Holiday Hints: Kids Stuff

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and you are in full-on gift making mode! Today's edition of Holiday Hints is for the kiddos!

The first idea for you is the Little Artist Apron . This project repurposes your average canvas tote into a durable and functional apron for your budding artist.

Next idea is the kids Flight Cap designed for Stitch Magazine, Spring 2010, made cute and snuggly with my organic cotton sateen lined with organic sherpa.

The little girls on your list would wuv a wee wabbit made using my Cashmere Bunny Tutorial. You could even make a felted wool Mini Tote to help her carry her new friend around.

The next 4 projects are from my book, Warm Fuzzies and are made from recycled felted wool sweaters, naturally! There's the sweet Girls Jumper with tea cup pocket and finger puppet mousie...

...the handsome Robot Vest embellished with appliqué and real "hardware", like o-rings and washers...

...a cozy patchwork Poncho Loco with blanket stitch edging and felt deedle-balls details...

...and two of my faves, Smitten the Kitten and Pugsly the Pug hand puppets! These are so easy to personalize and are great scrap-user-uppers.

Looking for more? Check out my 2009 Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts: Scarves!

Itty Bitty Ice Cream Ornament: Tutorial

Are you ready for two scoops of cuteness? Last month I did a demo of these sweet and felty treats at Quilt Market and I am (finally!) making good on my promise to show you the how-to's here and now.

Materials:

• 1/2" diameter jingle bell
• 2 colorful felt balls, 3/4" (2 cm) in diameter (my fave places to buy felt balls are Ornamentea and Feltorama.)
• 2 1/4" circle of tan or brown felt, cut with pinking shears
• Embroidery floss
• 16" length of 1/8" wide ribbon
• Crafts glue
• Needle and thread
• Straight pin

1) Thread needle with 3 strands of embroidery floss and sew a running stitch around the perimeter of the felt circle, 1/8" from the edge. Tie off end of floss with a knot and trim excess.

2) Roll circle into a cone shape (keeping knots from your stitching on the inside of the cone) with a point at one end and about a 3/4" diameter opening at the other end. Apply glue between the overlap and hold with a pin until dry.

3) Thread a 10" length of ribbon through the metal bell loop and knot to create the ornament hanger. With needle and thread sew one felt ball on top of the other by stitching up through the center of each ball. Sew the jingle bell on top of the stacked felt balls. Stitch through balls and bell several times to secure.

4) Apply glue around the inside opening of the top of the cone. Place felt ball "scoops" inside the opening of the cone, press into the glue.

5) Tie a 6" length of ribbon into a tiny bow and trim excess. Glue to the center front of the cone at the top of the overlap.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. This design was inspired by one of my new sewing patterns, the Sweet Shoppe Ornament Set, that I previewed at Quilt Market. It's being printed this month and will be available in early December. Stay tuned for more details I'll be sharing with you soon.

I want to thank you so much for being part of my blog world and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Announcing Holiday Hints for Handmade Gifts 2010!

Last year's Holiday Hints were such a hit, I thought I would continue with them this year and make it a tradition. Throughout the next few weeks, I will be posting a selection of projects to make for the people on your holiday list. The time and attention you give to a handmade gift is like sharing a little bit of yourself with the ones you love.

Today's theme: Table Top (just in time for Thanksgiving!)

Create a beautiful Table Runner that can be used for the holidays or as part of everyday decor. This design is an easy way to use up small pieces of fabrics in your stash or to showcase your favorite prints. Click over to my tutorial on CRAFT for step-by-step details! (Note: a minor bit of errata - Step 1: ...Cut 7 rectangles measuring 6 1/2" x 9". Step 5: ...Pin together, sandwiching the rickrack between the layers, then stitch 1/4" from the edge.)

On page 24 of my book Sewing Green you'll find instructions on making my Vintage Napkins out of retro tablecloths and these trim embellished napkin rings. These napkin rings are so fun to make and they are a great way to show-off some vintage buttons from your stash. Can you guess what the trim is wrapped around to make the ring? (plastic rings off of milk jugs!)

