Tutorial: Living Water International Christmas Tree Ornament

Now this one may seem a little odd! A water drop on the Christmas tree? You should know that part of the Advent Conspiracy is to donate some of the money we would have spent on conventional Christmas presents to Living Water International to dig wells in Africa and other less-developed countries. Living Water International exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water, and to experience “living water”—the gospel of Jesus Christ—which alone satisfies the deepest thirst.

(I also happen to be privately amused by hanging raindrops on a Christmas tree since it seems more accurate here in the Pacific Northwest than pretty snowflakes)

YOU NEED:

-a pen

-sharp scissors

-a needle

-felt and embroidery floss

-pattern ( I drew mine by hand as seen in the bottom photo. You can make your own raindrop shapes by folding a paper in half and cutting out a shape. Folding the paper in half helps to develop an exactly symmetrical water drop shape. Adjust until you have a shape that you are satisfied with. My large raindrops were approximately 3 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches tall. My small water drops were about one inch smaller all around.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut out pattern pieces.

2. With a pen, trace the water drop shapes onto the felt. Cut two felt water drops from each size. To avoid having the ink marks show, cut just inside of the ink line you traced.

3. Carefully split the embroidery floss in half. It is much easier to sew with 3 strands than with 6.

4. Center one small water drop on the larger drop. Stitch around the edge of the smaller drop to attach it to the larger drop. Repeat with the second set of water drops.

5. Embellish the front with any additional stitching. If you know some fancy stitches this would be a good place to show them off. Or you could stitch the year or the recipient’s name.

6. Stack the water drops together with the decorated sides out. Stitch around the edges through both pieces of felt. Be careful to tuck all knots and thread ends between the two pieces of felt.

7. Tie a loop at the top of the water drop so an ornament hanger can be attached.

8. Go to https://www.water.cc/ to make a donation to Living Water International.

9. Give this ornament to a friend or family member with a card explaining the mission of Living Water International and how, in lieu of a traditional Christmas gift, you’ve chosen to provide clean water and the gospel to those in need.

Tip: I embroidered my raindrop with pale green and pale gold embroidery floss. However, I think they would be stunning with bright blue or turquoise stitches.