Carousel felt ornament with red and white striped canopy, red, green, yellow and blue decoration, three little felt horses with striped poles, and glass beads to represent strings of lights.

Tilly & Puffin’s Christmas Carousel is a new collection of felt ornament patterns. The designs evoke the atmosphere of traditional European Christmas markets, with their bustling stalls full of festive decorations and produce, the mulled wine and hot chocolate, ice skating and colourful fairground rides.

Last December I visited the Christmas market in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was inspired by the beautifully decorated carousel and giant nutcracker figures.  I have a growing collection of nutcrackers which I bring out each Christmas, but this particular one would take up rather too much space!

Close-up of a colourful carousel showing carved wooden horses and gold poles.
Sylvia standing with a giant nutcracker figure at Belfast Christmas market

The first pattern in the collection is the carousel itself. It’s a fairly detailed project but the step by step instructions and photos will help you put all the pieces together and create a special ornament to be brought out year after year.

I’ve used felt in a range of bright colours, with the addition of round glass beads to represent the fairground lights. You can get creative, choose your own colours, and add as much extra decoration and sparkle as you like.

The finished Carousel felt ornament with a small pair of scissors.
Some sheets printed from the PDF pattern, showing the photos and step-by-step instructions.

The carousel horse and Christmas tree patterns are works in progress, and in future I plan to add a nutcracker, an old-fashioned ice skate and some tall, historic townhouses.

Look out for a free pattern to go with this collection, coming soon!

You can see more and download the carousel pattern here.

Collage showing the Christmas Carousel, Christmas Tree and Carousel Horse felt ornaments from Tilly & Puffin's Christmas Carousel Collection.