but that would really look great any time of year. For Chanukah I'll be hanging ornaments from our dining room chandelier and hopefully making some mobiles and garlands with them too. You can always find a place to hang a little handmade touch to bring joy to your home for the holidays!
You'll Need:
- thin bangle bracelets from the dollar store
- yarn in your favorite color
- chinese cord (for hanging)
- a tiny bit of embroidery thread
- a crochet hook
- small mirrors
- fish line
- hot glue or any strong adhesive
How To:
Step 1: Make a slip knot on your crochet hook, and then start single crocheting around the bracelet. You'll want to get as many stitches on the bracelet as you can comfortably such that the crocheting lays flat and doesn't start to ruffle which would happen if you crocheted too many stitches in this first row. End the row by joining the last stitch to the first one with a slip stitch.
Step 2: Now it's time for the second row, which is basically a scallop stitch. There are many ways to make a scallop stitch, this is just one of them. Skip two stitches, and in the third stitch from the needle crochet the following in the same stitch (1sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 trc, 1dc, 1 hdc, 1sc), then skip 2 stitches, make a sc in the next stitch, skip two more stitches and make a scallop in that stitch as stated above. Continue around the bracelet in this manner. You many not have the exact number of stitches necessary at the end so either add or substract to the 2 chain spaces such that it works out. Join to the beginning of the round with a slip stitch. Now you have a gorgeous little crocheted frame that you could use in so many ways, even as a picture frame!
Step 3: Glue a piece of fishing line to the back of one of the small mirrors, and then add more glue and place another mirror on top, such that you now have a two sided mirror to hang in the middle of your ornament.
Step 4: Tie the small mirror to your length of chinese cord, and then wrap the cord around the ornament. You could tie the cord, but that gets a bit bulky, so I choose to bind it with some embroidery thread, a delicate touch that looks great.
Step 5: Tie the top of your cord in knot and hang. Great job, it's gorgeous! These would look fabulous made in a bunch of pastel and metallic colors and hung just about anywhere.
Wishing you a wonderfully creative holiday season, with enough time and energy to make some quick home made gifts and to learn a new craft while you're spending time with loved ones. Of course I'm voting for crocheting, though knitting is great too, and embroidery is wonderful.........whatever you choose I know you'll be glad you did!
