Getting Ready For Christmas

Halloween isn't even here yet but I'm wracking my brain for handmade Christmas gift and decoration ideas. I like to give Christmas tree ornaments as gifts so my first project is a batch of pine scented linen sachet ornaments. Here's what I'll need:

• 1 yard natural colored linen
• 1 yard very low loft batting
• matching thread
• ribbon for the ornament hanger
• sewing machine or, if sewing by hand, a sharp needle
• rotary cutter or scissors
• iron
• straight pins

Christmas stamps - I love the clear stamps, they are so easy to position correctly
dark colors of ink - black, dark brown, dark green and dark red work well

For the sachet filler:

• rice, I used regular grocery store rice - doesn't matter what variety, I used the cheapest available
• pine scented oil - available at most craft stores, usually around $2.50 per bottle, a little goes a long way
• 1 large ziplock freezer bag
• small funnel - an alternative is a piece letter size piece of cardstock rolled to make a funnel
• spoon

Begin by filling the freezer bag half full of uncooked rice straight from the box or bag. Add 10-15 drops of pine scented oil. Push all of the air out of the bag and seal. Turn bag to mix rice and oil. Do not worry that the small amount of oil does not coat all the rice, the scent will be absorbed evenly as the rice sits in the bag for at least the next two hours.

Meanwhile, determine the size of sachet, for an ornament sachet I recommend a finished size of 3"x4". Cut two 3.5"x4.5" pieces of linen and two 3.5"x4.5" pieces of batting. I love my rotary cutter for this.

Now make a "sandwich" of 1 piece batting, 2 pieces of linen and 1 piece of batting. Next, using a 1/4" seam, sew the sandwich on three sides leaving one of the short sides open. Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end. Trim the edges close to the seam to decrease bulk after turning.

Turn right side out, you should have a linen cover with facing batting inside. Carefully push out corners, don't use anything too sharp. If you'd like, iron the pouch at this point to flatten the edges along the seam.

Use your clear Christmas stamps to decorate the front of your pouch. Leave at least 1/2" of plain linen at the top as that will be turned inward and sewn shut. It is not necessary to heat set your stamp because your sachet isn't going to be washed. If you do wash it you'll end up with mushy pine flavored rice in a bag. Yuck.

Next, use the spoon and funnel to fill the pouch with the scented rice. Fill to 1/2" from the top. Use a straight pin to pin closed the pouch while sewing top closed. To close top, evenly fold open edges inward and pin if needed. Use a length of your ribbon, folded in half to make the hanger by tucking the two ends into the top of the pouch to be sewn in place as you sew the top closed. I find that hand sewing the top closed with a ladder stitch is far easier than sewing it closed with the machine and ending up with scented rice all over your work table.

Once you've sewn the top shut (and simultaneously sewing the hanger in place) you're pretty much done! Of course, glitter accents are always lovely or you could add bead accents and embroidery. I recommend waiting to add these accents until after the pouch is sewn shut and the hanger is attached just in case you are disappointed with the shape, stamp placement, etc. You don't want to trash a pouch embellished with embroidery that took a great deal of time to finish. Don't stop with a simple rectangle shape sachet! Stars, hearts and tree shapes are super cute. Just follow the same assembly steps.