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Balsa Wood Ornaments

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Sassy Santa, embroidered on durable balsa wood, is just the thing to make an ornament last from generation to generation.

Embroidering on balsa wood is easy and fun - follow the techniques below, and open another world of opportunity with your machine!

Supplies

Supplies needed

  • 1/16-inch thick balsa wood (available at fabric, craft, or hobby/model stores)

  • Tear-away stabilizer, cut-away stabilizer, and water-soluble topping

  • 1/2 yard of narrow, 1/8 -inch wide ribbon

  • 3/4 yard of 1/8-inch cording

  • 2 beads that will fit the cording

  • A hot glue gun and glue sticks

  • Embroidery design: Santa Star - Cardstock from Embroidery Library
    Any design that is digitized for cardstock will work well on balsa wood.
    Click here to see designs that are digitized for cardstock.

Designs Used

Cut a piece of balsa wood that is large enough to sew two of your chosen designs on, but will still fit lying flat in your hoop.

Hoop one layer of tear-away stabilizer, and cut a piece of cut-away stabilizer the same size or slightly smaller than the back of your balsa wood. Adhere the cut-away to the back of the balsa with spray adhesive.

Use spray adhesive to adhere the cutaway side of the wood to the tear-away stabilizer in the hoop.

Place two layers of water-soluble topping on top of the wood before sewing to help prevent stitches from sinking into the soft wood. Sew the Santa Star design twice on the balsa wood.  

If the design that you use is not symmetrical, you will need to mirror it the second time that you sew it, so that when you place them back to back later, the outer edges will match up.

After the embroidery is finished, carefully remove the excess topping.

Gently remove the tear-away stabilizer, then, use a knife to carefully cut away the excess balsa to create the star shape. Leave about 1/4" of balsa around all the edges of the embroidery. 

Put the Santas back to back, and trim or sand off any uneven edges.

Hot glue the Santas, wrong sides together, making sure that the edges are flush.

Starting at the bottom of the ornament, hot glue a narrow ribbon over the cut edges around the perimeter of your ornament.

Glue the cording over the ribbon, crossing the cord at the bottom of the ornament.  Glue the crossed cording in place. Leave a few inches of cord dangling from the bottom of the ornament.

Tape the end of the cord to help the beads to go on smoothly.

Thread the beads onto the cord ends, and, after removing the tape, tie a knot on each end to keep the beads in place.

Thread a needle with decorative thread, and make a loop by bringing the needle through the hanging hole and tying a knot in the thread.

These ornaments are great for kids, because they are colorful, fun and durable enough to last over many years of use.

Not every design can be sewn on balsa wood. Look for designs that are digitized for cardstock, or have a less dense, more sheer fill.