Yarn Ball Reindeer and Penguin Ornaments

Every year, I like to make at least a few handmade Christmas gifts. For the past few years, I have been busy making stockings for the new babies of my friends and family, and I have always managed to find a bit of time to sneak in a few ornaments too. With a toddler in our midst, I knew that what ever I created had to be unbreakable and relatively quick to create. The solution I came up with was these simple yarn ball reindeer and penguins (currently C.'s favourite animal). I made these myself, but it would be an easy craft for any school aged child as well. If you are doing this craft with kids, just make sure you use either a low temperature glue gun, or tacky glue. 

These ornaments could not be easier to make.  All you need to get started is a styrofome ball, a lot of yarn, some ribbon, tacky glue or a glue gun, and decorations such as googlie eyes, scraps of felt, pompoms, and pipecleaners.

1. Hot glue a looped length of ribbon to the the top of the styrofome ball.  This will be the hanger for the ornament. 

2. Hot glue the end of your yarn to the bottom of the ball.  Wrap the yarn around the ball.  Continue to wrap yarn around the ball until it is completely covered with a few layers of wool.  Trim the end of the yarn, and hot glue it to the bottom of the ornament.

For Rudolph: Hot glue googlie eyes to the front of the ornament, and glue a red pompom  below the eyes to make his nose.  Cut a brown pipecleaner in half, and twist each piece of pipecleaner into the shape of an antler (alternately, you could use small sticks). Put a dab of glue onto the end of each antler, and press through the yarn into the styrofome ball.

For the Penguin: Substitute black yarn for brown in step 2.  Cut a heart shape out of white felt, and a triangle out of orange felt.  Glue googlie eyes onto top of heart to form eyes.  Glue orange triangle below the eyes to create the penguin's beak.  Glue the heart to the front of the ornament, and you're done!

(note: if you are making this craft for children under three, consider using felt circles in place of the googlie eyes to minimize the risk of choking).

Do you have a favourite holiday ornament?