Hello, creative friends! It’s Belinda from Blue Ribbon Designs, and I’m delighted to be here with you today for Holiday Ornament Week! I have a festive new project to share that combines some of my very favorite materials into one cheerful little Christmas keepsake. My Holly Jolly Joy Ornament is finished in a 4" wooden embroidery hoop and features a linen background surrounded by a wreath of dimensional wool felt holly leaves and tiny red berries. Felt letters spelling JOY take center stage, and the included pattern features the entire alphabet plus a heart, making it easy to personalize your ornament with a word or name of your choice. A touch of sparkle gives the entire ornament a wonderfully nostalgic holiday feel.
This project is extra special because it is part of a festive collaboration with Benzie Design, a company and creative community that is very near and dear to my heart. I’ve had the pleasure of being a member of the Benzie Design Maker Team, and their beautiful wool felt has long been an essential part of my creative work. I use Benzie Design Wool Blend Felt and Bellwether 100% Pure Wool Felt exclusively for my felt projects because I love the quality, colors, and consistency. For today’s Holly Jolly Joy Ornament, I’m using their Wool Blend Felt for the holly leaves and lettering, along with adorable Tiny Felt Balls for the bright red berries. Benzie Design also carries a wonderful assortment of supplies for all kinds of creative pursuits, including cross stitch, needle felting, embroidery, and so much more. In fact, the wooden embroidery hoop and Essex Linen used in this tutorial are from Benzie Design, too!
Of course, Therm O Web products pair beautifully with felt and make assembling this ornament easy and enjoyable. For this project, I’m using Glitter Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Spray to add a delicate shimmer to the felt, giving it that sparkly, vintage-inspired Christmas look I adore. SpraynBond Pattern & Stencil Spray makes it easy to work with paper templates, helping me achieve clean, precise felt shapes, while HeatnBond Fabric Fuse Liquid Adhesive is perfect for securely adhering the felt components and tiny details. Together, these products make crafting with wool felt simple while helping me achieve a polished finish.
So, gather your supplies and let’s get started creating a little Holly Jolly Joy for your Christmas tree!
What you need:
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Strawberry - 4” x 3” (lettering or heart)
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Moss - 7” x 3” (holly-shaped leaves)
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Fern - 7” x 2” (football-shaped leaves) and 4½” x 4½” (backing)
How to Make a Holly Jolly Joy Ornament
Finished Size: 4½” x 4½” (plus hanger)
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Download and print the Holly Jolly Joy PDF.
Holly Jolly Joy Ornament – A Project for the Therm O Web Blog
Print at actual size – do NOT “fit to page” or “shrink to fit.”
Print on regular printer paper.
Optional: Print page 4 on a sheet of HeatnBond Lite EZ-Print Iron-On Adhesive Sheet
(no tracing needed).
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Prepare the linen for the ornament base. Apply HeatnBond Medium Weight Non-Woven Fusible Interfacing to the wrong side of the Essex Linen. This adds stability and strength to the base.
- Pre-heat iron to a high setting, no steam.
- Place the rough side of the fusible interfacing against the wrong side of the linen fabric.
- Cover with a lightweight, dry pressing cloth.
- Press and hold iron with medium pressure for 10-15 seconds. Repeat by lifting the iron to a new area, slightly overlapping previous area until the entire surface is bonded.
- Allow to cool.
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Cut the linen ornament base using the large circle template provided on page 2 of the pattern. For quick, easy, and accurate cutting, use SpraynBond Pattern & Stencil Spray to temporarily adhere the paper template to your stabilized linen fabric.
- Protect your workspace. A HeatnBond Pressing Paper Fabric and Craft Sheet is perfect for protecting your work surface from overspray and keeping cleanup quick and easy.
- Loosely cut out paper template.
- Shake the Pattern & Stencil Spray well. Hold the can upright, 12 inches from the back of the paper template.
