Category Archives: Stuff to make

Felt tree skirt

Posted in Holiday, Sewing, Stuff to make by

It’s a rare occurance when I am able to dream something up and then make it just as I imagined. This tree skirt was one of those lucky projects. I used Wollfilz felt by the yard from purl soho in red and ecru. This felt is so lovely and forgiving to work with. My first circle was a little ovoid, but it was easy to trim the felt into a nice round shape. For the design, I wanted something playful but not too cutesy, and I think the limited palette helps. I drew the animals on cardstock to make a template and then traced three of each animal directly on the ecru felt. Then I cut out the animals and sewed them onto the red background using a simple running stitch. I added some minimal embriodered details to give each animal a little personality. My greatest accomplishment?  Dusting off my geometry skills to figure out the measurements for the circle and the petal border.

The little houses are my next project. I am going to paint them this week, so will post the finished product soon! If anyone would like pattern details for the tree skirt, let me know and I would be happy to share.

Crafty Boys

Posted in Kids, Stuff to make by

My kids and some crafty friends got together for an afternoon of making stuff for this year’s Youth Craft Fair at our local library. They really want to top last year’s big profits ($7 each)! Here’s the equation:

Five boys + one afternoon + basic supplies (paper, glue stick, Fimo, magnet tape, duct tape, felt) =

Angry bird magnets!

 

Darth Paper (a la Origami Yoda)

Fimo (polymer clay) aliens

Wacky Package magnets

Matchbox House

Posted in Free Printables, Free Tutorials, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

More elfin houses . . . for this one I drew floorplans that fit inside a matchbox.

    

If you take a childlike pleasure in coloring, or if you happen to have an actual child who likes to color (and has excellent fine motor skills), I made tiny coloring pages so you can make your own matchbox house.

The exterior wraps around a standard matchbox. Interior is supposed to fit the inside tray but may need some judicious trimming. I used Sharpies for saturated color and generous amounts of glue stick (after failed attempts with other sticky substances) to adhere. Enjoy! And send me pix, please.

Paper garland

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

I am getting pretty excited about decorating my house for Christmas. Oh the crafty possibilties! I saw this post on How About Orange this morning and thought these paper ball ornaments would look pretty great strung together to make a garland. It seems like a nifty update on traditional paper chains, which I also love.  All white would be quite sophisticated, but it’s hard to pass up the chance to use some pretty colored paper. For those people who save wrapping paper, this would be a great way to use up some of your stash. I plan to get my little elf to help me. Stay tuned for the finished garland!

Tulip pillow, and more pillows!

Posted in Sewing, Stuff to make by

Here is my Jessica Jones, Outside Oslo pillow, with orange piping. I’ve been in a sewing frenzy the last few weeks–all thanks to my magical zipper foot. I was so inspired by Margaret’s beautiful piping that I finally gave the foot a whirl. I also made these cushions using Marimeko fabric, and brown piping.