Christmas ornaments all rolled up!

Each year I choose a theme to decorate Matthew's studio with for the Holiday Season... this year yarn was my theme and material of choice.  Here is how I did it...

Simple materials needed:

100% wool yarn in various colors

Styrofoam balls

Ribbon

Crochet Hook

Pantyhose

I chose traditional Red/Green/White for my yarn colors, but also threw a great jewel toned purple in for some pop.  I figured it complimented all of the gemstones Matthew has on display...

 To make the smaller balls I wrapped yarn around itself into a ball and looped through with a crochet hook to tie it off...

 To make the larger balls, for sake of saving on yarn used, wrap around various different sized styrofoam balls, tie off with crochet hook as well...

Once you have wrapped all of the balls you need, they need to be washed to firm up and hold the yarn.  The best way to do this is to put in pantyhose or stockings, with a piece of yarn tied between each one.  This prevents them from becoming a big knot in your washer :)



Be sure to put on the hot water cycle with the most amount of agitation, this will do the best felting job.

Once done, let air dry and you have a bunch of colorful felted balls!

BONUS ornament tip!! try some of the really fun yarns there are out there for some real funky ornaments... I used this great pom pom yarn and wrapped around styrofoam balls...



Tie a little bow on them and they are ready for decorating.

What did I do with all of these yarn balls??

I added them to fresh garland that showcased Matthew's jewelry cases...

I used the larger ones to hang solo in the windows...



However, they also look great grouped together in a bowl :)

Happy felting!