More Felt Ornaments

These super cute felt wreath and felt kitten Christmas ornaments I made from the patterns in A Farm Journal Craft Book Scrap Savers' Stitchery Book by Sandra Lounsbury Foose.  They were super fun to make and look great on my Christmas tree.  Besides the kitten in a Christmas stocking, and wreath ornament, the book also has patterns for a trumpet, bell, drum, Christmas tree, candle, teddy bear, rocking horse, snowman, mouse with a candy cane, train, house, Santa, and ice skate ornaments from felt.

This book has tons of cute projects perfect for families with younger children including toys, pillows, and aprons.  A third of the projects have a Christmas theme and the rest are great for anytime of year.  The best thing about the book is that it gives you great ideas on using up your fabric scraps so the projects are environmentally friendly and inexpensive.  This book is from the 1970's but the projects are timeless.  You can check your local library or grab a used copy from Amazon for a few pennies plus shipping.

Weekend Project: Felt Christmas Ornaments

These are the free directions for a one felt color ornament, with added embellishments and blanket hand stitched edges. No sewing machine required. This is a low cost, one evening project which can be easily customized to match your personal taste or your home's décor. The ornaments can be bold and bright shouting out your holiday spirit, or quiet and elegant, it all depends on your choice of colors and embellishments. I didn't buy anything to make these ornaments, I already had the crafty supplies lying around my house and used up left over beads and sequins from ornament kits and other craft projects. I always encourage recycling and thriftiness!

What: Simple beaded felt Christmas ornaments

How Long: 1-2 hours per ornament

Supplies:
craft felt
needle
embroidery floss, yarn, or thread
clear thread
beads, sequins, buttons, etc.
polyester fiber fill
scrap paper
pins
scissors

1: Make your own pattern with scrap typing paper or newspaper. My patterns are approximately 3 1/2 by 3 1/2.

2: Pin the pattern to the felt and cut out 2, a front and back.

3: Experiment with your beads and decide where you want to sew them. I put beads on the front side only and used a symmetrical pattern.  To help with placement I did my bead layout on the back piece of felt and then moved one bead at a time as I sewed them onto the other piece of felt for the front. Helpful tip: take a quick picture of your layout in case your beads get bumped.

4: Sew the beads on. I chose clear thread so I can easily sew over the beads and sequins without distracting from my design. I also made knots on the back side of the beaded piece after stitching on every few beads for extra security.

5: Decide on your ornament hanger. Use yarn, ribbon, or braided embroidery floss. (For the braided version I started with 3 lengths 8 inches long.) Tie a knot on each end of the hanger. These will give you something more sturdy to sew through and help ensure your hanger doesn't pull out of the finished project. Bring the two ends together and sew them to the inside top of the front beaded side with clear thread.

6.Pin the front and back pieces together and blanket stitch around the outside edges. When you are 2 inches from completing the stitching, take the pins out and stuff in some polyester fiber fill. Don't forget to push some into the corners or smaller areas of your design. Pin the unsewn section closed and finish the blanket stitching.

Happy sewing.

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Craft Your Way Through Your Christmas Gift List

 If you are running short on money this holiday season you can try crafting Christmas gifts this year. While you don't have to craft all of your gifts, crafting is a great way to add some creativity and enjoyment to your holiday season and to save a bit of money. Crafting perfect gifts can be a challenge in itself, even for an experienced crafter. The last thing you want is to beat the fun out of the crafting experience by stumbling into one of these common problems.

1. Your project is too difficult. If you don't know the first thing about crafting I encourage you to start small. For example if you don't know how to knit, trying to learn the craft and knit a complicated sweater is only asking for trouble. Maybe gluing embellishments on a picture frame is more your speed.
2. Undertaking too much with not enough time.  Plan on making a couple of craft projects and buy just what you need for those. If they go well and you haven't burnt out on crafting go ahead and make more. Remember crafting takes time so start as early as you can.
3. Too much variety. If you need lots of gifts, you can always try the mass production approach. It's quicker and less frustrating to make the same type of gift for everyone. You may not want to try this approach if everyone is unwrapping their gifts together. Recipients may not enjoy their gift as much if they see you gave everyone the same thing. Everyone likes to feel special and that their gift was made especially for them.
4. Spending too much. Try to find projects where you don't have to buy a lot of materials. If you have a stash of craft materials look through them before you go shopping and you can plan your projects around what you already own. Crafting supplies can get expensive, especially if it's something you don't end up using.
5. Wrong gift for the wrong person. If you are going to spend your time crafting presents, take the time to think about what gift each person would enjoy. You don't want your gift sitting unused in a drawer somewhere, especially if it took you hours to make.

I hope these tips will help transform you into a crafty diva even if it's only for the holiday season.

Vampire Knits Book Review

Vampire Knits: Projects to Keep You Knitting from Twilight to Dawn

by Genevieve Miller

2010 Potter Craft, New York

144 pages

Vampires are everywhere in popular culture and the group of knitters represented in this book is here to help you find your own supernatural flair. You will find 23 knitting projects inspired by a love and fascination of vampires and 4 knitting projects inspired by their furry enemies, the werewolves. Even if you aren't a huge vampire fan, never fear, there are plenty of projects in the book more subtle than the True Blood inspired “Blood Bottle Cozies” or your very own “Vampire Diary Protector.” There is fantastic variety in this book with wrist warmers, gloves, socks, scarves, cowls, sweaters, a wrap, a hoodie, a corset, shrugs, tote bag, pillows, and even earrings and a bracelet. There are patterns designed for women and men, and even a kid's vampire fang sweater or a kid's wolf-eared hat.

If you loved Bella's mittens in Twilight, be sure and check out the second project in this book “Bellissima Mittens.”

Project difficulty ranges from easy to experienced.

Happy Creating!

My Current Project Goal: Wet Felting

It's September, the weather is growing colder and I can already feel the threat of winter looming over me. Last winter I remember planning all of the craft projects I'd do outside once it became warm and sunny. Now here it is almost winter again and I still have the same list. Sadly, it looks like I may be putting off rediscovering my abandoned painting skills for another year. One technique I studied in college, wet felting, is one of those outdoor projects I held in my mind all of last winter. In the past year I've read a few felting books, noticed an increase of crafters working in the medium at shows, unabashedly petted any luxuriously hand dyed wool roving I ran across in shops or shows, and searched through the handmade craft site etsy, looking at the felt masterpieces of others. What's missing from my list is actually making a felt creation with my own two hands. Wet felting seemed like the perfect outdoor project since the only indoor way for me to felt would be to clean off my wooden kitchen table, cover it in plastic and try to do a quick project during a quiet time free of my 4 year olds curiosity. It seemed a simpler proposition to set up one of my 6 foot craft show tables outside. I could get the table wet without damaging it and I wouldn't have to worry about making a water mess in my kitchen. Alas, that didn't happen, but I haven't completely abandoned the project. I'm working on a few sketches, and hope to get a few pieces felted in the great outdoors before the days turn too cold.