The Little Blue House 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments: Day #7

Good morning and Happy Friday!!  Cat here with Ornament #7 in our series.  I had so much fun creating my ornament. Being a part of the LBH , surrounded by so much talent and inspiration is a blast!  I love seeing all of the ornaments that the other ladies have created and shared and plan on adding several (or all!!) to my very tree soon. 

I don’t discriminate when it comes to ornaments on my tree---there is no theme or rhyme or reason.  I love all ornaments & Christmas baubles and my tree is always chock full of plenty.  Cary (my DH) and I have a holiday tradition of putting on The Santa Claus with Tim Allen and putting up the tree together.  I like unwrapping my ornaments and remembering the story or memory for each one.  I have homemade ornaments from my nieces, pretty little baubles that I was gifted from friends, festive ones we’ve picked up in our travels and some that just remind me of a friend or loved one.  The ornament I created for you gals today is just that type of ornament…

I created this one with my Bestie Nat in mind.  Every morning she calls me on her way to work and we talk and talk and talk.  The only break in conversation is when she stops at Starbucks for her morning fix…venti White Mocha, extra hot.  I am always on speaker, so sometimes I try and add to her order or say something to embarrass her.  She loves when I do that!! 

Let’s get started with the tutorial, shall we? 

First we need to gather some supplies:

Basics

**Mini espresso cup

**Patterned paper (I used Simple Stories Cozy Christmas)

**¾” x 6 ¾” strip of corrugated cardboard

**Simple Stories Insta-Squares (I used the Cozy Christmas to coordinate)

**Reverse Confetti Let It Snow dies

**Reverse Confetti stamp set: Seasonal Sentiments

Acrylic block

Brown ink (or one that coordinates with the paper you chose)

**Chalk ink to coordinate (I used Biscotti & Coal Miner)

Small jingle bell

**Paper straw (any color, we are going to cover it)

**Coordinating washi tape (I used Queen & Co.)

**Scor tape

**Twine

**Silver/Gold Ribbon

**Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold

**Stickles in Xmas Red

Items marked ** I got at The Little Blue House. 

I know the list looks long, but don’t be scared.  This ornament goes together really fast and isn’t hard at all. 

First thing I did was cut apart one these adorable little espresso cups and make a template so that I could cover the cup in patterned paper.  (No need for you to cut up a cup though, I made copies of the template and you can pick them up at LBH when you purchase the cups.)  I traced the template on my patterned paper and then cut right on or just inside the lines to get the best fit. 

I adhered the paper to the cup using Scor tape.

Next, we are going to add some sparkle to our corrugated strip…because everything is better with a little sparkle.  I made 2 versions of this ornament.  On one I misted the corrugated with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mist and on the other I smeared a little red Stickles.  I just love how both turned out.

To dress up the cup, I stamped a sentiment from the Reverse Confetti stamps set: Seasonal Sentiments using a coordinating brown ink and then punched around it with a 1 ½” scallop circle punch.  I cut a snowflake with the Reverse Confetti Let It Snow die set and used a piece of the salvage from one of my papers to adorn the scallop.  It’s starting to look pretty spiffy ladies!

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the lid.  I used another 2x2” Insta Square.  (You can choose one with an icon or sentiment, I did one of each).  Using a 1 ½” circle punch to cut out the part I wanted for my lid.  I cut the bottom third off of the circle (approx. ½”) and it fit perfect into the little inset on the lid.  

I cut a paper straw in half and wrapped it in Queen & Co. washi in the Kraft & snowflake pattern.  If you have a straw that matches your papers, you could skip this step, but I just fell in love with the Kraft washi and the snowflake pattern went with the Reverse Confetti die so well, how could I resist? 

Next I used my scissors to make small snips on each side of the ‘sipper’ opening.  It’s hard to see in the pic, but if you look close you will see my little cuts.

While we have our scissors, go ahead and use the tip of your blade to make the ‘steam’ hole just a wee bit bigger.   

Take about 8” of thick twine in a coordinating color and run it through the ‘steam’ hole in the lid.  It should be snug so it won’t fall off, but if needed you can tie a little knot or add a dot of adhesive on the underside to secure it.  Finally I used a second color of twine to thread on a little jingle bell and tie a bow to the hanger.  

And just to add more sparkle and shine, I adhered a 6 ¾” piece of gold & silver ribbon about the edge of the cup.  Metallics are everywhere right now and I just can’t get enough!  Just a little side note: I bought LOTS of this ribbon and plan on using it to tie up little packages of cookies for my hubbies co-workers.  It’s going to look darling with a little red & green tag attached. 

Ta-Da!!

There you have it.  I think it’s pretty cute if I do say so myself!!  It’s the perfect little ornament to remind you of the coffee (or hot cocoa) drinker in your life!  Miss Tracy has plenty of cups in stock at The Little Blue House for you to recreate them on your own.  And don’t forget to leave a comment below for your chance to win one of the cups I created.  

Share with us today what your favorite Holiday Beverage is....The WINNER will be drawn and posted tomorrow morning along with another Fabulous Ornament tutorial!!!!

Merry Crafting,
Cat

CONGRATULATIONS to the DAY #6 WINNER:

Denise Foor

Please contact the LBH to claim your ornament