The 12 DIYs of Christmas: No-Sew Fabric Ornament

I have created this little series titled "The 12 DIYs with Christmas" to share a few easy projects with everyone. Some DIYs are crochet, some involve sewing and others only involve scissors, paper and glue. So, there is going to be something for everyone. I hope you are as excited as I am about these DIYs and would love to see what you are making this Holiday Season. 

The first DIY of this series is this lovely (no-sew) Fabric Ornament. I learned how to make these at the quilt guild I attend and just loved them. They are so easy and work up quickly.

Here is what you'll need:

2" Styrofoam balls

Applique pins

4 different fabrics cut into 2" squares. 

(you will need 10 squares of your center color and 16 squares of the other 3 colors.

ribbon to cover the center and make a loop to hang the ornament from.

First, pin a square at all four corners onto your ball.

Next, you will fold your fabric in half  twice to find the exact center of the square. Open it back up and stick a pin right in the center where the two creases meet. You will stick this pin right down into where you think the middle of the first square is (as shown above).

Then, fold it in half so you have a rectangle with the center pinned down. The pin will be hidden inside the rectangle. Once you have your rectangle, fold the two corners down to the center and pin. I put a pin on each of the two "points" of the triangle and a pin on each of the flaps that meet in the center. You will have no pins showing at the center where your hidden pin is. This is hard to explain, but so easy to do, so look at the pictures. 

Repeat the exact same thing on the other side. This is what it should look like. Always work across from the triangle you just folded so that It comes out even. Then you will do the other two sides. So, you should have 4 folded triangles for your first "layer" of fabric. See how easy that is? It is just folding and pinning. No ironing, no sewing, no gluing.

Now, we are going to repeat that process for every row. Each row is going to be about 1 cm away from the row ahead of it. This blue row will be a little bit farther back from the center. So, pick a place to start and pin the center of the block down at your new starting distance.

Repeat the folding process on all 4 sides the same distance from the center. I don't measure this distance, I just guess.

Just keep doing that until you fill up the ball. You repeat the same exact process on the other side of the ball. Start with your inside fabric, and then add each layer. You'll know you are done when the triangles meet in the center or the "equator" of the ball. In the ball shown in the photos, the red layers would meet with the red layers from the other side. The fabric requirements provide enough to make 4 rows total, but I didn't need to add a 4th row on this one.

My best friend kindly let me photograph her going through this process. These are our first two attempts. You can pick any fabrics you would like and do more rows if you want to space them closer together. Just hot-glue a ribbon around the center to hide the seam between the two sides and make a loop to hang it.

These would be great gifts to attach to presents this year or give the ornaments as gifts themselves. I admire mine every time I walk by the tree. They look so complex and intricate. I love how easy they are to make. I like to make mine when I'm watching TV or talking over coffee. I just have a bunch of pre-cut squares in a bag that I pull from, so I don't count how many I need of each fabric. The trickiest part is trying to hide all of the pins. A few of mine have a pin peeping through here or there, but I still love them.

Enjoy!