For a more autumnal napkin holder, there's my quick and easy Acorn-acopia Napkin Holder Tutorial from last year, using felted wool sweater scraps, felt balls and real acorn caps! Who doesn't love an acorn? (BTW, have you learned how to whistle with an acorn cap? It's loads of ear splitting fun once you master it!)

And back to Sewing Green on pg 20 you'll find the Penny-rug Trivet and Coasters. These give a fresh modern look to the traditional technique of appliquéd scrap wool. Great for use when entertaining or as a thoughtful gift.

And finally for dessert...the Cake Plate Tutorial made with a few thrift shop plates and a parfait glasses! Since I first posted this in 2006 I have seen many beautiful creative variations of this idea using china, teacups, decoupaged or painted plates, you name it!

Looking for more ideas? Check out my 2009 Holiday Hints for the Home!

ring around the rosette

Since there's been so much rosette making going on lately (ie: my Felted Rosette Frame workshop last weekend!), I thought I'd talk about a few more ideas for rosette uses.

You should've heard the gears turning at Silver Bella when I taught my class how to make these sweet and easy little beauties! "Barettes, headbands!", they cried. "Adorn a hat! Stitch them to a sweater!", another person replied. They are addictive, I have to admit.

The first thing I made with these rosettes, back in 2008 was my Felted Wool Pomander. To this day I believe that little tutorial of mine gets the most hits on my blog! Check it out for rosette-making how-to's.

In 2009, I contributed this Rosette Wreath project to Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts Magazine. It uses the same rosettes as the pomander, just attached to a wreath form. I also wanted to show you my tree, made from green rosettes attached to a cone shape.

example (with a different style brooch) used as a gift-topper

One of my favorite quick tricks is to make a rosette brooch that doubles as a gift topper. Make one or more rosettes and glue or sew them to a felt leaf or two. Attach a bar style pin back to complete your brooch. To make it into a gift topper, thread ribbon through the pin back then tie the ribbon around your wrapped gift.

These rosettes are so fun and easy to make, I think kids 8 and up would enjoy crafting with them. They would be great attached to place cards at the holiday table as well! What else could they be used for?

couple cuppies

I've got a few Cupcake Pincushions for you in my etsy shop! This is probably all I'll have time to make this season so if you've been waiting for a re-stock, the time is now! :)

matte vs. glossy

Oh, Hello! Yes, I am here, back home, back in my little nest. I returned Sunday from Silver Bella in Omaha, my last trip of 2010. I can't believe a whole week has passed since my last post but I also can't believe that it is mid-November. There are still big deadlines to make, my kids' birthdays and holidays to contend with but somehow I feel like I am over the hump. Phew!

Vintage bottles, taken with my iphone at Second Chances, Omaha, Nebraska

I've been gathering photos, unpacking my bags, and thinking about the workshops, creativity and camaraderie of the Silver Bella art retreat. I intended to post a lot of details, recapping the event. But I changed my mind.

I want to tell you a little story instead. When Teresa McFayden invited me to teach at Silver Bella, now in it's 5th year, I had never heard of it before. I clicked over to the website and read a bit about the popular event that women from all over the country attend and enjoy year after year. I was honored and excited to be included!

Snomaha! Omaha's first snow of the season, taken with my iphone from my hotel window

After I submitted the projects I'd be teaching (very felty and very *me*) I got nervous. I looked at the other teacher's projects, popular teachers that have taught at Silver Bella many times. They felt very feminine, embellished, vintage and sparkly. Glitter and bling and shiny things. I wrote to Teresa, wondering if I'd fit in. She assured me that the 'bellas' would love me and not to worry.

Keep in mind, that I am not what you might call a girlie-girl. I grew up with 2 older brothers and now have two boys of my own. I never joined a sorority. I prefer matte over glossy. I don't do lace.

