I bought some of these wooden laser cut cross-stitch pendants many months ago from The Workroom and when I came across this project on Pinterest this weekend, I remembered that I needed to stitch some up! This is what I worked on during my hotel holiday weekend I mentioned. Even though they are relatively fast projects (it's not like you're making a quilt!) the did take me many hours a piece, but I was entertained with movies. These two little guys were serious therapy for me. Isn't that funny what crafting can do for a creative soul? It's just what I needed this past weekend.
These pendants were screaming for something 60's or 70's inspired, so I went searching online for some inspiration. I had no patterns, so I needed to come up with something. I stumbled onto these Vintage Japanese Ondori patterns from Gina's Flickr (of Doe-c-Doe). She has the most incredible collection of all kinds of vintage things, especially vintage craft books.
These Ondori stitch books are hard to come by, but I have procured a couple from Ebay/Etsy in the past. I used her photos as a guide and then asked her if it was okay for me to post about these on my blog. The good news is that I ordered an Ondori stitch book this weekend off Ebay and both of these patterns ended up being in it, along with a ton of other fantastic, small patterns that will work perfectly for more of these pendants. I can see these becoming my go-to-gift-craft. They are easy and fast to finish and so satisfying for that reason. I have SO many unfinished huge projects lying around, it's nice to find something that can be finished in a weekend. I can see these becoming addictive!
I bought some 36" chains at Michaels for these. I like the idea of them being long necklaces. I already have ideas for the next one I make. I guess I need to buy some more blank pendants!
If you end up making some of these, my tip would be to use three threads of regular embroidery thread (instead of the entire six) or you can also use cotton thread. I used that as well. I also used a cross-stitch needle. It was small enough to fit through the small holes in the pendant.
credits: Background patterned paper courtesy American Crafts from Liz Kartchner's new line. Digital Ribbon in intro photo by Minitoko.
