I love Christmas crafts. Actually, I love all crafts and pretty much everything Christmas, but Christmas crafts have a special place in my heart.

Speaking of Christmas crafts, have you taken a look at my huge list of kid-made Christmas ornaments? They range from little kid projects to big kid projects, so you'll definitely want to take a look.

I also have a very deep love for cats, so this little Christmas tree ornament came together very naturally.

I made this ornament in two different ways. First, I made one that is 100% hot glued. You could really use any glue, although felt glue would be my #1 choice. It is cheap, not bulky, and bonds felt together really nicely. I've used it before very successfully, but did not have any when I put these ornaments together and so used hot glue which was very bulky and didn't bond as nicely.

DIY Cat Ornament - Glued

Materials

For the glued ornament, you will need the following:

One piece of felt
A scrap of pretty fabric or another color of felt
4 tiny buttons
A short piece of embroidery floss
An embroidery needle
The pattern I created for you (click to grab the pattern)

Instructions

Save, print, and cut out the templates. Trace the cat template on your felt once, then flip it over and trace again. If you do this, any remnants of your tracing line will be to the inside of the ornament when you're finished.

2. Repeat with the hearts. If your scrap of fabric has a special pattern, you will probably want to trace the hearts in a certain place so the pattern you want comes through, as I did below.

3. Glue the hearts onto the outsides of the cats, remembering to turn one of the cats over so that it's backwards from the other one. If you don't turn one over, one of your hearts will be inside the finished ornament.

You should also glue the eyes on at this time, even though I didn't have them glued on in this picture.
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4. Put a line of glue most of the way around one of your cats, but make sure to leave an opening about 1.5" long to put the stuffing in. As you can see below, I stopped gluing at the neck of the cat and resumed at the bottom. This was a good sized space.
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5. Now you wait. If the glue isn't 100% dry, when you try to stuff it, the two sides of the ornament will pop apart.

6. Once you're absolutely certain that the glue is dry, go ahead and stuff the kitty. To do this, take a little chunk of stuffing, about the half the size of your thumb, and stuff it in the opening. Repeat until the cat is as fluffy as you like. Using little wads like this will keep your ornament from getting lumpy.

7. Glue the opening shut and hold it closed until it is dry. If you're using a slower drying glue like felt glue, you will want to put a binder clip or clothes pin on the seam until it's dry. Otherwise, the stuffing will make it pop open.

8. Finally, thread about 6 inches of embroidery floss on your needle and run it through the top of the kitty's head for a hanger. Tie it together at the ends, and your ornament is done. Isn't he cute?
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DIY Cat Ornament - Sewn

Materials

For the sewn ornament, you will need the following:

One piece of felt
A scrap of pretty fabric or another color of felt
4 tiny buttons
Embroidery floss in black, light pink, and a color of your choice. I chose a contrasting color, but when it was all done, I wished I had chosen a color that would have blended in better with my felt.
An embroidery needle
The pattern I created for you (click to save PDF)

Save, print, and cut out the templates. Trace the cat template on your felt once, then flip it over and trace again. If you do this, any remnants of your tracing line will be to the inside of the ornament when you're finished.

2. Repeat with the hearts. If your scrap of fabric has a special pattern, you will probably want to trace the hearts in a certain place so the pattern you want comes through, as I did below.

3. Sew the hearts on to the cats, remembering to turn one of the cats over so that it's backwards from the other one. If you don't turn one over, one of your hearts will be inside the finished ornament.

I sewed my heart by going up through the felt and down through the heart the whole way around, but you could also do a running stitch if you like that look better. A running stitch is where you go up and down around the edge of the heart, staying on the heart the whole time. More on running stitch here, or you can look it up on YouTube if you're interested. What I used is just a basic straight stitch, but there's no tutorial for that.
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4. Next, sew on the button eyes. Be sure to sew them on the same side of the felt that the heart is on. I made both sides of my ornament the same, so I used 4 eyes per ornament.

5. Next, embroider a little nose and mouth on your cat. I think this really makes him cute. Using straight stitches, I tried to make a little triangle nose, a smile, and two whiskers on each side. Use the following picture as a guide.

6. Next, sew around the edge of the cat from the neck opposite the tail to just above the bottom on the same side, as in the picture below. You don't have to take the needle off of the thread; just leave it hanging for now.
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7. Stuff the kitty. To do this, take a little chunk of stuffing, about the half the size of your thumb, and stuff it in the opening. Repeat until the cat is as fluffy as you like. Using little wads like this will keep your ornament from getting lumpy.
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8. Once your ornament is as puffy as you want, finish sewing the opening shut. Knot and cut your string.

9. Cut a piece of embroidery floss about 6 inches long and run it through the head near the top. Tie this off for a hanger.
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Your cat ornament is finished! Hang it on your tree or in the window.

Cat sachet

If you wanted to make sachets out of these cats, you could put some potpourri or dried lavender leaves and flowers inside the cat in between the wads of stuffing. Leave off the hanging string and stick the kitty in a drawer to make your clothes smell nice.

The Christmas Cat

This craft was inspired by a very sweet book called The Christmas Cat. It's about how baby Jesus was crying and crying, and all of the animals in the stable tried to comfort him, but nothing worked until a small kitten curled up beside him and purred. Further on in the book, this kitten saves His life.

Of course, as a cat lover, this book was right up my alley. I love how it combined the real Christmas story with something that most kids can relate to - the purring of a beloved kitty.