- Press the spray pad button and apply a light coating of adhesive using a sweeping motion.
- Let dry for 1 minute.
- Place the paper template onto the stabilized linen fabric, repositioning as needed. If additional tack is required, repeat the spraying process.
- Cut out the circle, following the black cutting line on the template.
- Before storing the can, hold upside down and press the spray pad button for a short burst to clear the nozzle.
Center the inner component of the 4” wooden hoop on the right side of the stabilized linen circle and trace the inside with a pencil to give a good guideline for the lettering and wreath. This drawn line will be covered with the wreath design.
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Prepare the felt lettering or heart for the center of the linen fabric circle. Print or trace the letters and/or the heart on HeatnBond Lite Sewable Iron-On Adhesive.
NO-SEW OPTION: If you prefer a no sew option, trace on HeatnBond UltraHold Iron-On Adhesive and follow the instructions on the packaging, then skip the sewing step.
- Print the templates on a sheet of HeatnBond Lite EZ-Print Iron-On Adhesive Sheet or print on regular printer paper and trace desired template(s) on HeatnBond Lite Iron-On Adhesive with a pencil.
- Loosely cut apart the template shapes.
- Pre-heat the iron to medium heat, no steam.
- Place the printed/traced template(s) on the wrong side of the Strawberry Wool Blend Felt (printed paper, smooth side should be face up).
- Place and hold the iron on the paper for 2-3 seconds.
- Allow it to cool.
- Cut or trim along the printed/traced line to create the shape(s). Leave paper in place until ready to fuse in place.
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Apply the appliqué shape(s). Center the shape(s) in the center of the stabilized linen circle. Fuse in place.
- Preheat iron to medium heat, no steam.
- Remove paper backing from the shape(s).
- Center and place the shape(s), adhesive side down, on the top of the linen.
- Press and hold iron for 6-8 seconds on each star shape until fully bonded.
- Allow it to cool.
- Use your favorite appliqué stitch to sew the shape(s) in place. The model used a Blanket Stitch.
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Hoop and finish the stabilized linen base. Place the linen in the wooden hoop, using the pencil-drawn line as a guide to center the appliquéd design. Make sure the hoop screw is centered directly above the word or heart, as this is where the hanger and bow will be attached. Once you are happy with the placement, tighten the hoop screw securely.
To finish the back, use an embroidery needle and strong lacing thread to work a Running (Gathering) Stitch around the perimeter of the linen, approximately ¼" from the raw edge. Pull the working thread to gather the linen snugly around the back of the wooden hoop. Once the linen is tightly gathered and the design remains centered, knot and tie off the thread.
TIP: Unwaxed dental floss works wonderfully as a strong lacing thread.
For a smoother, neater finish with fewer puckers, lace the gathered linen across the back of the hoop. Working back and forth in a star pattern, lace from one side of the seam allowance to the opposite side, continuing around the hoop until you are pleased with the appearance. Knot and tie off securely.
Set the hoop aside while we cut and prepare the wool felt shapes. Be sure to keep it handy, as we’ll use one of those felt shapes to neatly cover the back of the hoop later.
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Cut the shapes from page 3 of the pattern. Again, for quick, easy, and accurate cutting, use SpraynBond Pattern & Stencil Spray to temporarily adhere the paper templates to coordinating felts.
- Protect your workspace. A HeatnBond Pressing Paper Fabric and Craft Sheet is perfect for protecting your work surface from overspray and keeping cleanup quick and easy.
- Loosely cut out paper templates. TIP: leave the football-shaped leaves all together on one piece of paper and all of the holly-shaped leaves together on one piece of paper.
- Shake the Pattern & Stencil Spray well. Hold the can upright, 12 inches from the back of the paper templates.
- Press the spray pad button and apply a light coating of adhesive using a sweeping motion.
- Let dry for 1 minute.
- Place the paper templates onto the coordinating felts, repositioning as needed. If additional tack is required, repeat the spraying process.
