MFT Creative Challenge - Mitten Ornament Gift Card Holders and a Tutorial

It's time for the monthly designers creative challenge with My Favorite Things. This month's challenge was to "Wrap It Up" so I created some fun mitten shaped ornaments that are perfectly sized to hold a gift card. I created a pattern for the mitten and uploaded it at the end of my post, and there's a photo tutorial too.

In 2011, MFT is working harder than ever to inspire you, and we have come up with something we think you'll really enjoy. Our Design Team Creative Challenge is a new monthly feature, where we challenge our design team to explore their creative side using a specific theme, product or technique. This month, "It's a Wrap" Be sure to check the MFT Blog for a list of all the designers who have creative gift solutions for you today!

Let's start with a group shot of the three mitten ornaments. I didn't use any stamps on this project but I used plenty of die-namics to adorn the mittens.

I made this first one out of corrugated cardboard. I just love the texture and feel of it.

I decorated the cuffs of each mitten the same way. First I cut a piece of felt using the small scallop border die-namic (I used puff cloud white felt on this mitten), then I layered on a strip of ribbon and rhinestones.

To create the bird accent I cut out the bird from cherry on top felt using the homespun birdhouse die-namics. The leaves were cut out of sour apple felt using the leaves from the upsy daisy die-namics.

And here's the inside, showing the gift card.

Next I made this blue mitten using blue skies felt on the front and blue card stock on the back for a little stability. The pink border on the cuff is cut from strawberry ice cream felt and the patterned paper is My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas.

I created the snowflake embellishment using the let it snowflake die-namics, strawberry ice cream felt and white card stock. I topped it with a corduroy button and some blossom twine.

Here's the inside and a tip: felt is a little more slippery than card stock and the gift card tends to sink down into the bottom of the mitten on this one, so you may want to put a dab of adhesive on your gift card to keep it in place.

Next I made this red mitten from card stock. I ran the front piece through my swiss dots embossing folder to add a little texture before stitching the front and back together. The patterned paper on the cuff is Echo Park Season's Greetings and the hanging loop was created with maraschino red twine.

To create the embellishment I used the fancy flourish die-namic to cut out the green flourish and the flower was done using the upsy daisy die-namics.

Here's the inside.

And now for a photo tutorial:
First you'll want to print the pattern and cut out the two pieces. This is a really primitive, hand-drawn pattern. Nothing fancy here, but if you follow the tutorial it'll all make sense. (I hope this downloads and prints properly.)

Trace around the pattern and cut out the front of your mitten. Note that you'll cut the front piece slightly shorter than the back to reveal the gift card.

Trace around the pattern and cut out the back of your mitten.

Here are the two pieces all cut out, showing the front piece is shorter than the back piece.

And here they are all stitched together. You can also use adhesive around the edges to assemble the mitten.

Next fold your card stock for the cuff and line up the edge of the pattern on the fold of the card stock. Trace around and cut out.

This is what you should end up with.

Then just embellish as desired and attach the cuff to the back of the mitten. I didn't add a closure to the front of mine. If you want to hang it as an ornament, simply punch a hole in along the fold of the cuff and add a twine loop.

Here are the die-namics I used:

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen