10-minute Christmas cuddle blanket

This adorable cozy cuddle blanket can be whipped up in just 10 minutes, and it's perfect for holiday snuggling!

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You might already know that I'm a huge fan of doing something special for every day of December, as we count down to Christmas.

Usually, that's a craft that the kids and I make together, or sometimes it's something festive that we do as a family - like baking Christmas cookies.

But sometimes the "special thing" is just a happy little surprise that makes everything feel a bit more like Christmas.

This year, these cozy Christmas cuddle blankets were one of those little happy things.

Now, there is nothing original about sewing two pieces of fabric together and calling it a blanket...

Honestly, these are so easy to make, I kind of can't believe I'm sharing this and calling a "tutorial", with a straight face. These whip up faster than my stove boils water.

But that really is the joy of this. They're SO EASY. And they feel like love.

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Cute flannel + squishy soft minky = perfect Christmas coziness. DONE. 🙌

1. Choosing fabric for a Christmas lap blanket

To make a good lap-sized throw blanket, you really just need one yard each of two different fabrics. For these, I used soft flannel for the front, and minky for the back.

The adorable penguins and seals fabric that I used is from last year, so it's hard to find now online. But if you do a search for "Christmas flannel by the yard" on Etsy, you'll find tons of sweet options. I especially like these cute and playful woodland creatures!

You can find minky fabric almost anywhere. This soft gray minky would be a similar feel to the one I used.

Keep in mind that while these fabrics can be expensive now, if you keep your eyes open after the holidays, "winter themed" fabrics often go on sale and can be really cheap to add to your stash for next year!

I had bought both of these fabrics on sale, so each blanket ended up costing me less than $4 to make.

2. Prep your materials

It's always a good idea to wash, dry and iron your fabric before working with it. Next, check that your fabric is cut to a straight yard. We're shooting for fabric pieces that are 36" long, times the width of your narrowest fabric (very often this will be 42" or 54" - either of which makes a nicely sized lap blanket.)

If the fabric wasn't cut on a straight line at the store, go ahead and trim it to a straight edge now.

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3. Lay out the fabric

On large clean surface, lay the fabrics flat, with right sides together.

Starting from the center, smooth out the fabrics so that they're lying good and flat. If one cut of fabric is significantly larger than the other, you can trim it to the same size as the smaller piece.

4. Pin the fabrics together

Using more pins than you probably think necessary, go ahead and pin the fabrics together thoroughly, so they won't slip around while you're sewing.

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5. Stitch the blanket

Double-check that the blanket is pinned with right sides together, wrong sides out.

Now stitch around the blanket, using a ½" seam allowance, and leaving a 5" gap unstitched in the center of one of the long sides.

Locking your stitches at the beginning and ending of this seam makes it easier to turn the blanket right side out, without pulling loose any stitches at the edge of the opening.

I find that using a slightly longer than usual stitch setting works well for sewing thick, squishy layers like this.

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6. Trim the corners

Trim the corners as shown, about ⅛-1/4 inch away from the stitching. Trimming the corners allows for nicer, square corners on the finished blanket, without interior bunching.

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7. Turn the blanket right-side-out

Remove all of the pins, then carefully turn the blanket right-side-out, through the 5" gap you left in the long side seam.

Smooth the edges. Twiddle with the corners, using a chopstick or pencil if necessary, to fully poke the corners into place, and smooth every area along the edges.

8. Sew the open area closed

You can either do this by hand, using a blind stitch, or simply top stitch closely to the edge, using your sewing machine. I used my machine, because it's so fast, and that really keeps this whole project under ten minutes.

If you want to, you can actually top-stitch around the edge of the entire blanket. Some feel this gives it a more finished look, and for low-pile fabrics I generally agree. For a thick, squishy blanket like this one, I feel it actually detracts from the look rather than improving it. This is totally a matter of personal preference.

And...that's it. You're done.

Have fun with this, friends. And tag me on Instagram if you make one, eh? I'm @saltinmycoffee. I LOVE seeing what you make!

Bring on the cozy.

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