handmade Christmas ornaments for 2011

It should be no surprise that we like to make things.  Christmas theme things are no exception.  Our tree (Dougie Wonderfir) this year looked like this:

Project #1:  Garland

This year, I was set on making some sort of garland.  I had thought about going the paper circles looped together route, but then I looked at my scalloped circle hole punch.  And my massive world atlas I came across for free.  And my garland was born.

I started by punching out hundreds (really!) of circles from different maps.  Then I simply starting sewing a long line without cutting the thread.  I was left with a really long chain of garland.  I ended up making 2 different chains for my tree.

It really couldn't have been easier and faster.  This project reminded me of how much I love garlands.  This could also be a year round decoration.  

Total cost: $0

Project #2: Felt Circle Trees

I found these circle felt trees at Target a few weeks before Christmas.

I loved them.  I wanted them for my tree.  $3 was pretty cheap, but I knew I could make them without much effort.  

I did not have the thicker felt the store bought trees had, but I do have just about every color of felt under the sun.  The end result:

My trees ended up having a bit more movement and I opted to not included the rolled up felt for the trunk.  Or the circle topper.  I used plastic beads I've had forever and spaced two beads between each layer of felt.

Simple, colorful, and fun.  

Total cost: $0.

O Christmas wreath, o Christmas wreath....how little did you cost me to make

We put the tree up, decorated our house so me, have been opening our advent calendar everyday, and making ornaments.  But I had yet to make a season appropriate wreath for our front door.  We've had this everyday wreath up since the summer.  I love it, but it doesn't say Christmas and winter goodness.  So this past weekend I made one that does.  Oh and it cost nothing.

All that's needed is:

* wreath form (I used an extra flat one I had leftover from last Christmas for this recycled milk cap wreath)

*yarn

*felt

*ribbon

*hot glue

*scissors

First, I started out by tying a knot with the yarn through one of the wreath form holes.

  

Then, I just kept wrapping the yarn around and around and around until it was completely covered.  This is really easy and the yarn stays in place without any glue.  This would've been even more easier if I wouldn't have chosen yarn that was in one huge tangle.  But the color was just right and was worth the extra effort of untangling.  

Green!

I only went around once, but you could do multiple layers with the yarn if you wanted.  I don't mind a faint bit of the brown form peeking through in certain areas.

Next, I made some felt flowers.  I have loved this technique since I found a tutorial online and used it in my previous wreath.  (For felt flower how-to, see this summer wreath post.)  I made a bunch and then hot glued them in place.

I chose to go with grays, creams, and a hint of blue for the flowers.  I didn't want to make a completely literally red and green Christmas wreath that I'd have to take down in 2 weeks.  Instead I wanted something a bit more winter season than December 25th.  

After all the flowers were securely in place, I still thought it needed something else.  So I found some brown ribbon and tied a bow to the top of the wreath.  I then glued a red felt flower to the center of the ribbon.  

Perfect winter wreath for $0.

Coming this Wednesday....

Meet the elephants! These ellie-guys and ellie-girls with be in the shop on Wednesday.

They're all decked out in their finest....

...and getting in shape in the meantime.

I love felt and making an easy summer wreath

I recently made (or actually upgraded) a wreath for a front door.  This weaved twig wreath has been on our front door since winter.  Back in the holiday months, it sported some festive ribbon and tiny glass balls.  After Christmas, I removed the decorations and just kept the bare wreath up.  Everyday it seemed to be saying to me, "Cloth me!  Decorate me again!"

I finally listened.

 And one of the best parts is, I already had everything I needed for the project!

The supplies needed are very few.  Felt (any felt will do really, even the cheaper sheets available at craft stores are great for making these flowers, so there's no need to buy the expensive felt.), glue gun, and wreath.  That's it.  I already had the wreath and a glue gun and felt are pretty much staples in our house.  So the total cost of this project = $0.

 First step is to cut out circles of felt.  Then, cut in to the circle making a spiral shape.  At the beginning, cut a normal strip and gradually have the strip get thicker.  You'll end up with a little circle "knob" in the middle.  It should look something like this:

Starting at the narrow end of the spiral, roll the felt up.  Be sure to keep the bottom of the felt lined up straight.  

As you keep going, little "petals" will form.  It will start looking a little something like this:

 Here's where the glue gun comes in.  When you roll up all the felt and get to the center, put a dollop of glue on the felt right before the spiral gets to the center "knob".  

