Stacked Felt Holiday Ornament: Christmas, Hanukkah, and more!

What you’ll need

This is enough supplies to make up to 6-8 Christmas Trees or 6-8 Dreidels with a finished proportion of 2″x4.5″

Felt 0.25/yard (main colour)
Felt 0.25/yard or less (brown)
6-8 narrow opening beads (approx. 1/4″ or less)
6-8 loops or clasps (we used bra clasps and rings!)
Matching thread (brown + whatever colour felt you’re working with)
Hand sewing needle (thin and long, the thinner the better!)
Sewing scissors
OPTIONAL: 40-50 Small glass beads as tiny as you want!
OPTIONAL: Quick-sew sewing glue or Doubled sided adhesive tape (narrow)

Sewing Instructions:

You can watch our super quick video to get an idea on how to sew these as well!

Step 1. Grab your main felt and rough cut out some squares. We started with our first 2 squares being about 2″ x 2″, this will be the bottom of your tree. Gradually reduce the size of your felt squares, cutting 2 of the same size of each cut. We suggest you don’t go smaller than 1/4″ x 1/4″.

For the Dreidel ornament, cut approximately 15 squares 2″ x 2″. This will be the main body of your dreidel, if you wish to make a taller dreidel, cut more 2×2 squares. Lastly, cut 8 oval shaped felt pieces, each slightly smaller than the last. The largest oval should sit comfortable under the 2″x2″ square without poking out at the edges.

Step 2. For the tree, stack your felt squares on top of one another by placing them misaligned from largest to smallest. The less exact the better! By the end you should have something that vaguely looks like a Christmas tree!

For the dreidel, rough stack your 2″x2″ squares, keeping them fairly uniform. Then, place your ovals on top of your stack of squares, placing them from largest to smallest. This should look something like an upside down dreidel!

Step 3. Grab your hand sewing needle and matching thread, making sure to knot the end of your thread in a long loop. It is easier to work with more thread than it is to work with a thread that is too short.

For the tree, push the needle from the top of your tree through the middle of all your felt squares and out the bottom. Don’t pull the thread too snug. **Note: be careful to do this on a firm surface and not your lap!

For the dreidel, follow this same method, but start at the bottom of your dreidel (the oval side) and stitch through to the top of the dreidel.

Repeat this action by sewing from the bottom to the top, back where you started. Catch the loop of your thread from the first stitch and then pull the thread snug. This will guarantee that your knot won’t pull through your felt by mistake.

Repeat this 2 more times and finish with your thread at the top of your tree/dreidel.

Step 4. For your tree, grab one of your larger beads and thread it through the needle. Secure it in place at the top of your tree. Before cutting your thread, grab your bra ring and loop your thread around it, securing it in place by stitching through the felt hidden under your bead and then looping it through your bra ring again. Do this several times until the ring is secure. Knot your thread, and trim it short.

Step 5. For your Christmas tree, grab your brown felt and do a similar cutting style as seen in step 1. This time you’ll only need 5-6 pieces of felt, and each piece should be gradually smaller than the last. A great starting size is about 1/2″ x 1/2″, trim down and stack the brown felt in a uniform stack from largest to smallest. Secure together by stitching the same way as step 3, ending at the larger end of your tree trunk. DO NOT cut your thread yet.

For the dreidel, grab more felt of the same colour as the body of your dreidel and cut several 1/4″ x 1/4″ felt squares and neatly stack them together. This is the stem of your dreidel. Stitch them together the same way as seen in step 3. DO NOT cut your thread yet.

Step 6. Secure the large end of your tree trunk to the bottom of your Christmas tree by stitching through the first layers of felt and back out the same side. Do this a couple times, catching the base of your tree and the large end of your stump each time. Tug your thread snug and tie off!

For your dreidel, following a similar method, sew your stem to the top of your dreidel by sewing through the first layer of felt and then back through the entire stack of your dreidel stem. Do this a couple times and pull snug, making sure to end with your thread at the exposed top of your stem. Grab your bra ring and stitch it in place by following the same method in Step 4. Tie off and trim.

Step 7. This is for the dreidel only! Out of your brown felt, cut your 4 words for each side of the dreidel. You can glue these in place with sewing glue, or with double sided adhesive tape. We just freehanded the letters since they are fairly simple to cut out, but you can find images with a quick search you can print to ease of use. And you’re done!

Step 8. OPTIONAL: If you want to add a bit of pizzazz to your Christmas tree, sew on your tiny glass beads to make it look like Christmas lights! Do this by stitching horizontally through the middle of your tree and catching the under side of one of your felt squares at the edge. Sew a bead in place there and stitch back under the underside, repeating this method but zig-zagging where you come out on the tree so the lights will be staggered.

Alternatively, you can dab a small amount of glitter glue in places to make your tree sparkle.

There you have your super simple ornament! I was able to create 1 ornament in less than 10 minutes. This is a perfect little stocking stuffer or a great way to put up some decorations around your house! Let us know what other shapes you’re going to try out with this technique.