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ornamentation: the stable


Throughout 2011, I chose a story to highlight each month here on Wild Olive. It seems only fitting that December's story be that of The Stable. Where Christmas all began. And yet, that wasn't really the beginning, and certainly wasn't the end. Before we get too far though, let's make an ornament!

Nativity Ornament

You will need:
Wool felt
Embroidery floss
The Stable pattern PDF
(Oh, and pins are helpful!)

Nativity Ornament

Cut out all of the pattern pieces.

Nativity Ornament

Hold the faces onto the bodies, and stitch french knot eyes through both layers. These will hold the faces on, and no other stitching is needed.

Nativity Ornament

Pin the stable frame onto the backing and stitch around it with running stitch.

Nativity Ornament
Nativity Ornament

Place the remaining pieces in place as shown, then stitch around each item with running stitch. Try to keep the back side of your work as tidy as possible.

Also, even though the star only overlaps with the stable a bit, stitch all the way around. This running stitch is part functional, part decorative.

Nativity Ornament

Knot a length of embroidery floss on as a hanger. It should connect at where the roof and walls meet.

Nativity Ornament

Your Stable ornament is ready to hang!

Now, about this story. We think of Christmas as starting on a wintery night in Bethlehem. And it did...sort of. But you see, long before that, God knew that He would need to send His Son as a baby. He knew from the moment that sin happened. He knew that once people messed up, there would need to be a way to make things right. As humans, we can't fix things to how they were meant to be, but God can.

So long before that first Christmas, God planned to send His Son, and He told His people to be on the look out for this Savior, the Messiah. And Jesus came. He laid in a manger, and then He grew up, and then He died and rose again to fix the problem of sin. To forgive us.

But that's still not the end of the story. We each are given the chance to be a part of this amazing story of Christmas...of Jesus! It's an open invitation for forgiveness and love that will go on until Christ returns. He loves YOU, and He wants you to join His story.

70 comments:

  1. Is a beatiful and simply stable
    Thanks for sharing

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  2. This is so sweet. Love it.

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  3. LOVE THIS! I will definitely be making it.

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  4. Hahah omg! Those monsters are so cute~! Definitely making one of this ! :D

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  5. So adorable! And it's so refreshing to find people who aren't afraid of writing about Jesus on their blogs. :) Thank you!

    ~Kristin

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  6. So sweet, I just love this. Want to make them for my former small group girls! Maybe add a little lump to the manger for Jesus?

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  7. How cute! :) Thanks for sharing this story today. I think we all need to be reminded in all of the insanity that takes over this time of year.

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  8. Oh, this is adorable! & a great reminder that Jesus is the true reason for the season. :)

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  9. i really love this ornament!

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  10. oh my this is really precious and so are you. thank you for sharing your god-given talents. next religious ed gathering, we will be having some fun making these.

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  11. This is so lovely! Thank you for sharing. I'm digging through my felt pieces right now!!! Merry Christmas & all the best to you in 2012.

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  12. Katie D1:07 PM

    Thank you for your message. It's so important to keep our focus on the real reason for the season. And your ornament is adorable.

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  13. Anonymous1:48 PM

    This is definitely my favourite of your ornaments so far. It's amazing that it's so simple, but it's so effective and beautiful :) Sarah x

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  14. wow. so encouraged that you share the gospel on your craft blog. <3

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  15. I was hoping you would make an ornament like you December Calendar.... I LOVE THIS~ the shared gospel and a craft. two of the greatest things ever

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  16. A beautiful decoration and a beautiful reminder of what Christmas is all about. Thank you.

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  17. I promised myself I wouldn't do any Christmas projects during December and just glide along, enjoying the month.

    ...and then I broke the promise with this one. ;)

    KEEEY-UTE! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  18. It's really, really lovely!

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  19. I love this Christmas Ornament. It is just the thing to give to my Grandchildren for Christmas. Thank you.

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  20. Saw this on Pinterest and I love it! I'm done with making gifts for this year but this has just been added to my list of gifts to make for everyone for next Christmas. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Thank you for sharing the story of Jesus and redemption so simply. I can't wait to make this ornament.

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  22. How do you keep the back so neat???

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  23. This is gorgeous! I can't wait to make one for my family! Thank you for sharing.

    Merry Christmas!
    Amy

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  24. I sandwiched the knots between the layers of felt, and then just took care to keep the stitches even. Each area is stitched with it's own length of thread, so there wasn't any need to jump to the different spots. I hope that helps!

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  25. Great idea. And thank you for sharing the true Christmas story.

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  26. I actually gasped when I saw that ornament - beautiful. I will definitely be making one.
    And I love your little story about Christmas.

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  27. HERMOSO, EL VERDADERO SENTIDO DE LA NAVIDAD!!!! MARRY CHRISTMAS FOR ALL OFF YOU!

