I have such a treat for you guys today- one of our BFFs in blogland, Erin (of Lemon Tree Creations and Our Family Four) is here to share a fabulous Christmas project. They’re amazing- both these Retro Fabric Christmas Lights and Miss Erin herself. Check out the loveliness-
Hello lovely kojodesign readers! I’m Erin from Our Family Four and I’m so glad to be back today to share a fun holiday tutorial with you guys!
I just love those big old fashioned Christmas lights, don’t you? They remind me of being a child at Christmastime. They were so fun and bold and bright, I just loved them. So I decided to make some with a few of my favorite mediums: fabric and a hot glue gun! 🙂
We moved to London a few months ago and we love it! We left 90% of our possessions behind, (it’s sparse around here, folks), which means that I have a completely blank slate for my Christmas decorating this year. The fun thing about a completely blank slate is that I can go in absolutely any direction with my decorations, and that is exactly what I did with these Fabric Retro Christmas Lights. I made tons, in lots of different little combinations.
Once I got started on these, I didn’t want to stop until I had tried out all of my options. First I just wanted a few bright splashes of color for my tree, then I thought it would be a good way to use up some of my fabric scraps, then I wanted to make a set that coordinated, then I wanted to see them in solid colors…you get the idea. Or you could buy a fat quarter pack and all of your bulbs would coordinate perfectly. 🙂 No matter what, you might have to sneak a little red and white polka dotted one in with every combo because it just SO Christmas-y. 🙂
I’ll show you two versions, the Christmas light ornament, and the strand of Christmas lights. Ready?
First I made a template of an exaggerated Christmas light bulb out of paper. I traced the template on the back of my fabric, placed two pieces of fabric right side together, sewed along the line that I had traced being sure to backstitch at the start and stop of the line. I left the bottom of the bulb open.
I cut out the bulbs with my pinking shears, and flipped the fabric right side out.
Next I stuffed it full with polyfill,
tucked the ends in and then stitched the bottom closed. Congratulations, you have a Christmas light!!
Now make a few more. Or a dozen. Throw them into a pile, arrange them in little sets, and toss them at your kids. But be sure to get them back-a lot of hard work went into those. 🙂
Grab some bakers twine and wooden spools, (I used the tiny 1/2 inch ones), and your hot glue gun. Now, there are two different options for making the sockets, a Christmas light ornament or a strand of bulbs.
For my single bulb I cut a strand of bakers twine about 12 inches long, tied the ends together, and used a crochet needle to tuck the knot into the hole in the spool. I put a glob of hot glue in the hole and pulled the twine back through just a bit so that the top of the spool would be completely flat, and the twine would be secured.
I put a big glob of hot glue on the top of the spool,
then stuck a Christmas light on top, pushing it down so that any of the glue that spilled over the edge of the spool would be covered by fabric.
Ta da! An ornament!
For the strand of Christmas light I kept a long strand of bakers twine. I used a crochet needle to tuck a section of the twine through the hole on the spool,
and secured it with a glob of hot glue, and then pulled the twine back into the spool a bit so that the top was flat.
Then I measured down the bakers twine about 9 inches, and attached another bulb in the same way. I did this 4 more times until I had a strand of 6 evenly spaced light “sockets.”
Then I chose the lucky 6 lights that I would attach to these sockets, hot glued them on, and admired them happily.
If you decide that you want to turn your ornaments into a strand of lights, simply hang up a string of bakers twine and attach the bulbs afterwards. It’s no biggie, and still looks adorable.
You can also embellish your bulb sockets if you’d like. You could wrap them in the bakers twine, ribbon, fabric or anything else that you have on hand.
The possibilities with washi tape alone are endless, am I right?
I hope these make their way into your home somewhere this year, onto your mantle, above a window, across a mirror, or maybe into the stocking of a loved one. 🙂Feel free to stop by and say hi at Our Family Four and let me know if you make some! I’d love to see!
Thanks for having me Kirstin and Jordan!! 🙂
Lindsay Gaines says
November 29, 2012 at 6:27 amI love this! We have a Christmas attire contest at school for the staff/teachers in 2 weeks and I may just be creating some of these to decorate myself with! Great idea!
Miranda says
November 29, 2012 at 6:30 amOkay, adorable.
Kirstin says
November 29, 2012 at 10:18 amRight? 🙂
Teresa Young says
November 29, 2012 at 9:45 amsuper cute!! (:
Kirstin says
November 29, 2012 at 10:18 amI’m with you- love Miss Erin (and those fabric lights!!!). 🙂
liZ evans says
November 29, 2012 at 12:45 pmOh my goodness! THese are adorable!
-liZ
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 12:44 amliZ, aren’t they GREAT???? can’t wait to make some myself!
Nikki @ Outnumbered says
November 29, 2012 at 10:22 pmthese are just the cutest ever.
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 12:44 amNikki, I agree completely. Erin is brilliant!
Jaan L of Tx says
November 30, 2012 at 2:40 amLove this little lites, and so easy peasy to make. Saw you on Craft Gossip, so glad you were featured today….I’m now following you. Thanks
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 10:30 amJaan, thanks for stopping by (and following). Isn’t Erin a genius? 🙂
Tina from A Few Pretty Things says
November 30, 2012 at 3:06 amSoooo sweet!!!
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 10:30 amThanks Tina! 🙂
Kim~madeinaday says
November 30, 2012 at 5:13 amThese are so sweet! Love it!
Kim
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 10:29 amThanks Kim- I love them (and Erin!). 🙂
charmaine says
November 30, 2012 at 5:44 ami might use left over wine corks, we seem to have quite a few
love the idea
xxx
Kirstin says
November 30, 2012 at 10:29 amWhat a great idea- let me know how they work! 🙂
Delia says
December 1, 2012 at 9:33 pmSuper cute and child proof FTW!
Kirstin says
December 2, 2012 at 11:37 pmAren’t they great???
Erin says
December 3, 2012 at 6:02 amYay, I loved putting these lights together and had fun getting the tutorial together. Thanks for letting me share it Kirstin! 🙂
Kirstin says
December 3, 2012 at 9:54 pmErin, THANK YOU. You are invited back any time… all the time. This month, perhaps (if you still want). 🙂
Mai says
September 5, 2014 at 11:01 amLove this! I am going to make some “name ornament” place cards for my gutses, and then they can take their ornament home and place it on their tree.
Kati says
December 5, 2012 at 8:42 amThese are adorable and fun!
Heidi says
December 5, 2012 at 10:41 pmI absolutely love these! Unfortunately I am not the slightest bit crafty. Do you sell these? Or would you be willing to make me a set? I LOVE them!!!
Kirstin says
December 6, 2012 at 9:08 amHeidi, I’ll ask Erin, but she lives in London, so I’m not sure she’d be able to get them to you in time… 🙁
Heidi says
December 12, 2012 at 2:34 pmI’m COVETING these in a major way!!! SO CUTE!
Marilyn R says
December 15, 2012 at 7:49 amWhat a great idea! I can make these and attach them to the gifts.
Kirstin says
December 16, 2012 at 4:25 pmI LOVE that idea Marilyn! Your gifts will be so pretty!
shirley tener says
November 24, 2013 at 8:30 amGreat idea and super cute and fun
Kirstin says
November 24, 2013 at 1:11 pmThanks Shirley- I love Erin’s stuff!
Kelley H says
November 12, 2014 at 1:14 pmDo you have a template for the lights? I love your design! Thanks!
Kirstin says
November 14, 2014 at 3:20 amHey Kelley- no template, sorry! It’s more of an eyeball-it kind of project. 😉