No Sew Ornaments

I thought it would be fun to do a few whimsical no sew gingerbread ornaments this year. Using a cookie cutter as a template cut out two sides of felt for every ginger bread man you will make. Tie a ribbon for a hanging loop and hot glue around the edges of the pattern. Sandwich the two cut out pieces of felt and ribbon together, and use fabric paint to decorate. It's a simple and fast project sure to make anyone smile.
Remember to have fun. The secret to making fun ornaments is having fun while making them. This year I made my sister a firefighter gingerbread man ornament. Every year she asks me to make her gingerbread men that look like firefighters so it seemed fitting to make her an ornament. I hope she does not eat it. It looks like someone already took a bight out of one of my gingerbread men ;) Take care and Have fun!

Ornament : Holly Leaves

First. Have a Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are. I had plans for a Thanksgiving craft but time and a nasty bug hit me hard this year. Christmas is coming and there are so many things to make still. This year we will be using handmade ornaments to keep breakage at a minimum with the new puppy. Over the next few weeks I will be posting the ornaments that we've made. The first ornament is Holly Berries and leaves.

For these ornaments you will need buttons, embroidery floss, felt, and a filling of your choice.

Using the green felt cut out 2 holly leaves and use a round template to cut 2 circles out of red felt.

Place the leaves on the red circle and stitch a vein down the middle of each leaf.

Sew on three red buttons for berries. They do not need to match; not matching gives it more character.

Stitch half way around and fill with stuffing of your choice. Cotton, milk weed silk, and the left over scraps of felt all work great for this. Then finish stitching around and cut a pretty ribbon to make a loop for hanging and your done. Give Thanks this and every week and Have Fun!

No Sew Comfort Blankets

Lately we have been helping a local day care make comfort blankets for children in crisis shelters. Comfort blankets are inexpensive and easy to make. They make a beautiful donation and also a thoughtful gift. You will need polar fleece, a tape measure, and scissors.

To begin, cut off any salvage edges and then cut your polar fleece to the size you want. Then cut 4" X 4" squares out of each corner. Using a tape measure cut 1" X 4" strips along all 4 sides. Finally, tie a knot in each fringe piece as close to the blanked edge as possible and you are done.

I sit this morning watching the first snow fall of the season come down. So beautiful and quiet from where I sit in front of the fire; yet I can't stop thinking of the little ones who have no warmth and no home this morning. I think of their families and I hope that the love and warmth that was tied into each fringe is felt by the children that receive these blankets. God bless and keep us all as we head into this winter. In the holiday rush please do not forget to share the blessing that you have with those less fortunate. Take care.

Easy Halloween Costume

I'm a day late, but this was such a fun craft, I had to post about it. Who knows, it may come handy next year for you all. Bear and I wanted to be comfortable and still be in costume so Bear, Muse, and I dressed up as pumpkins. It was fast, fun, and most importantly comfortable. All you need are a couple of T-shirts and some fabric paints. We were able to get all of our supplies at the craft store fairly inexpensively. The best part is that the yellow paint is glow in the dark. Bear's shirt was a techno jack o'lantern, Jake would not wear a pumpkin, and the police got a good laugh when they saw me on the sidewalk putting Muse in her 'matching' costume as they drove by. It took about 4 hours for them to dry (we left ours to dry over night). T-shirts are wonderfully comfortable costumes. The kids seemed to get a kick out of Bear's glowing techno pumpkin and we were comfortable all night long. Happy Halloween from the pumpkin patch family ;) Wherever you are Have fun!