My family and I were fortunate enough to get to spend Christmas in Disneyland a couple of years ago. It's something I would do every single year if I could. If you think the Happiest Place on Earth can't get any happier, just try waking up there on Christmas morning.
One of the things we noticed everywhere were the adorable Mickey and Minnie caramel apples, dressed up in holiday colors. The red and green didn't make me want to eat them as much as I wanted to hang them on my tree. So, that's just what I decided to do! Of course, my version can be stowed away and used year after year.
To make these you'll need felt rectangles in red, green, white and dark brown, two long lollipop sticks, 16 inches of ribbon, a piece of cardboard and this pattern (download the pdf here).
Cut the largest piece, as indicated on the pattern, from cardboard. A recycled cereal box is the perfect thickness. Cut that same piece from the dark brown felt for the back. Cut all the other pieces as shown. Cut the ribbon in half so you have two 8-inch pieces.
I have a few tips to make cutting the difficult pieces a bit easier. When cutting the cuff for Mickey's hat, cut around the entire shape first, then cut in the notches to create the poof effect. Rather than trying to pin the circle for the top of the hat to the felt, just hold the pattern in place with your thumb on top of the felt and cut around it. I made those little circles for Minnie's bow with a hole punch. It didn't always cut completely through, but it left an indent I could follow to finish cutting with scissors. Minnie's bow is shown with a tiny bit holding the two sides together, but don't worry if you cut them apart. You can just glue each side on.
To begin assembling your ornament, lay the cardboard down first. Glue the dark brown head on top with a hot glue gun.
Add the red bottom on top of the brown. Be sure not to push too hard on the red felt or your hot glue might bleed through to the front. For some reason, I found this to be more of a problem with the red than any other color. You could use craft glue instead if you're more patient than I am and can wait for it to dry.
For Mickey, glue on the two green buttons and red hat as shown.
Add the white cuff so it covers the bottom edge of the hat and dot on top.
For Minnie, glue the dots on the skirt with some overlapping the edge and cut off the excess. Glue the hat on.
Add the bow so the bottom edge is even with the hat. Glue the center dot where the two sides of the bow meet and scatter three small dots on each side of the bow.
To finish both ornaments, lay them face down so the cardboard is showing. Glue the lollipop stick in the center with the bottom of the stick even with the bottom of the ornament. If you aren't able to find the sticks, you could use a wooden popsicle stick instead, just make sure to glue it higher up on the ornament so it's tall enough at the top.
Glue the ends of the ribbon on either side of the stick with a loop at the top.
Glue the final piece of felt onto the back.
Mickey's ready for his Christmas tree debut.
And both of them look good enough to eat!
Staci has been sewing and crafting for as long as she can remember. If there's a technique she hasn't tried, it's probably on her wish list. At her blog, Crafty Staci, she shares beginner-friendly craft and sewing tutorials, simple recipes and her successful, and sometimes not-so-successful, attempts at expressing her own creativity. She hopes to encourage others to create and keep handmade alive and well. In addition to her blog, you can find Staci at Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.
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