How To Make A Christmas Tree Mannequin - Video Tutorial

Christmas Princess

I love to make alternative fashion art with mannequins, so when we decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year, I thought about how I could turn a mannequin into a Christmas tree.  I mean, why not?

Scott agreed to capture it all on video, and cut evergreens from the trees in our backyard, so all I had to do was start gathering the materials and get creative. This was going to be so much fun!

Christmas Tree Skirt

As you'll see when you watch the video tutorial, we used 3 different kinds of greenery; pine, cedar, and nandinas with red berries.  The Christmas lights are LED so that they won't dry out the fresh branches.

Christmas Mannequin Lace Collar

One of my favorite things is collecting bits of lace and doilies and vintage crochet pieces.  I was so excited when I found this handmade lace collar in my stash along with several other pieces I had grabbed in estate sales, thrift stores and garage sales over the years.  I just can't pass them up!

Christmas Mannequin Pompom Belt

To cover up the ends of the branches from the skirt, I made a pompom and doily belt to tie around the mannequin's waist.  The tutorial is below for making the belt and the lacey collar.

How To Make Pattiewack Pompoms

For the belt and large pompoms I used Redheart Sashay Yarn.  For the other pompoms I used from my stash of Coats & Clark yarns.  The more organic yarns with bits of sparkle seems to fit naturally.

Just in case you haven't seen the Pattiewack Pompom making tools, here's a little tutorial.  You can watch a full video on my website, too.  Step 1 is to wind the yarn around the tool until it is super thick so that you'll have a really nice and full pompom. For this pompom I wound the yarn on the 4-inch section of the Pattiewack Pompom tool because I wanted it to be the accent at her waist.

 

Step 2 is to wind heavy wire around the center very tightly.  Step 3 is to cut both sides of the pompom.

 

That's it!  You can trim the pompom if you like, but that's all there is to it.

How To Make Lace Collar Collage

It was super simple to make the collage of lace by starting out with the vintage collar as my base.

 

Next, I laid out my bits of old lace that had been cut from old garments, and tea stained doilies.

 

I found this bridal lace with sequins on it to brighten it up, and a feather tassel.  It was easy to put it all together by intertwining sparkly yarn in and out by hand for a temporary hold until after Christmas.

 

The last step was to tie the feather tassel onto the shoulder of the collar.

How To Make Christmas Tiara

Check out the video to see the tutorial on assembling the wintry crown of evergreens and pompoms.

I hope you love it as much as I do!  The studio looks so pretty with my little Christmas Princess, and it took the place of a Christmas Tree this year.  

Scott and I will be out of town for Christmas, so we'll be taking our mini aluminum trees with us to spruce up our room.  I'll be sure and post it when we get there. Let me know what you think about my Christmas Mannequin, and tell me what crazy things you're making for your decorations this year...... 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

PattieWack

How To Make Fluffy Pompom Slippers

Don't you love waking up on Christmas morning and putting your feet into some fluffy slippers before they hit the cold floor?  Me too!  And if you're looking for a way to add a personal touch to a gift this Christmas, I think these would be so much fun to give or to get.  

All you need to do purchase a pair of slippers and make matching pompoms.  Of course if you are a knitter or love to crochet, you'll be making your own slippers. (insert happy face) I attached my pompoms with big safety pins so that I can take the pompoms off when I toss the slippers in the washing machine.  

If you're shopping on a budget, it's a good idea to buy several pairs for your friends and family in the same color so that you can create a little assembly line of the same color of pompoms.  

That way you can get by with just 2 skeins of yarn for several presents.  Right?  

I hope you like them, and spread the fluffy love with fluffy pompom slippers for everyone!

You’ll need:  

Purchased or handmade slippers 

Large size Pattiewack™ Pompom Tool

2 Large safety pins

Yarn that I used to match my raspberry red slippers :

MODA DEA™Cheerio: 1 Ball No. 8778 Ruby

MODA DEA™Cartwheel: 1 Ball No. 9745 Raspberries

Steps:

Wind both colors of yarn at one time onto the pompom tool at the 4” step, and wind 25 times.

Tie the center of the pompom tightly with 12” length of yarn.

Cut the pompom away from the tool.

Pin the pompom to the toe of the slipper with a large safety pin.

Repeat for the other slipper.

Happy Holidays!

PattieWack

How To make Pompom Christmas Trees

Cute little felt and pompom Christmas trees are fast, fun and easy to make.

I made these in about 1 to 2 hours and now I have them to use for decorating my house for years and years!  These are only 12 inches tall, so they'll sit nice on the mantle or as a kitschy centerpiece.

First I drew up a simple pattern which is easy to print out or draw on a piece of standard size printing paper.  I cut out two trees at a time with pinking shears so they match perfectly.  I also cut out the circles so that the tree tops were a little more significant. Then I sewed them together on the sewing machine.  You could sew them by hand if you prefer.  I left the bottom open and stuffed them with some batting from my stash.  I placed a dowel rod up the center and glued the bottom closed around the dowel rod.  Then I drilled a shallow hole in a piece of balsa wood, glued the dowel into the hole with Aleene's Tacky Glue.  (I did paint mine before I assembled it, but you might like it with the unfinished wood.)

Then the fun began!  I made 1-inch pompoms with the Pattiewack Pompom Tool in red, greens and a shaggy white yarn.  I glued them on, holding in place with a pin until the glue dried.  I also glued some little buttons on to add a little extra zing.

I love how they turned out!  I think they would be cute no matter where I decide to put them. 

Pompom Christmas Trees