I thought I would a very simple ornament , and I do mean very simple, that you can make or even make with your kids! It's a Spool Apple Ornament! I made this one a few years ago and plan on making more.
The things you need for making them are pretty simple,
spools, paint, brushes, emery boards, scissors, glue, heavy weight string, green paper and a leaf punch.
I have a tendency to collect old wooden spools because they do make some of the neatest crafts. So before starting to paint the spools you need to clean off any of the old labels on them. I peel off what I can and then scrape the wood slightly with the edge of a pair of scissors and then sand down any remaining paper and glue with an emery board. I don't mind though if there are bits of them left. Things I make tend to lean towards the primitive and rustic, so bumps, dings and so on don't bother me too much on some things. But if you do not have a big stash of wooden spools like I do (and yes it is big!!), plenty of craft stores carry wooden spools to buy in various sizes.
After removing labels simply start with the white paint. It will take at least 2 coats, but I would suggest 3 to be sure it is well coated and looks best.
Of course the red comes next. Simple to do one end at a time. Leave the edges curvy and bumpy so it looks like an apple that has been eaten. Oh and make sure to put paint down inside the opening of the spool hole. It looks better if you do.
Follow with the seeds. I added three little seeds in two place or three, depending on how big the spool was. It's easy to do, just put a little paint on the end of a fine point brush. Lay the brush tip down on the spool with the point towards the center of the clump of seeds. It just naturally makes a tear drop-like shape, perfect for the seeds! Practice a couple of times on some paper first to get the hang of it.
Next comes putting in the heavy string or cording. I tend to be a person who uses whatever I have on hand and heavy weight string is what I had. I cut a piece of string about one foot long, folded it in half and fed the ends through the spool hole. On the bottom I knotted the two ends together repeatedly making the knot bigger and bigger until it was just almost too big for the hole. It was about three knots on top of each other. I then placed a little dab of glue in the hole opening and pulled the string up tight inside till it was just flush with the wood. Then I cut off the ends of the string. It can sit flat when right side up, but isn't going to go anywhere because of the glue! Of course you could also get extra creative and tie a bell or something similar to the end of the string too!
At the top of the spool I tied a big knot just to kind of hide the spool hole a little and it just looks better!
I punched out two leaves from card stock, put my initials on one and the date on the other (I always date the ornaments I make!). I bent the stem end of the leaf and put a dab of glue on the back of each leaf, attached them to the top of the spool by putting the stem end in the hole. I then curled the leaves up a little so they weren't laying flat.
It's a pretty simple ornament, but one that is fun to make. If you want to do something different you could attach a little tag or larger leaf that says something like, "You are the apple of my eye!" Or there are plenty of other things you could attach to it too! One year I made quite a few of these with my kids. They had a lot of fun and our tree looked great full of apples!
Have fun creating!
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