Charlie Brown Christmas Ornaments Tutorial

!!! Update: You can now buy your own set of Charlie Brown ornaments from my Etsy shop, RIGHT HERE !!!

This week for the Holiday Craft Bash, I made ornaments just for the kids. My projects so far have mostly been tributes to my favorite Christmas movies- how selfish! Hendrix was obsessed with Charlie Brown Christmas last year. We watched it every day into February, when Hulu finally got rid of it (thank goodness.) But then it was replaced with Charlie Brown Valentine's Day... not quite an instant classic, believe it or not. 

I actually got the idea for this from a set of cookies made to look like ornaments. So naturally, I decided to try the innovative idea of making ornaments that look like the cookies that look like ornaments. Creative genius over here. I added the faces of Charlie, Linus and Lucy to the mix, but I liked her idea of making some to look like their shirts too. 

I'm learning that there is nothing you can't recreate with some felt and a little perle cotton. It's my new favorite combo, essential for holiday crafting especially. 

Here's what you'll need to make your own CB ornament set:

• Peach felt, white felt, and scraps in black, red, green, yellow, and blue.
• Black perle cotton
• Hand stitching needle
• Water soluble marking tool
• Pattern sheet- print here. 

Cut out the felt shapes- from the ornament shape, cut 6 peach, 5 white and one each red yellow and blue. Each ornament will have a front and back main piece, as shown. Cut 7 of the ornament toppers from black, as well as Charlie's shirt stripe, Snoopy's ears, and Lucy's hair. Cut out Linus' hat from green.

Machine stitch the little topper pieces on every front ornament piece, as well as Snoopy's ears, Lucy's hair, Charlie's shirt stripe, and Linus' hat. 

Draw the faces and details on with a water soluble marking tool. Remember if you aren't happy with your drawing the first time, you can blot it out and start over.

I added Linus' hair with machine stitching before starting the embroidery so that it would look extra scraggly. I also did his shirt stripes with a  zig zag stitch on my machine. 

Now embroider the faces and details on each piece using backstitches, french knots for eyes, and a satin stitch for Snoopy's nose and eyes. These are not hard stitches to learn, and you can find great instructions right here. 

Cut a piece of your perle cotton about 8" long for each ornament. Fold it so the ends are together and glue it to the inside of the back piece. 

After the glue dries, place the fronts and backs together so that the glued string is sandwiched inside. Machine stitch all the way around each one and your ornaments are complete!

Since we definitely don't have a tree up yet, I decided to let the kids have some fun with a little felt tree taped on the wall. Mine is about 25"by 20".

The kids love arranging the ornaments this way, and they will get to hang them on our real tree as well. The wonders of felt. 

If you missed my other Christmas movie-inspired felt projects, check them out:

Bumble Stocking

Elf Tree Skirt

Christmas Story Leg Lamp Pillow

Now that Halloween is over, I think we are going to start seeing even more great projects in the Holiday Craft Bash flickr pool. Don't forget to add yours!