Truck Ornament Tutorial

So I decided to start a little tradition of making Jack an ornament every Christmas. Of course, this was only his second holiday so I'm not sure that's really a tradition..yet. But, in any case, here's what I whipped up for him! It's a "dumper" (Jack's really classy word for dump truck), it is blue & orange (his favorite colors) and it has his name on it. You'd think he'd love it, right? Well- sadly this little truck couldn't live up to the appeal & excitement of Legos....but maybe he'll love it someday.

I, however, am quite pleased with the results & realized the ' technique' I used could work for many different shapes (butterflies, owls, bugs.....) & could have a variety of uses (party favors, gift tags....) . So here's a brief description of how I put it all together:

{first off, here's the sentimental, mushy-mom back side}

Found an image online (image top left - as if it's not obvious) . Using that image as a reference (though I should be really good at drawing trucks by now!) sketched out the basic outline/elements of the truck (see drawing to the right). Traced the outline of that image with a 1/4" allowance (see drawing to bottom left).

Cut out background color using the outline I had created.

Cut apart felt shapes from my initial sketch to create 'pieces' to overlay on top of the background piece. Some pieces needed trimming to fit just right.

Embroidered Jack's name on main part of the dump truck. Fitted all pieces together, leaving approximately equal gaps between all shapes.


Top-stitched all pieces onto the back side using matching colored- thread.

*Steps not shown in photos: Cut out another background piece. Put the "front" on top of the "back" (which I had embroidered with the year) and top-stitched around the edge. I also included a loop of ribbon to hang ornament from. (Batting could also have been included in between for a more three dimensional shape).
Ta da!

Did anyone else make ornaments this year? If so, I'd love to see or hear about them!