How to Make a Holiday Tassel Ornament
The holidays are a great time to make and gift handmade presents, but with many recipients on a gifting list it can be challenging to knit something for everyone. A smaller and faster craft can be just the thing to ensure that everyone will receive something handmade under the tree. Give this holiday tassel a try. It is an excellent use for leftover yarn and can be used as a gift-tag embellishment or an ornament!
How to Work It
Gather some yarn, ribbon, jingle bells, thread, a piece of cardboard approximately 7 inches wide, a hot-glue gun and maybe some shiny buttons.
Heat up the glue gun and carefully run a small amount of hot glue along each side of the jingle bell opening where it will be attached. Make sure to get glue all around the sharp edges, and if you are using an ancient, dangerous hot-glue gun like I am, make sure not to burn yourself (ouch!). It might be a good idea to invest in a large pair of tweezers or a pair of needle-nose pliers to hold the bell while you apply the glue.
You don't need much glue, just enough to cover the sharp edges of the bell so it can be sewn onto the tassel without falling off.
Now wrap the yarn around the cardboard, keeping an even tension but not so tight that it puckers the cardboard.
Stop when you feel like you will have a nice fat tassel, or whatever circumference you prefer.
Cut an additional piece of yarn approximately 20 inches in length. Fold the yarn in half and thread it between the cardboard and the wrapped yarn. Tie the folded yarn into a solid knot using several half hitches.
Slide the tassel carefully off the cardboard, lay it on the table with the tie away from you, and smooth the loops down.
Cut another length of yarn approximately 20 inches long, then fold it in half and lay it under the tassel about 1 1/2 inches down from the top tie.
Bring this yarn around the tassel strands and tie securely, cinching the loops into a nice plump ball at the top.
Wrap the ends of the folded yarn around the tassel several times, tie it off again and snip the ends to a short length. The ribbon will be tied over these ends so you will not see them in the finished piece.
Tie a fancy ribbon over the tassel, using a double knot for strength. Now gather your shiny bits for decorating. Sew the jingle bells and buttons onto the tassel if desired, keeping in mind that the tassel should still be light enough to hang up.
Turn the tassel over and snip the loops of the yarn at the bottom.
Gather the ends evenly into your hand, grasping tightly and making sure all the strands are smooth and flat.
Cut the ends into a nice even stump.
For this tassel I added two jingle bells and a hand-stamped tag for my oldest daughter. I would love to use it on a present for her as a gift tag, but I'll probably just hang it really high on the tree so the feisty cat doesn't find it!
Note: The white-and-blue tassel was made in the same way as the green-and-red one, except I tied three bows with the blue ribbon on top of each other using the same length of ribbon. Then I used a needle and thread to sew the knots down and secure them before adding the shiny snowflake.
