Crafty Christmas is under way!

I don't know about y'all but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Southern California! We don't have snow or any significant seasonal changes, except that Fall usually brings crisp clear days with a chill in the air and you can tell that it's almost the happiest time of the year. Around here, the cities start to put up their decorations and the radio stations start a countdown to Christmas music. As I write this blog, Bing Crosby is singing "The Christmas Song" in my craft room....talk about bliss! wait...it's now the Chipmunks :)

I recently treated myself to "Fa la la la Felt" and am so looking forward to diving into some crafts from that book, but before I did that, I wanted to make some of felt ornaments that have been swimming in my mind lately and have been dying to see them come to life.



I have so much felt, it's not even funny. A whole drawer is filled to the brim with different colors and it's weird because I use them all the time, but still find myself with more felt than one human should own. I grabbed a couple of sheets, my embroidery floss and some basic supplies. I had only made one of these before so the rest were just ideas that I was excited to see come to life as I worked.


The first thing that I wanted to try to make was a cupcake ornament. I have a deep affection for cupcakes and wanted to add a cupcake ornament to my tree this year. I have been collecting bottle caps from my Coca-Cola addiction because I was hoping to turn some of them into tiny pin cushion gifts for fellow crafters so I decided to grab a white one. I used some pink felt for the cupcake itself and a piece of white for the frosting. I sewed a few colorful beads as sprinkles and actually love how it turned out! It exceeded my expectations and I can tell you that I will be making many more in the weeks to come.



I have long since lost the tutorial I used to make these, but last year, I made these ice-skate ornaments for my girlfriends and of course, forgot to make one for myself. I pretty much remembered the important steps and just improvised for what I didn't remember. They are pretty easy to make and come together quickly. I hand stitched the pieces together, stuffed the skate and added some embroidery thread shoelaces. The skate piece is just a paperclip but I think they are adorable. I think I'll make a few more using some different colors but I love the white. White ice-skates are classic.



It was about 11:30 pm when I finished the skates and I still had another ornament in mind. I just couldn't go to bed until it was finished so I grabbed some lime green felt and hand embroidered a snowflake, or what I thought a snowflake would look like :) I have a huge button collection and thought that the white buttons would make great ends to the snowflakes and I think I was right. I used a basic blanket stitch to the close the sides and added a little fiberfill. I'm sure this one will not be lonely as I plan on making a few more.



So that was my Thursday night and I am so happy with the results! I have big plans for a new Christmas tree idea this year and these will definitely play starring roles in the outcome! I am so excited to start my Christmas crafting! I have some painting on my mind so I hope to post the results of that soon....until then...'tis the Season friends!