Me, signing books at Silver Bella Vendor Night. Photo by Jenny Doh

But, I did my best to put that aside, to go to Silver Bella with an open mind and a willingness to expand my horizons. Even if that meant getting glitter on my hands. :) A very smart friend of mine, Marisa, often speaks of creative cross-pollination, and I thought of her this weekend. Exposing yourself to people, techniques, and art outside of your circle can be enlightening and inspiring. It's a very gratifying experiment and I found that it worked both ways.

Some women walked into my class a bit skeptical that the felted rosette frame was something that they would enjoy making or if it was "them". The same women left the class, after having put their own twist on their frame (paint, vintage wall paper, and yes, even glitter!) ecstatic with what they created. I loved it because #1: they were happy and #2: I learned new techniques and ideas from them! We all learned to stretch our creative comfort zones.

Me and my new teacher-buddy, Charlotte Lyons. Photo by Jenny Doh.

At the finale dinner, Jenny Doh delivered the closing remarks. She spoke about creative individuals and what we have in common. How that we all had decided to make our creativity a priority. Each of us had figured out a way to put our *realities* on hold, just for a few days, to come together, to celebrate ourselves and the art of making. I looked around the room thinking that I wasn't so different from the sparkly-girls after all. For it isn't about personal taste or aesthetic, it's about making and sharing and fostering community.

As Jenny summed it up best, "We are capable of creating beauty, and we are not alone."

nest is best

As I've mentioned before, I'm preparing for the Silver Bella art event in Omaha this week. I feel like I've hardly unpacked my suitcase from my quilt market adventure! As much as I am looking forward to the trip, meeting new people and having a grand crafty time, part of me wants to stay tucked into my own little nest at home with my peeps.

All of us, every living thing has a nest of some sort, don't we? Our safe place, our retreat, our sanctuary. That's why I love bird nests and what they symbolize. A place of comfort and peace.

I just sent off a little batch of my felted nest brooches to gallery hanahou in NYC for the Luv-able and Hug-able (and Wear-able!) plush show next month. I'm also making some for Vendor Night at Silver Bella. The cards I'm mounting the brooches on are made from birch bark I harvested in New Hampshire last summer from a fallen tree. Pretty cool. huh? It's the prefect backdrop for them.

If you're interested in making a nest brooch for yourself, they are very easy to do. I've got a pdf pattern/instructions available in my etsy shop. Maybe if you wear a nest you'll feel like you've got a little piece of home with you no matter where you are. I think I'll be trying that this week. :)

here we go again

I'm in the thick of it again...packing kits for my upcoming workshops at Silver Bella! (My studio looks like a felted wool bomb exploded in it so I am keeping the photos here tightly cropped.)

One of my workshops will be making these felted rosette frames (aw look, it's me an' the hubster!) and the other will be making a funky felt flower bouquet!

Silver Bella is November 11-13 in Omaha, Nebraska. Visit the Silver Bella website for more details!

In the meantime, check out this amazing online magazine from Amy Powers, called Inspired Ideas, the Holiday issue. Love!

home and happy

Hello! I got back from my whirlwind trip to Houston just in time for Halloween with the kids then promptly settled into a head cold. Snarf!

I was so busy with my back-to-back meetings I hardly had a moment to get my camera out, except for this photo:

This is the booth of my good friend Jan DiCintio of Daisy Janie Organic Fabrics. This was her first trip to Quilt Market and she totally rocked it! I'm so proud of her for all that she has accomplished with her business and her gorgeous line of organic fabric, I just had to give her a shout out. And I'm not the only one blown away, she won the Best New Exhibitor Award! Woot!

This was my second market ("on foot", no booth for me...yet!) and I felt much more confident this time around. My schoolhouse presentation on repurposing actually had attendees (phew!) and my ornament demo went well. My meeting schedule had me running but I still had time to catch up with some old friends and make new. All in all a personal success!

Once I get myself reorganized here I'll post that Itty Bitty Ice Cream Ornament I demo'd at market. K? N'k.