A Very Merry Christmas Craft Weekend

We may be out of lockdown but it's December so Jessica and I spent the weekend crafting at home. Some of our crafting was for Christmas gifting so I won't share those bits yet but here's what we've been up to for ourselves...

Our little snowman is made from cork, wire, acrylic paint and embroidery silks. Super simple, aside from the fiddly nose, and so cute - he looks great hanging on the tree.

 

I did some needle felting on Friday evening whilst catching up on "Kirstie's Handmade Christmas". I had a polystyrene base to felt onto but it was quite thin so this was a bit more challenging than usual and I had to be extra careful of my fingers. I also squeezed in a bit of time to make my own little wreath. I opted for a "less is more" approach and kept it simple. I opted to use wire rather than hot glue to attach everything so I can easily make adjustments in future years. 

Finally, Jessica and I have been pottery painitng AGAIN! I can't share her efforts but I was really pleased with my little gnome / nordic santa. I'm now praying to the kiln gods that he comes out how I'd like him to!

Needle Felted Penguin Decoration

I just had to do a penguin, I couldn't help myself! Look how cute this creature is...

I thought I'd also give you a quick idea of how I create a piece like this...

1. Start with a polystyrene shape, in this case an egg. 

2. Thread a loop of cotton or similar from bottom to top. This is easier to do before you start needle felting and it means that the thread is further secured by the wool roving that is felted over the top. 

3. Mark out your design on the polystyrene in pen.

4. Start felting - loosen up pieces of wool before felting them into place using a barbed needle being very careful not to catch your fingers on the barbs! The more you stab, the denser the wool will become. 

5. Cover the whole shape in base colours before adding details such as eyes and beaks,

6. Add the features. You may have to do some shaping on a polystyrene or sponge block before felting them to your design.

7. Use scissors to trim away any excess fluff that you don't want on your finished decoration.

Go on, have a go, you know you want to!

Needle Felted Cat Decoration

I usually wait until half term to start my Christmas crafting. However, with Jessica starting school, I have more time on my hands this year and have been itching to get going. My first new tree decoration of the year is not the slightest bit festive but will make a quirky, characterful addition to our tree I think. This fat cat was created by needle felting onto a polystyrene egg, which is, by far, my favourite way of needle felting. Meow! 

Needle Felted Christmas Pudding

Bungay Christmas Market was full of wonderful ideas last weekend. Whilst I'm afraid I couldn't bring myself to pay the money the stall holders were asking for their own decorations, I did come away with loads of lovely ideas for decorations I could easily make myself. There were lots of different baubles based around the humble Christmas Pud to be seen and they used all manner of techniques. So, I couldn't resist having a go at my own needle felted one...

Needle Felted Robin Decoration

So, the needle felting continues. Last night I finished off this little chap that I designed myself and made from felting onto a polystyrene egg. I was going to add wire feet but David felt this was unnecessary and he is the bird expert after all!

 

Here are my two felted creatures getting to know each other before they adorn my tree next week. The polar bear looks quite concerned by the giant robin that's just entered his personal space!

Needle Felted Polar Bear (Kit)

I try not to post more than once a day (I've currently got four other posts waiting to be published this week) but I couldn't resist sharing this evening's creation straight away. This was another Hobbycraft clearance buy but the kits are only £3 full price and they include everything you need to get started with needle felting so they're a fabulous bargain. The kit include polystyrene shapes and wool roving to create a family of three polar bears but I've just made the one so far. I'll be honest, I'm not completely sold on the wooly hat, scarf and boots so I will probably try a naked bear next time and see how convincing he is! For now, however, here's a closer look at my first attempt...

Needle Felting Baubles

I'm slowly picking up the pace with my Christmas preparations. The shopping's nearly all done, the important food and wine are ordered so it must be time to start thinking about some new tree decorations. My favourite baubles to make are created using needle felting. Here's the one I made this evening...

I use styrofoam balls as the core of my bauble and fuse the wool roving onto the ball using a very scary multi-barbed needle. I find the process very therapeutic and I love the results. Now that I'm back in the swing I'm nearly ready to tackle the polar bear felting kit that I picked up from Hobbycraft at some point. Keep your eyes peeled! 

Needle Felted Tree Ornament

I will post a picture of all these things on my tree once it’s up but for now here’s another Christmas item I’ve crafted…

I’m using styrofoam eggs because the Hobbycraft in Harlow had run out of balls believe it or not. Sarah thinks this looks like an egg crossed with a tennis ball. She might be right but I’m keeping this one for myself so she can please herself! Love you little sister.

  

Needle Felted Penguin

To save the reindeer from the previous post being lonely on Sarah’s mantelpiece I have made him a friend in the form of a penguin. It’s inspired by a kit that Hobbycraft had out for Christmas (but quickly sold out of). I couldn’t get hold of the kit, which included everything you needed to make a family of three penguins, including the needles, for just £3 so I just bought their styrofoam eggs and used my own equipment. My dark wool is probably a bit coarse for this really but fluffy penguins are cute, right?! Anyway, I chopped the bottom off the egg to give a nice flat surface and then pricked away doing the belly then the black and finally the eyes and nose. I was impressed with how easily the wool fused to the styrofoam and will definitely be using the technique again.

Here he is, what do you reckon?!

Needle Felting with Cat Hair

This is the ultimate upcycling project! Who knew you could make use of all that pesky cat hair?!

Inspired by a book that I saw on amazon but do not own and do not intend to buy (Crafting with Cat Hair: Handicraft to Make with Your Cat) I brushed Fanta and Queequag this weekend to gather some cat hair in preparation for an attempt to needle felt with it. I actually think I chose the more difficult fur to use as Fanta’s hair is much more coarse and kept sticking in the foam mat that I use. Quee’s is softer and feels more like the wool I have used before but I had managed to collect a lot more of Fanta’s fur meaning that I had enough to actually create something worthwhile. I’ve used wire for the whiskers and mini brads for the eyes and nose. He’s so cute!

He went from this…

To this in a matter of minutes…

Needle felted mouse

Another trip to Leek and another new craft to add to my repertoire. This time it’s needle felting. Lib treated me to a needle felting kit for my birthday, which included a big foam pad, four terrifying barbed needles (shown below) and a bag full of felting wool. She gave me a quick lesson and then I made a mess of my first two attempts at creating needle felted pieces. Just for the record, it really hurts when you prick yourself with these needles, believe me!

I was also introduced to a little piece of heaven in the form of a craft shop in Leek, which also runs craft workshops if you’re ever in the area. It’s called Bibelot and I’m pleased to see that they are online and have their own blog, which I have now added to my feed on the right hand side. It’s absolutely fantastic!

Anyway, I set about a second attempt to felt when I got home this evening. David is a big fan of knitted mice so I thought I’d make him a felted one. This is so much better than yesterday's attempts and I can only get better (I hope). The little creature is also pictured below with David’s youngest knitted mouse.