Murder on the Orient Express - Pocket Watch Ornament

Every Thursday in July we are making a new ornament for our Murder on the Orient Express Christmas tree. This week we're featuring the pocket watch ornament. The pocket watch represents another clue left at the scene, but looks great on a tree so deserves to be an ornament of its own. We added the gold button that was also a clue found at the scene, just to give it a little more flair.

Materials:

Pocket Watch (preferably with movable hands)

Gold button

Ribbon

Scissors

Glue

Step One: Attach Your Ribbon Hanger

Cut your ribbon to the size you need and loop it through the gold button and the top of the pocket watch. Tie a knot in the end and position your gold button so it shows from the front.

Step Two: Set and Glue Watch Hands

If your pocket watches have hands, set them so that the time is 1:15, which is the time shown on the broken pocket watch in the book. Put a dab of glue under each hand so that the time stays at 1:15 and doesn’t move when you’re packing and unpacking your tree ornaments each year. The ornament pictured here shows what happens if you don’t glue the hands, our watch isn’t showing the correct time.

If your watch doesn’t have hands, you can use black paint to paint them to the time, then you won’t need to glue anything. You can also glue fake hands to the watch face, using a sliver of black or gold paper or wire.

Here is the ornament on the tree next to last week's project, the clues ornament. 

Murder on the Orient Express - Clues Ornament

Every year Mystery Playground works on ornaments for a mystery-themed Christmas tree. And our theme this year is a salute to...Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. We do this in July so you have plenty of time to get your materials together and make your own for December. 

Our second ornament for the tree has all the clues you need to solve the mystery. This ornament was a group effort of the entire team - Lorraine Masonheimer, Kerry Hammond, Sharon Long and Deborah Lacy. 

No Murder on the Orient Express Christmas tree would be complete without an ornament dedicated to some of the clues found in and around the crime scene. Anyone who has read the book knows that there were an abundance of clues, each one leading Poirot in a different direction entirely, but when combined, led him to the solution.

We chose three clues for the ornament: A handkerchief with an “H” embroidered on it, a gold button, and a pipe cleaner.

Materials:

Handkerchief

Pipe cleaner

Gold button

Needle and thread

Scissors

Ribbon

Step One: The Handkerchief

A handkerchief with the monogrammed letter “H” was found at the scene. For this ornament, we chose to purchase monogrammed handkerchiefs online. You can also use a sewing machine or a needle and thread and hand stich the “H” on a scrap of fabric or white handkerchief. There was no mention of the color of the thread or the font used, so it’s up to you to decide how it looks.

Step Two: The Button

A gold button from a Wagon Lit uniform jacket was also found at the scene of the crime. Any gold button will do, but the more ornate the better, as I picture the buttons on the uniforms to be very shiny and involved. Using your needle and thread, sew the button anywhere on the handkerchief as you would sew a button on a shirt.

Step Three: The Pipe Cleaner

A pipe cleaner was found in the victims sleeping car as well. We used a black one and threaded it through the button’s back hole. We wrapped the pipe cleaner around a pen to swirl it, but this is optional.

Step Four: The Ribbon

Using your scissors, cut 2 parallel slits in the top of your handkerchief. Loop a piece of ribbon through and tie it off. This will allow you to hang your clues ornament on your tree.

Come back next week for our next Murder on the Orient Express ornament. 

Crafty Thursday: The Sherlock Tree

2016 is the year of the Sherlock Tree! Every year at Mystery Playground we do a mystery-themed holiday tree. Last year was a crime scene theme and this year it's Sherlock's turn. We make these in the summer every year and post them in for our Christmas in July feature and recap them in December. You'll find links to all of the ornaments below. All of them are quick and easy for the most part, except for the Mind Palace ornament because it's ceramic, you'll need access to a kiln for that one. 

First up we have the Silhouette Cube Sherlock Ornaments you see in the photo above. And then there's my favorite ornament, The 221b Dollhouse Door. 

Next we have the Mind Palace ornaments. These are inspired by the swirling words of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock. These add a little color to the tree. 

And last are probably the easiest and fastest to make:  The Sherlock cut out ornaments.

If you have an idea for next year's tree, let us know in the comments below.

Sherlock Tree

We've been working on our Sherlock themed tree for this year's Christmas in July and this week we're showcasing more Sherlock-type ornaments that you can buy for your tree. The Snoopy Sherlock above came out several years ago, but you can find it on eBay pretty easily at reasonable prices. 

Here is a violin ornament. Any violin will do. 

This phone box ornament came from World Market. It's more suited to modern day Sherlock, but it still works and provides a little color for the tree. 

You can also make any of the ornaments from our craft series in July:

• The Mind Palace ornament
• The 221b Door Ornament
• The illustration cut out ornament

And the silhouette cube.

Which Sherlock ornament is your favorite? 

Christmas in July: Sherlock Tree - 221b Door

It's Christmas in July at Mystery Playground and we're making a Sherlock ornament filled tree this summer at the excellent suggestion of Pattie Tierney. We do this in the summer so you have plenty of time to plan your own Sherlock tree before the holidays really get rolling. You can see our Mind Palace ornaments, the Illustration Cut Out ornaments, and the Silhouette Cube ornaments from earlier in the month. 

Today we're making a 221b Door Ornament. I've seen these all over Pinterest, so I can't say it's my original idea, but it's so many places there isn't one place to tip the hat. They are so cute, I couldn't leave them out of this series. Turns out they are pretty easy to make. 

Materials:

• Wooden Dollhouse Door (I got one that opens)
• Dollhouse Door Knob
• Wood Stain or Paint
• Gold paint for the letters
• Little foam brush
• Tiny paint brush or wooden BBQ skewer
• Paper Plate
• Paper Towels
• Newspaper to cover the table
• Gorilla Glue (not pictured)
• Elmers Glue (not pictured)
• A piece of thin ribbon - three inches long (not pictured)

Step One:
Paint your dollhouse door. I used wood stain because I had it around. You want to paint all sides and it may take more than one coat to get it just right. Use a damp paper towel to quickly clean away any drips or excess. 

Before

After

Step Two:
After your door has dried, now is the tricky part - painting on the 221b. Now, there are commercially make little numbers for dollhouse doors, but you'll need two sets and you'll still have to paint the b anyway. I decided just to wing it and paint all of the letters. It isn't perfect, but it's good enough for most Sherlock trees. I practiced on my paper plate with the gold paint and discovered that the BBQ skewer allowed be to be a little more precise than the paint brush. You may want to try both on the paper plate and see which you like best. Let dry. 

Step Three:
Glue your little door knob onto your little door. Use just enough Gorilla Glue so it doesn't drip down the sides or through the little key hole. Let the door knob dry. 

Step Four:
Now you are ready to make a hanger. Cut the ribbon to three inches long. Make a loop and use the Elmer's glue to adhere the ends to the top of the door. Let dry.

Step Five:
Since the door opens, you can take a photo of your favorite Sherlock and glue the outsides of the photo to the frame. 

And now you are done. We'll be back in a few months to show you the entire tree and make suggestions for Sherlock ornaments that you can put on the tree with these four beauties. 

- Deborah Lacy