Felt Taco Christmas Ornament - TUTORIAL

Who doesn’t love tacos?  Taco Tuesday doesn’t come often enough, I say.   I seriously think I could eat tacos every day and be a very happy woman.

I don’t actually know how it crept into my mind, but the other day at work I was pondering whether I could make a taco Christmas ornament from felt.  Because a taco Christmas ornament.  Or how about a taco themed tree????

Oh yes.

So after discussing the possibility of a felt taco I went home and made one up.  And then another, and then another….

And I did indeed make a whole Christmas tree of felt tacos!  Vintage pom pom trim was the perfect garland, and the tree skirt an old wool quilt my great grandmother made.  I found the perfect glitter star topper at the Dollar Tree!

Can I just take a second right now to reflect upon how much I love working at the library?  Cause I had a whole 10 minute conversation with a coworker about the felt taco, and I don’t think she thought I was weird.  Library people are awesome.

And along the way, I decided this should be a tutorial because wouldn’t EVERYONE want a felt taco ornament on their Christmas tree?  And really, they’re so easy to make.  A lot of hot glue and a tiny bit of sewing.

Read below to see how to make them.

I used a couple of Sizzix dies to cut the circles for the taco shell and lettuce pieces, because the dies make quick work of cutting the shapes and also create perfect circles.  You can also cut those shapes by hand, and I’ve included a free pattern to make it easier. 

Materials

Mustard felt (for taco shell)

Green felt (for lettuce)

Goldenrod yellow felt (for cheese)

Lemon yellow felt (for cheese)

Brown jumbo chenille stem (for meat)

1/8” wide ribbon, any color

Tacky glue

Hot glue gun

Sizzix dies:  Sizzix Bigz Die – Circle, 4” and Sizzix Bigz Die – Circles, 1 ½” (Affiliate link. A commission will be paid to me if you click the link and purchase a product from Sizzix.)

OR, use the free pattern to hand cut the circles

Making felt tacos is a lot like making real tacos.  You gather and prep your ingredients and then use them to build yummy tacos.  So let’s create our ingredients...  If you plan on making a bunch of tacos, prep all of your ingredients at once and you can assemble them like you’ve got a little felt taco bar going on.

Prep the taco shells

Each shell uses 2 4” circles of mustard felt and 7.5” of ribbon.  You can cut the circles with a 4” circle Sizzix die or use the free pattern.

Squeeze little dabs of Tacky Glue all over the back of one mustard felt circle.  I go pretty light with the glue so it doesn’t bleed through the felt.  You just need enough to baste the layers together while you sew around the edge.

Make a loop of ribbon and glue the ends just inside the top of the circle.

Layer the second mustard felt circle on top and set aside to dry.

 

Make the meat

Cut 7” of the brown jumbo chenille stem.

Fold both ends inside toward the middle so the meat is roughly 4” long.

It will look like a little poo.  A little fuzzy poo.  That is okay.

 

Make the lettuce

Use the 1.5” circles Sizzix die to cut a bunch of circles from green felt, or cut them by hand using the free pattern.

Cut each circle into quarters to make lettuce leaves.

 

Make the cheese

Stack two 1.5” x 2.5” pieces of yellow felt (golden rod and lemon yellow)

Sew a line of stitching down the center lengthwise.

Cut fringe on either side of the stitching.  Cut close to (but not through) the stitch line.

 

Finish your taco shells

Once the glue has dried, stitch the circles together 1/8” from the edge.

 

Now let’s assemble our tacos! 

Fold the taco shell in half, with the loop at approximately 11:00 position.  Crease to find the center.

Glue the meat to the center of the taco, using several lines of hot glue.

You may also want to add extra hot glue to help the sides of the taco shell form upwards around the meat.

Next, lettuce!  Use hot glue to add lettuce to the top of the meat and partially up the sides of the taco.  It’s good to have a few pieces peeking out the sides or the top so it will be visible once the taco is finished.

Finally, the cheese.   Twist the cheese piece so the fringe sticks out every which way.

Lay a thick line of hot glue on top of the lettuce and place your twisted cheese piece on top.

That’s it, you’re done! You made a felt taco!!

Now show all your friends and let them be in awe of your crafty self.

Or make enough to cover a whole tree....