Diamond-shaped Ornament with Dangle
I wanted some of the lesser known Looney Tunes characters to be represented on my themed tree, and since I used to love the cartoons featuring Witch Hazel, I decided to add an ornament designed just for her. It's the only one of the collection that made Hubby laugh out loud when he saw it.
The dangle is a small craft broom about 5-6" long. Using a very tiny drill bit, I drilled a hole in the broomstick just at the balance point, then threaded a head pin through a small bead, then through the hole in the broom, then through another two beads. With round-nose pliers, I made a small loop for hanging. To decorate the broom, I just used a string of ready-made mini ornaments from the dollar store, draping it loosely over the broomstick and adding a tiny drop of tacky glue wherever the string touched the broomstick.
I later made a second ornament using the same technique, but I rotated the diamond to make a square.
The can dangle is a small thread spool. I painted the ends with silver nailpolish and wrapped the centre with a label printed on my computer.
To make both ornaments, I used two 2" square/diamond button-badges glued back-to-back with GOOP or E6000. (If you don't have square buttons, you can decoupage the image to a sturdy cardboard base, such as I used for the ornament below.)
I trimmed my ornaments with braid, but a cardboard version can be finished with a bead of glitter glue applied using a toothpick.
To hang the ornament, punch a small hole at top and another at the bottom using a 1/8" jewellery punch or a nail. (Don't use a regular paper punch, as they aren't strong enough to puncture the multiple layers). Thread a bead onto a small length of craft wire, and with round-nose pliers, make a small loop at each end for a decorative hanger. Attach this beaded wire piece to the top of the ornament with a jump ring and insert an ornament hook.
This ACME ornament at right is made on the same principle, but instead of using a button, I decoupaged the image to three layers of cereal box card. The advantage of the decoupaged cardboard is that you can create just about any shape you need, giving you more variety in your ornaments.
My sister was so taken with this ornament that she asked for a version for her friend. She needed it narrow enough to fit into the Christmas cracker she plans to make for him, so I made a narrower sign, this time using vertical lettering. I added a beaded dangle in the middle, to allow the sign to fold down so the whole thing will slide easily into the cracker.
To make the "Earthquake Pills" dangle, I used a small glass vial that I happened to have on hand (salvaged from a long-ago prescription). I created the label on my computer, then sized it to fit and attached it with Mod Podge. The rubber stopper on the vial easily took the wire I pushed through to make a hanging loop, and I attached it to the ornament with a jump ring. To complete the look, I filled the bottle with colour-coordinated beads.
Not just for Looney Tunes ...!
I made a similar ornament featuring Harry and the snitch. The diamond is constructed the same way as for Witch Hazel, but I added the dangle above instead of below the image.
The snitch is made from a gold rose bead, while the wings were cut from laminated cardstock, which I painted gold and then glittered. To attach them to the bead, I filed a slot in the top of the bead and dropped the wings into position, then glued them in place with a dot of GOOP.
It's not a perfect representation of the Golden Snitch, but there's no mistaking what it's meant to be, and I am assured that its intended recipient will love it.
