There is something just so very fun about embroidery on recycled materials, whether it be embroidery on styrofoam trays, or in this case on recycled cereal box cardboard! And while I did use traditional embroidery floss here, meaning whatever I had on hand, one can use yarn, string, plastic bag yarn (note to self) or t-shirt yarn, or anything really than can go through the eye of a needle or be poked through a hole! Large scale embroidery or cross stitch can be a great way to make decorations or wall hangings or in this case a Shanah Tovah card that can then be used as an ornament in the succah. Do keep in mind that embroidery, whether traditionally sized or larger does take time, so don't try to pull this one off at the last minute, rather enjoy the process.
And friends, with Succot coming up in 10 days, now would be the time to get crafting, as there is nothing like filling your succah with creativity! As you can guess, in our family that would be my domain, so note to self as well! Okay, lets get started with this one, shall we?
- cereal box cardboard
- embroidery floss
- a permanent marker
- a yarn needle
- hot glue
How To:
- On the BACK of the cereal box cardboard, namely the printed side draw your pomegranate shape and cut out.
- Using the black permanent marker, plan your basic stitches, namely an outline stitch and cross stitches in a variety of sizes, and draw them.
- Poke holes in accordance with the stitches that you've planned (the star filler stitches were not part of the original plan, so I added holes for those later)
- The reason that you poke holes is otherwise you won't know where to stitch, while you could of course just wing it, but I'd say plan the stitches.
- Do all the basic stitching, which you can see below.
- Fill with more stitches if you feel like it looks a bit plain and you have the time.
- Now glue a loop to the back with hot glue, and then cover the back mess by hot gluing another identical piece to the back. I opted to make my back piece a bit smaller to reveal the cereal box cardboard, but you decide.
- If you'd like to make this into a card, write your message, and if not, as least write the date!
- Yippee, an amazing ornament or even a great piece to put in a shadow box frame is born!
Above: This is how the piece looked after the first round of embroidery. If the thread had been red it may have been enough, but I felt like it was missing something, so started filling in the spaces created by the cross stitches.
Above: Here is the finished piece from the back, a perfect place to write a message.
Now go make one yourself!