Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments

If you want to have a craft-filled tree, one great way to do that is to cover it with cross stitch ornaments. These little projects are usually pretty quick to stitch and fit into small hoops you can nestle into branches or hang on your tree. This collection of mini patterns that are perfect for cross stitch Christmas ornaments are a great place to start.

This pretty set of patterns from Lucky Cross Stitching is described as snowflakes but they remind me of quilt blocks. Either way, they’d be a pretty addition to your tree. Each design is about 40 by 40 stitches and uses three colors. I also like that instead of a hoop these are backed with felt and stitched around the edges, which to me gives them even more of a homemade look.

If you like the look of gingerbread or have a rustic looking tree, these designs from NARAxStitchPatterns would be a great addition. They include 10 designs that all look like gingerbread and fit in 3-inch hoops. Each pattern is around 41 by 41 stitches and uses three or four colors.

The mostly green and red designs from Cherry Merry Store are great if you use those colors a lot in your decor. These are a little larger, at 60 by 60 stitches, which makes them a little more than 4 inches/almost 11 cm (they would fit in 5-inch hoops). Each one uses 3 colors.

Monograms are a fun addition to the tree, and you can make them for everyone in the family (they make great gift bag tags, too). This set fits in 3-inch hoops and they use two colors. These would be pretty in a variegated thread, too. You can get the pattern from Cross Stitch Wow.

Lagodargento Shop has a set of 6 small cross stitch patterns (only a couple are shown here) that would be fun for ornaments. They fit in 4-inch hoops and include designs such as a tree, presents on a sleigh, reindeer, gingerbread man, candle and hat.

I also love these snowglobe cross stitch patterns from Cute Patterns by Maria. There are eight patterns in the set, and you can work them individually as ornaments or put a few together to make a bigger design as shown here. Each individual pattern is 40 by 45 stitches and across all the globes, 33 colors are used.

The cross stitcher behind the blog Sirious Stitches is quite into biscornu.

If you’re not, a quick primer: biscornu are three-dimensional cross-stitched objects with eight points, often with an indention in the middle that makes them look a bit like doughnuts without the hole. They can be just about any size and subject you can think of. They’re often used as pincushions but can also be seasonal decor or just decoration for any time of year.

I’ve got a collection of biscornu cross stitch patterns here.

Once you’ve stitched one or several (they are a little addicting) you might wonder what you can add to them to make them even more extra.

It very much depends on the design of your biscornu and the look you are going for, but Sirious Stitches has a great post all about some of the options you might consider.

I don’t want to give you the whole list because you need to go visit and see all of their great biscornu they’ve stitched, but one really easy thing that you can do with a lot of designs is take advantage of that center indent by adding a button, beads, silk flower or another embellishment.

This is great to do just with a basic button from your stash that coordinates with the design and colors of the cross stitching, but it’s extra fun if you have a button that’s on theme, such as a leaf for a fall biscornu or a flower shaped button for a floral design. Add a jingle bell to a Christmas pattern, or a charm if you don’t have a button that coordinates.

Just this one idea is sure to get you thinking about ways to embellish biscornu (not to mention other cross stitch projects) but head over to Sirious Stitches to see all of their ideas for embellishing biscornu to make these already fun projects even more fun.

Have you ever made biscornu? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

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