Swedish Woven Heart Decoration

These felt woven hearts were made, after watching a video by the Missouri Star Quilt Co.   They used wool, but for my first attempt I just used some felt pieces.

Very simple to make, with good instructions.  I put a little eyelet in the top of each side so that a ribbon could be threaded through for ease of opening.  

They are very roomy inside and you can make them whatever size you like

Not sure what I will be filling them with, but I like the idea of using this red and white one as a bag on a Santa.  Filled with greenery, pipberry and a couple of toys.  Slung over his shoulder, I think it would work?

They could be hung on the Christmas Tree, filled with Candy Canes etc, or even just given as a gift with a gift card inside, many ideas for uses

Another one in a soft green and cream

While I have the felt out, I will be trying another Pinterest idea, stay tuned

Judy

Pine Cone Angels

Well, I think this will be my last pine cone craft for this year, Pine Cone Angels.  They will look so cute hanging on the Christmas Tree.  I originally saw this idea on Pinterest.

Silver Angel

Gold Angel

All you need to do, is thread a chenille stick around the body for a little colour, wind another one around the head, making a loop for a hanger/halo.  Ribbon bow for wings, done! Lovely!

What next?

Judy

Gumnut elves

Another little handmade ornament for the Christmas tree, my little gumnut elves.

Gumnuts from the garden, with a little wooden ball glued on top for the face.  Felt cap, and that is it!

I hope to get my Christmas tree out of storage next weekend, and display all these new little ornaments.

When do you put up your Christmas tree?

Judy

Rusty Bed-Spring Snowman

I love how this snowman turned out.

Using only a rusty bed-spring, a polystyrene ball, clay nose, scrap of fabric and three little buttons, this snowman was created.  Even though our Christmas is celebrated at the hottest time of the year, I still love snowmen.  They have such a personality.  So this is another one to add to my collection.

Judy

Wooden Bead Bookmarks

For a quick and easy gift you can make with your children, try these Wooden Bead Bookmarks.

Requirements:
Wooden Bead with hole
Leather thong - cord would work just as well
Wool for hair
Glue
Paint for face

Just cut the leather thong to the desired length, remembering to keep it doubled.

Thread the doubled leather thong through the wooden bead

Wind some wool around your fingers, till nice and full and then thread it through the looped end of the thong, pull tight.  At this stage you may like to put a little glue underneath the hair to hold in place.

Paint a face on the wooden ball, anything you desire

Now all you need to do, is pop them between the pages of your book

The little wooden head pops up above the top of the book and the thonging is inserted between the pages

These make a great gift for teachers, family and friends

Enjoy your weekend, I may just relax on the lounge and finish reading this book.

Judy

Pine cone Gnomes

Last Monday night we continued on with the pine cone crafts and made some really cute gnomes.

Firstly using the Better Homes & Garden site as inspiration - we made three different sized hanging gnomes.

1. Largest

2. Middle

3. Smallest

Each one different from the next.

Our next little gnome was inspired from "We Bloom Here" instructions.  Admittedly our pine cones were much larger, but the progress was the same.   This one is so sweet.

Such a simple craft with great results.  The pine cone was not flat enough to stand alone, so I glued an old bolt to the bottom, now nice and sturdy.

We still have some pine cones left, so there may be some more crafts coming in the next few weeks.

Are you Christmas crafting, what are you making?

Judy

What a Hoot!

Last night I got together with a couple of friends and we decided to make the owls that were featured in the current Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  Well sorta!  We had to bring our own twist on it, and compromise on materials, but I LOVED how they turned out.

Mine -

Lorraine -

Sue -

We used an old pine cone for the body and made a wool pom pom for the head.  Eyes and beak were cut from felt and glued on, with a small black bead for the pupil.

We broke apart another old pine cone, different colour, and used these pieces for the eyebrows and wings.  We glued the wing pieces onto another piece of felt, so that it added some dimension.

Grapevine wire was used for the feet, which you can see best in the last photo.

I was really pleased with how these all turned out, something different.

We are meeting again next week, and have more ideas for the pine cones, so that will be interesting.

My owl has taken up residence on the window pelmet, and looks great perched up high, looking down.  Could not get a photo of him up there, but take my word for it.

Until next time

Judy

Banana Dolphins

My niece and I made some Banana Dolphins for a mid morning "healthy" snack.  Well they would have been healthy if we had not put ice cream on the bottom of the dish

Half a banana and grapes, yummy.  Only a photo of one we made, as the others left the table very quickly.  This idea was found on the internet, but I am not sure of the source.

My family all like fruit, so this was just a new way of presenting it, fun for all ages

Judy

Crafty Afternoon

It has been awhile, since I have posted anything on my blog, apologies.

My nieces and nephew are home for a quick visit this weekend, so of course we had to do some craft.  My craft studio is an absolute shambles, so we sat outside to make some little items.

First on the list was a beaded dragonfly, using the instructions from "I heart crafty things" - then we made some little Christmas tree ornaments.

The photos are not great, but you can see what the kids made.

Dragonfly and then a cute little Christmas tree ornament with a piece of left over chenille stick.

Two dragonflies, a couple of jingle bell reindeers, and a bottle cap reindeer.  We also tried writing our name on a piece of bark with the glue gun.  I think once painted this will look great.

Dragonfly, jingle bell reindeer, bottle cap reindeer and a stick reindeer.  All very cute.

Quick and easy fun

Until next time

Judy