Planet Earth came out a couple of months ago with leather rounds for ornaments in several colors. They are available in ivory, gold, green, aqua, royal blue, hot pink, red, silver and mustard. They hold a 4″ round needlepoint and are 5″ in diameter. Although you don’t see it in the picture, the ornaments come with a leather bow in the same color. These can easily slip off if not wanted. Retail prices are $32-$36.
Besides the bow, another nice feature is that the silver hanger cord is attached with a leather tab at the top of the ornament. This makes for a secure hanger. You could also use this as a place to add decorations without worrying that the hanger will come apart.
Like all Planet Earth leather goods, the ornaments have strong double-sided adhesive on them. Happily, the package includes instructions for finishing. The method for finishing is similar to finishing their boxes and coasters. Begin by checking that your needlepoint will be the correct size. The instructions suggest you make a copy of the canvas and test fit it into the round. I do this by checking it with the actual canvas, usually after stitching, but before cutting.
After your needlepoint is stitched, trim the needlepoint to within 2 threads of the stitching. Remove the paper covering the adhesive. This can be done by scoring the paper cover with scissors. At this point, I run my finger under the entire leather edge to loosen it.
Once the adhesive is exposed, place your needlepoint on it, making sure that it is centered and oriented correctly. Press down the needlepoint firmly to activate the adhesive.
Your trimmed edges are sitting on top of the ornament and need to be ticked in. This can be done with your fingers, a butter knife, or a thin Cricut spatula. I use my fingers except for tricky areas where I use the spatula. If there are stray threads at the edges, tick them in or cut them off. After all the edges are tucked in, I press down all around to have the leather stick to the adhesive. The folks at Planet Earth told me that trimming close would allow the adhesive to grab the leather — and they were right. My finish looks very professional.
Although for decades I have used the Lee luggage tags and ornaments I like the Planet Earth ornaments much better. I like that there are several available colors. With 4″ rounds becoming very popular, Lee’s restriction to gold and silver in this size is a problem. I’m not wild about metallic colors for ornaments this large because I think it detracts from the needlework, so the colors available are perfect for me. I also love the sturdy hanger. More than once I have pulled a Lee hanger out as I was finishing the ornaments. I don’t need to worry about that here. I also love the professional finish that was so easy to do.
In fact, I like it so much it’s encouraging me to go through the stash to find more projects to finish this way. I can already think of a few.
The ornaments are currently available in many shops, but they are selling fast. The stitch guide for this canvas is now available in my Etsy shop.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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