- Cut out the shapes, following the black cutting line on the templates.
- Before storing the can, hold upside down and press the spray pad button for a short burst to clear the nozzle.
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Apply Glitter Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Spray to the leaves for a sparkling, vintage look. Optional: Finger-press ⅓ of the leaves lengthwise and ⅓ of the leaves widthwise before applying the glitter spray, to give the wreath a more textured/dimensional look.
- Protect your workspace. A HeatnBond Pressing Paper Fabric and Craft Sheet is perfect for protecting your work surface from overspray and keeping cleanup quick and easy.
- Shake the can of Glitter Dust Glitter Spray well before use.
- Hold the can upright, 12-15 inches from the surface. Press the nozzle and apply in short quick bursts using a sweeping motion to lightly cover the leaves.
- Allow the leaves to dry for 2-3 minutes.
- Hold the can upside down and press for a short burst to clear the nozzle before storing.
While the leaves are drying, let’s finish the hoop.
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Cover the back of the hoop with wool felt. Before adding the dimensional felt pieces to the front of the ornament, finish the back of the hoop. Place the wool felt circle from page 3 of the pattern over the gathered linen on the back of the hoop. Using DMC Embroidery Floss and an embroidery needle, Blanket Stitch the felt circle in place, making sure each stitch passes through both the wool felt and linen to securely join the layers.
NO-SEW OPTION: For a quick no-sew finish, use HeatnBond Fabric Fuse Liquid Adhesive to adhere the wool felt circle to the back of the hoop, following the instructions on the bottle. Allow the adhesive to dry before continuing with the dimensional felt pieces on the front of the ornament.
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Apply the wool felt leaves and tiny felt balls. Using HeatnBond Fabric Fuse Liquid Adhesive, begin building the wreath around the front of the ornament. Start with 10 of the holly-shaped leaves, arranging them around the outer edge of the linen, close to the wooden hoop. Next, add all of the football-shaped leaves, followed by the remaining holly-shaped leaves, layering and positioning them until you are happy with the fullness and overall appearance of the wreath. Finally, add a handful of Tiny Felt Balls throughout the leaves to create the bright red holly berries.
- Apply a line or dots of adhesive on each wool felt leaf and wool felt ball.
- Press each embellishment with light pressure into place. If needed, hold or secure each embellishment in place until glue is set.
- For best results, let dry 4-6 hours.
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Add the hanger and bow. Use red gingham ribbon to tie a loop around the hoop screw for hanging. Finish by tying a coordinating gingham bow around the same area for a festive finishing touch.
I hope this Holly Jolly Joy Ornament tutorial has inspired you to add a little handmade happiness to your holiday crafting! There is something extra special about creating ornaments by hand, and a vintage-inspired sparkle makes this one a delightful addition to the Christmas tree. With swoon-worthy supplies from Benzie Design and the help of Therm O Web products, this little hoop is filled with texture, dimension, and plenty of holiday JOY!
One of my favorite things about this project is how easy it is to make it your own. While my ornament spells JOY, the included pattern features the entire alphabet along with a heart, giving you plenty of possibilities for personalization. Spell out a favorite short holiday word, add initials, or create something meaningful for someone special. Change up the felt colors, berries, or ribbon, and you can give each ornament its own personality while using the same basic design.
Thank you so much for joining me today on the Therm O Web blog for Holiday Ornament Week and this special collaboration with Benzie Design! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing how beautiful wool felt and supplies from Benzie Design pair with innovative products from Therm O Web to create my Holly Jolly Joy Ornament. For more sewing, stitching, and creative inspiration, be sure to visit my website and follow along on Instagram. If you make your own version, I’d love to see how you personalize it! Be sure to tag me, Therm O Web, and Benzie Design so we can admire your handiwork. Until next time, wishing you a holiday season filled with creativity, handmade happiness, and plenty of holly jolly joy!
Written by Belinda Karls-Nace
