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Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Our 2022 Christmas ornaments: more berlingot made

 Well, the entire household got hit with colds, and I wasn't able to continue working on the ornaments until yesterday.  (You can see my earlier posts here and here.)

I made up for it a bit, but getting six berlingot (also called Dragon Boats) done last night.


I made two starting with 4 inch squares, and four starting with 3 inch squares.  Three of the smaller ones were made using a lighter carboard from gift boxes, which works better for the smaller size.  I wouldn't want to use it for the larger sizes, though, as the cardboard would easily get squeezed inwards while the strands are being wrapped tightly around the forms.  With a 4 inch square, each fold is about 2 inches long, while the 3 inch square results in 1 1/2 inch long folds.

The cats got at my materials and even wrecked the red and gold test berlingot I made, so I made another one using two strands of gold with one strand of red, all metallic yarn.  I was able to rescue the tassel, at least, and attached that to the inside, along with the hanger and starting strands of thread, when assembling the shape.

The white and gold one is wrapped with crochet cotton thread.  I was able to add beads to the points on that one, but didn't really have anything that matched the others, so the points just have dabs of fabric embellishment glue on them.  I'm happy with how they turned out.

Here are some better pictures of the first ornament I successfully made.



For our small tree, I don't plan to make more in this size, but I might go as large as using a 5 inch square for the base, which should result in berlingot that are 2 1/2 inches along each fold.  I'll have to find more cardboard that's slightly heavier than the gift box cardboard I used for the smaller ones, though, so I might just make some more from 4 inch squares, first.  

Oh!  I did finally find some of the double sided tape that I was looking for.  It was being sold with the plastic film for winterizing windows.  The double sided tape my daughter lent me is in a plastic holder, like Scotch Tape comes in, and the same width.  The window tape is a bit narrower, and in a roll with a coated paper backing.  I find it easier to be able to cut the strips to the lengths I want, place them, then remove the backing later.  The tape is also lighter and more flexible, making it better for the smaller sized ornaments. 

I do wish I had more materials suitable for decorating the points, but otherwise, I'm quite happy with how these are turning out!

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