project // disney snacks mickey pretzel felt ornament

I'm not sure why, but soft pretzels shaped like Mickey Mouse just taste better. And if I'm turning iconic Disney snacks into felt ornaments, a Mickey pretzel was a must!

Now, this one looks a little different than the actual pretzels, which you can see below. But believe me when I tell you that it looked SUPER weird when I was trying to make this match. In fact, even Disney themselves changed the look when they released the pretzel items in their Disney Snacks merch line earlier this year.

Take a look at the comparison and tell me that this is still a Mickey Pretzel. Right?





These photos tell a story. It starts with me deciding that I wanted a picture of a Mickey pretzel in front of the Pixar Pal-A-Round, formerly Mickey's Fun Wheel. But there aren't a lot of places that have Mickey prezels at Disney California Adventure. So I took a photo near the Animation Academy (close to where I got my pretzel!). But then I decided that my favorite wall in all of Disneyland was RIGHT there, so this was a good place for a photoshoot. You know...me in my ears...enjoying a pretzel with ears.

We then hike over to get the photo with Mickey in the background and my sister gasps! "You actually took a bite? But what about your photo?!?" And I told her that it was just as authentic this way. And it tasted great too!



Now here's the scoop on making this ornament. Each ornament in this series goes together the same way, which is pretty much the same as much other felt applique ornaments. This one is just easier. You can watch my YouTube video showing an ornament from start to finish. (It's a different pattern, but you'll get the idea!).

This design has just one piece for the pretzel itself and then a bunch of french knots for the salt. You've gotta have the salt.

I used wool blend felt from Benzie Design (affiliate link). I cut the circles with my Circles and Scallops die, also from them, but you can use the circle templates in the PDF with plain or decorative scissors if you'd like.

I used freezer paper to cut the pretzel shape and carefully cut out the center sections.

You can embroider the details through the paper before carefully tearing it away, but it's actually easier for this one to remove the freezer paper and freehand the stitching. You can also use seed beads for the salt if you'd prefer!

Next, I stitched the pretzel down to the front circle with a tiny whip stitch and two strands of embroidery floss.

To assemble the ornament I used running stitch around the edges, then I filled in with a second round of running stitch. This is technically holbein stitch and it looks the same on the front and back.

Then I just used embroidery floss to make a little hanger. Other than the salt french knots, this is a fast one to make and perfect for any Disney Snack fan. Of course, now I'm wondering if I should have added a little cup of "plastic cheese"!

DOWNLOAD THE MICKEY PRETZEL ORNAMENT PATTERN