Twelve Days of Christmas Bonus Post: Tips & Tools

 

Let me start by saying if you're thinking of making this ornament set in paper, it can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, but if you want to make them elaborate, it will take some time. They cannot be whipped out in an hour. Each of these ornaments took hours. If you're a stitcher, you may be thinking, "No problem! It takes hours to stitch a Christmas ornament." It does, but stitching is pretty relaxing and rhythmic and you can do it anywhere. Making these and being fancy pants about it is pretty exacting work and you need a workspace. I wouldn't call it relaxing, but the finished product is rewarding. The patterns become increasingly detailed as you work your way from the partridge to the people, and most of these took me at least a couple of days, and in the case of the people, longer. Part of that was because once I got everything cut out, including all the tiny details, I placed them, and then I walked away from it for a day or so to make sure I liked it before I started gluing everything in place. I have no idea how many hours this set took me. 

I say all that, not to discourage you, but to help you decide how you want to make your set and how much time to budget. If you like paper crafting, you will love making these. It's challenging and absorbing and the results are so lovely and unique. Mr. Wonderful has claimed this ornament set to decorate his library (shown above on his bookcases). The point is, when I had this idea, I really didn't have a clue how long these would take me. It's definitely not something you can throw together at the last minute. I think it would be a great year-long project, making one per month. You could start in January! The whole set is available in a bundle (I think it goes on sale every November; that's when I got mine but that was years ago) but it is also available in smaller bundles of three ornaments each and you can even purchase individual ornaments if you'd just like to dip your toe in and make one and see how it goes.

Twelve Days of Christmas by mmmcrafts

With all that out of the way, let's talk about tips & tools. Everything I used is pretty basic, with the only special purchases being the paper punches. If you're a crafter, you probably already have most of these supplies.

PAPER

Your paper choice is really the most important decision you make for how you want your set to look. You can do details or no details, glitter or no glitter (gasp!), but it's your paper choice that makes the set. Obviously, using plain paper (card stock) gives you a much different look than using patterned paper, and I did make my first partridge using plain paper, but it just lacked the visual interest I wanted. If you prefer a quieter look, definitely go with plain paper. If you want to use patterned paper, my advice is to choose a pad of curated papers that you like. Why? Because all the color work is done for you. Everything already coordinates. All you have to do is choose some complimentary plain paper (and glitter!) and you're ready to go. This is especially helpful if you don't feel confident choosing colors. All of the plaids I used in my set were from one pad of Christmas plaids.  There are so many styles and patterns and colors to choose from. 

PAPER PUNCHES

Whether or not you decide to add a lot of details to your ornaments will determine whether or not you need to invest in some paper punches. I say "invest" because good paper punches aren't cheap but they're definitely worth the money. A less expensive punch that mangles card stock and doesn't even dint glitter paper is a waste of money. I actually didn't figure out the paper punch solution for detail work until I had already made my first couple of ornaments. I wasn't satisfied with the result and I needed a way to produce lots of tiny pieces for details without driving myself mad cutting them out. Paper punches, obviously! I already had some basic shapes but decided I wanted a leafy, nature-y look, so I went hunting for those and found Bira craft punches. I can recommend these. Lots and lots of choices and very good quality. They handled heavy glitter paper and produced nice, clean cuts. They do go on sale occasionally, so watch out for that. The big one in the second picture was my splurge, but it was worth it. I used it a lot. For the heads of my people, I used the 1" round punch in the middle. The hands are about a 10 mm circle.

Here's another thing to think about when choosing paper punches. There are "border" punches like the blue Fiskars punch in the second picture that produce a long design, but what you're interested in is the little bits of punched paper. I used that punch (which I've had for many years and is probably no longer available) for the long squiggle and the leaves, but also for mouths, eyebrows, and eyelashes (by trimming the leaves). When you look at border punches, don't look at the border as a whole, but at the little shapes. They can be used for all kinds of things.

You'll also need some regular hole punches in different sizes. The one on the right is a tiny 4 mm punch and it feels like I glued about a thousand of those. It's a useful size, just about right for eyes. 

CUTTING TOOLS

Good scissors are a must. You might also need an exacto knife. I have a bunch of different Fiskars paper edgers, but I think this is the only one I used, to do the Lady's hair. If you have some, they would be neat to use, but they're not necessary.

COLORED PENCILS, SHARPIES, GEL PENS

Adding some shading around the edges of plain paper shapes really gives them a nice dimension and a more finished look. It may not show up well in the pictures, but I think it's an important step. You might also need a black Sharpie, and I use a white gel pen to add a little bright spot to the birds' eyes. 

EYES

Speaking of birds' eyes, I used these little adhesive black facets. You can find them in the scrapbook supplies with the stickers. 

GLUE

Nothing fancy, just good, old fashioned Elmer's glue sticks. I like the purple ones because you can easily see where the glue is going. It dries clear.

TWEEZERS. TWEEZERS. TWEEZERS.

If you decide to make this set fancy schmancy with lots of embellishments, you will develop a deep relationship with your tweezers. Oh my stars. Make sure they are worthy of your love. I wouldn't recommend the ones with the slanted tips, but that's probably a personal preference. But do make sure they close properly. Every single teeny tiny piece of paper will have to be placed, and you don't want to constantly have to pick up dropped pieces over and over. You'll go crazy.

HOW TO MAKE THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL HATS

For the most part, the patterns for these three-dimensional felt ornaments translate easily into paper. The only thing I had to figure out was the hats, because obviously, the patterns are meant to fit a round wooden bead. The solution was pretty simple, once I put my brain cell to it. I pencil traced around the shape of the hat in the picture on the pattern (top picture). I then used my little light box (a bright window will do) to trace that shape onto a plain piece of paper, which I took a picture of (second picture). Then I "embiggened" that picture until it fit the 1" round head I had punched out, and traced that enlarged shape right from my phone screen. My enlarged hat pattern is in the top picture. I did this with the piper's hat, too. I skipped the milk maid's hat but it would be the same process. 

I think that covers it. If you plunge into this project, allow yourself to make mistakes, and change your mind. I made the pear--the simplest pattern in the whole set--three times. Your first try may not give you the result you want, but you'll get there. Even though you're using a pattern, it's very much a creative process. My paper ornament set is very different from the felt set, but I think it still has the same spirit. I think anyone who is familiar with the felt set would immediately recognize my paper interpretation, and I like that.

If you have questions, leave a comment and I'll do my best to help.