The last step is putting a few more dollops of glue along the flower back and then pressing the center down.  

Hello finished felt flower!

Making these flowers can be very addicting.  It's super easy to do and you can make them in all different colors and even in multiple tones.  If you're like me, you'll make more than enough for your wreath.

Next, comes placement.  I recommend laying them on the wreath before gluing to get the design and composition that you want.  

Once you're happy with the placement, hot glue the flowers on.  You can always add things like ribbon or buttons to the wreath, too.  

And the finished wreath hanging:

A lovely and incredibly easy summer wreath.  You'd be foolish not to make one yourself!

the campfire...in felt!

You may remember me gushing about this book on this post.

After completing two additional african violets, I finally made my way to the campfire.  Who doesn't love a good campfire?  They really go hand in hand with the summer season.  Here is the finished result:

First, I sewed the three logs.  Each log has hand embroidered "knots" for a more realistic appearance.




Surprisingly, these went pretty fast.  I enjoyed free embroidering the bark lines and was surprised by how much they resembled logs after being sewn up and stuffed.  Quite frankly, I could've stopped there.   (I do have plans in my head of doing an original tree stump in the near future!)

Here's the three finished logs all sewn and stuffed.

Next, came the final piece, the flame.  I opted for standard fire colors of bright yellow, orange, and red.  The flame is actually three separate pieces with three different colors per piece.  

Here's a close up of the flame.  Each felt piece is blanket stitched around the edges and together.  I used red thread for all the colors instead of matching the felt for a little added detail.  Crazy, I know.

Here's a shot from above, showing the three sections sewn together.  The directions have you gluing the three complete flame sections together and then sewing the edges together.  I found the glue to be rather messy and well, my fabric glue was rock hard.  So I skipped this step for the most part.  Instead of gluing, I just used some trusty sewing pins and pinned the three finished flame pieces together and stitched the edges to join everything.  I found this to work great.  

Another view of the three sides.

Overall, I really love this project.  It's easy (I found it a lot easier and faster to finish then the african violets...although, I did make 3 of the violets in a fairly short amount of time, so I may have just really liked the change!)

All that's missing is the s'mores! (Which actually there is a project for them in the book too!)  This would be fun to put in a fireplace you don't use or in a corner of a room.  Maybe even outside for a little non working fire pit for a summer gathering.

My new favorite craftbook

About a month ago, I was reading a few different craft blogs and kept seeing the same book everywhere- Big Little Felt Universe.   The cover instantly caught my attention.  There's just something about apples and felt that makes me get really excited.  So I decided to look into this book.  

One of the first project pages I saw was the camping set.  Yes, that's a campfire and a lantern and a s'more made from felt.  Clearly, this was my kind of book!  

(above book photos courtesy of this great blog)

Then I laid my excited eyes on this photo.  Bamboo, african violets, and a cactus.  Really, who wouldn't want these lined along their windows?  No watering needed!  So I placed my order and waited for my book to arrive.  It took a week and then the package arrived.  The only downside was I was about a week and a half away from Spring Bada Bing. 

I really needed to focus on that show so I had to put my new favorite craft book aside.

Luckily, this past weekend, I was able to try my first felt project from the book.  I knew it would be a plant, I just couldn't decide which one.  In the end I went with the African Violet.

All the projects in the book are hand sewn, so you can really work on them everywhere.  Which is exactly what I did.  I took the leaves to work to sew during lunch, worked a little on the flowers outside, and constructed the pot in the wee morning hours in my craft room.

Oh, and did I mention that you can take the plant out of the pot?  This kills me.  How cool is that? 

Here's my newest plant soaking in a little sun in the bedroom.  

Up next, I'm leaning towards the cactus.  But first I'm planning on making two more of these for two lucky people for gifts.  I really loved sewing three dimensionally with the felt.  I usually do flat work, (with the exception of my owls) and liked the feeling of building something you could use or give to someone to play with or just feel. 

There's over 70 projects in the book and I doubt I'll make all of them, but it's definitely inspiring!

New Pins!

I've been making a bunch of new pins lately.  Some are in the shop and some I'm holding back for spring craft shows. 

This one is a little ode to spring and the succulent:

I love these plants!  I'm so looking forward to getting some seeds and plants started in the next week or so.