Make An Adorable Felt Wall Hanging For Chanukah!

Chanukah Felt Wall Hanging

Dear Reader, drop whatever you are doing right now and run out and get some felt! (Just please look both ways before you cross the street, we don’t need any accidents on account of this project.) You just can’t imagine the joy this little wall hanging has brought into our house since it was born early last week. And if you don’t celebrate Chanukah, well I’m sure you can think of something creative to put in the window: snowflakes, some bare branches and a few cute birds, a starry night…..The little shapes like the candles and the dreidels are removable and repositionable, thanks to tiny  squares of velcro teeth on the back of each shape. Too much fun don’t you think?

Hang a few of these together and you’re sure to win the prize for cutest holiday decor. So make some of these as gifts and surprise your kids on the first night of Chanukah and you’ll have some very happy children, plus you can certainly save them for years to come. It would even be worth loosing just a bit of sleep over this one, in my humble opinion!

You’ll Need:

  • A piece of light blue felt measuring roughly 24″ x 36″
  • Two thin wooden craft dowels roughly 26″ long
  • Felt strips for curtains roughly 30” long each
  • Yellow felt for Chanukiah and brown felt for table legs and top of window frame
  • Eyelet trim for table cloth:8″ piece
  • Silver sequin trim, roughly 2 yards
  • Silver ribbon for tying curtains
  • Fabric glue or hot glue gun used with caution
  • Adhesive backed velcro (just the side with the teeth)
  • A metal key chain ring for hanging

How To:

Felt Chanukah Step1-2

STEP 1: Draw a Chanukiah that only has five branches (four plus the shamash in the middle) on a piece of cereal box cardboard. Work on one side only until it’s as good as it can be, and then cut it out. With a felt-tipped marker, trace around your ‘half Chanukiah’ onto a piece of yellow felt. Then flip the cardboard cutout over and trace it again. This is the simplest way to make sure that both sides of your Chanukiah will match. Using sharp scissors, carefully cut out the felt Chanukiah shape.

STEP 2:
Glue your Chanukiah to the felt background and decorate with sequin trim. (The sequin trim is what makes the Chanukiah look really great, so it’s worth even a special trip to buy some at your local sewing or craft store!)

Cut a piece of fabric or eyelet trim (the tablecloth) and glue the top edge to the felt background just under the Chanukiah. Cut legs for your table from brown felt, and glue those on too. Glue on a strip of brown felt at the
top of your felt background, this is the top of the window frame.

Felt Chanukah step 3-4

STEP 3:
Make the scalloped edge at the bottom of the felt background by tracing something round, like a small glass salt holder, (shot glass) on the backside of the felt. Start in the middle and then work to the right and then to the left, tracing half circles.

Cut along the line you’ve traced to make a beautiful decorative edge. Fold top of felt background over the first wooden dowel and glue on the back.

STEP 4: Assemble curtains on the second wooden dowel. Fold strips felt over the top of the dowel and affix with glue on the back side. Make finials (the decorative knobs at the ends of the curtain rod) by gluing sets of yellow shapes to the ends of the dowel. Gather the curtains by tying a piece of ribbon or felt around the middle of each one.

STEP 5: Place the curtains on top of the background, and with thin thread, loosely bind the two dowels together at the ends. This holds the curtains to the background, and enables you to open and close the curtains.  To display your work of art, sew a metal ring to the back just behind the dowels, or tie a ribbon or long strip of felt to both ends of the dowels and hang.

STEP 6: Here’s the fun part! Decorate your wall hanging with all kinds of felt shapes that you can remove at any time. Simply affix small pieces of adhesive backed velcro (the side with the teeth) to the back of each shape and press onto felt. Cut out candles and flames, or oil cups and flames, dreidels, gelt, latkes, you name it!

Add something new each night of Chanukah as a surprise for the whole family, and enjoy! And please do spread the joy by sharing this project with your friends and family.

Comments

7 responses to “Make An Adorable Felt Wall Hanging For Chanukah!”

  1. Rachel Avatar

    That’s beautiful! Thanks so much for this, I’ll be linking.

  2. Haydee Avatar
    Haydee

    Wow, that is really gorgeous. Thanks so much for a great blog! It is freaky how you seem to be doing all the projects that I have in my head but never seem to get organised enough to do! I even have a channukia etched into a styrofoam plate – I nearly fell out of the computer chair when I saw your printing with almost an identical picture. I have tried for the last 4 years to make a felt channukia that the kids can light,but again, I just can’t seem to schedule the time ( yes….I could do more if I spent less time looking at all the craft blogs!!!)
    Thanks for the inspiration!

  3. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Hi Haydee, So glad you are enjoying the blog, please spread the word, as there seems to be a lack of Chanukah crafts out there! I know what you mean about my projects looking like the ideas in your head, that happens to me all the time, even today! My spiritual explanation for this is that the ideas are planted from above in the minds of a wide circle of people, with the idea that at least one of those people will listen and bring this idea into the world! The other explanation is that our craft projects are a product of our times and whoever has been exposed to similar images, experiences etc. may come up with similar ideas. That said, I do hope youll find the time to make your kids this felt Chanukiah, its the kind of thing from which wonderful memories are created!
    Hi Sara Rivka,
    Haydee (tzionaman@yahoo.com) has left you a comment:
    Wow, that is really gorgeous. Thanks so much for a great blog! It is freaky how you seem to be doing all the projects that I have in my head but never seem to get organised enough to do! I even have a channukia etched into a styrofoam plate – I nearly fell out of the computer chair when I saw your printing with almost an identical picture. I have tried for the last 4 years to make a felt channukia that the kids can light,but again, I just cant seem to schedule the time ( yes….I could do more if I spent less time looking at all the craft blogs!!!) Thanks for the inspiration!
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  4. Lisa Avatar

    This really is beautiful!!!! I love it! I recently discovered your blog and LOVE it!!! Very inspiring and creative!!!
    Lisa

  5. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Thanks Lisa! Its really quite simple to make, the most difficult part being cutting out the Chanukiah. Older kids can make their own with Moms help. Enjoy.
    and keep in touch!

  6. Torie H Avatar

    I love this idea!! I just found your site as I was searching for jewish holiday ideas. There is such a lack of really cute ideas out there on the web. I love this one and will be adding it to our playroom. I think I’m going to make a few different backgrounds to change for the time of year! Thanks so much for the idea!!

  7. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Thanks so much, so glad you found me! Keep in touch!

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