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  28. LOVE it! Thanks for remembering and telling the story :)!

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  29. he he....this is soooo cute!! :)

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  30. Love this ormament and how you shared Christ's birth!!

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  31. Love love love! Thank you for posting this! I totally needed a gift idea for my boyfriend's mom, who has an insane nativity scene collection. This is perfect!! (and I know she doesn't have one of these)

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  32. I made mine into a Christmas card for my best friend & she loved it!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/funkyfinds/6544204035/

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  33. I absolutely love this ornament. I can see a wide range of ages making this. For younger children I would just have them use tacky glue and glue the pieces together. For children around 8 years old, I would teach them how to hand sew the pieces together. I really love this. I liked the idea of one of Funky Finds to make it into a card too.

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  34. So cute
    I'm sure I will try to make it for next Christmas

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  35. Anonymous2:19 PM

    Thanks for this wonderful ornament. Plan to make them for the ladies in my Bible study! This is the perfect time of year to get started.

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  36. Emma Hayes5:26 PM

    Amen! Am going to make for lots of my friends for Christmas this year. Thank you.,

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  37. This is the first ornament I will be making for my five year old twins and niece and nephew this year. t's absolute perfection, and be happy in knowing that it keeps getting repinned. Thank you for sharing!

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  38. I would love to make this ornament, but I cannot get the pattern to open up for me.

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    1. It seems to be opening okay for me on my end. Are you trying to open it in your browser, or are downloading the PDF and then opening? If you send me an email I'd be happy to try and get you a file that would work better for you. My email: molliejohanson at gmail

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  39. These are so adorable!!

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  40. Anonymous2:28 PM

    THANX SO MUCH FHE TUTE AN ALLCUT THE OTHERS YOU SENT THEIR SOOOOOO CUTES RENEE BY

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  41. Anonymous2:32 PM

    EXCUSE THE MISTAKES NOTEPAD NEW TOO ME AN IT JUMPS ALL AROUND GADS WANT TOO SAY THEIR CUTE-IES AND ALL THE OTHERS YOU SEND US BY RENEE

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  42. coooooooooooooooooool

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  43. Anonymous11:09 PM

    Thank you so much for this post already half way through making one! The pattern is fantastic and the overall look adorable! I always love your designs but this is one of my favourites. Thank you!

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  44. It is lovely and so cute!
    Thanks for share!
    Kisses
    Aninha

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  45. I just love your blog and this ornament as well! I featured your ornament on my blog! :) http://pinkgerberdaisies-kady.blogspot.com/

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  46. My Mom and I made these with my girls.

    http://thosenorthernskies.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-crafting-with-my-mom.html

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  47. P.S. Thanks for sharing your pattern.

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  48. Thank you for this and thank you for explaining the Gospel so perfectly as well as giving us instructions for such a lovely craft!! God Bless!

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  49. You have such a beautiful gift of creativity. Thank you for sharing it!

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  50. Anonymous10:51 AM

    You gave excellent directions and I have made ten of these this week. Thank you so much for taking the time to bring us the real meaning of Christmas in such a beautiful way... "Love came down at Christmas".

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  51. Anonymous1:36 PM

    This is such a lovely ornament to share. I will make one for each of my family members next year. Peace and Blessings

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  52. I am making one for me and some for gifts . thank you for sharing and keeping Christ in Christmas. .

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  53. Emily5:24 PM

    I'm making these for my nieces and nephews for Christmas gifts. I echo the gal above...thank you for helping to center on Jesus. Blessings!

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  54. I try to make new handmade ornaments every year and this one is perfect!
    where do you get the wool felt? my local quilt shop does not carry it so I had to get the acrylic from joann fabrics. thanks

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    1. My 100% wool felt came from MagicCabin.com, but I also really like the wool blend felt from BenzieDesign.etsy.com. I highly recommend them!

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  55. Thank you for this pattern, and thank you for your witness. May God bless you!!!!

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  56. Thank you for this lovely ornament. I will try hard to make one!! Thank you, too for your witness. May God richly bless you and your family.

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  57. I will be making one for sure. What a beautiful ornament. Thanks so so much

    Shirl

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  58. Can you tell me how many inches across it is supposed to be? When I printed it, it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.
    Love this! Going to do it with my daughters this week.
    Thanks!
    Lindsay

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    Replies
    1. The stable should measure about 4 inches wide. The page that you see in the PDF looks like a standard piece of paper, but it's actually half size.

      That said, you could tell your printer to have it "fit to page" (or something similar to that) and make a larger stable for little ones to play with. Just keep the people separate so they can play and interact.

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  59. I have made these the past several years for my class of first graders as their Christmas gift. Thank you for sharing your pattern! God's blessings!

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  60. I am making these as a craft project with ladies at our local homeless shelter. They are taking classes to complete their high school diplomas. Thank you for blessing us with your pattern and the wonderful message at the end.

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