Giveaway Winner and Ornament Ideas

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my giveaway! I had so much fun reading about handmade ornaments you have made or ideas you would like to make - definitely got me inspired. I actually got inspired and made some ornaments myself (even though I should have been sewing holiday gifts...) - more on that below. First, the winner!

Congratulations, JuneBug!  I've emailed you to find out which pattern you would like.

If you didn't win but wanted to get a pattern, they are available in my meylah shop (with instant downloads!) and in my etsy shop :).

So, here are some photos of the quick ornaments I made:

To make these, I glued together two sheets of lightweight scrapbook paper to get a heavier weight paper with patterns on both sides, then cut strips and made them into various shapes.  The middle ornament was inspired by a felt ornament in fa la la la felt, and I think the top one (and other similar sphere ones I made) was subconciously inspired by this ornament that I had seen probably last year.   The glueing together two sheets of scrapbook paper wasn't ideal, really, and the paper puckered a bit on some of the ornaments I made but overall I was happy with most of the ones I made.  I used perle cotton to sew knots and hold them together, and to make the hanging loops.  I actually think these would be even better if you used fusible web to fuse together two pieces of fabric and then cut strips of that to work with, I may try to do that at some point.

Since you all were so nice to share your inspiration, I thought that I would share the ornament ideas that I have been feeling inspired by lately:

Paper flower ornament
Spiky paper starburst ornament
Paper ball ornament made from circles
Felt snow ball ornaments
Another felt ball ornament
String ball ornament
Water marbled glass ornament

And here are some great lists/roundups/sources for more ideas:

How About Orange (you may have noticed I love her ornaments!)
Martha Stewart Crafts
Craftzine
Pink Chalk Studios round-up
Stumbles and Stitches Christmas in July (includes several free patterns from Fa la la la felt)

Hope you all have a great holidays!!  I may be back before then with a blog post, but I may be too busy finishing up making the last of my gifts (and possibly getting distracted making more fun ornaments).

Needle Felting

I was super excited when I won the Felt Week giveaway on Stumbles and Stitches a few weeks ago, since the prize from A Child's Dream Come True included a large bundle of beautiful sheets of wool felt, and a needle-felting kit.  I knew I would get lots of good use out of the sheets of felt but I was possibly even more excited about the kit, since I have been wanting to learn how to needle felt (especially after reading more about it in the posts during Felt Week!).

I was really impressed with how fast their shipping was - the needle felting kit came just a few days after I found out I won the giveaway!  I was so excited that I started playing with it right away, and found it easier and more intuitive than I expected.  After making a few basic shapes, I jumped in and made the snowman above.  I figured I may not have much use for needle-felted items in my everyday decor, but they would make great holiday decorations - I'm not sure if this guy will be left as is or turned into a tree ornament (although I do plan to make several more buddies for him).

I am thinking this bird will be a Christmas tree ornament too, especially since we have a bit of a bird theme in our ornaments (especially after I made several last year out of wool felt).

The other thing I immediately thought to make was little toys for some of the kiddos in my life.  I always love the way the tiny knitted or crocheted amigurimi monsters and animals look, but I don't have the patience to make something so small and deal with all the shaping on tiny needles.  So I figured needle felting would be a good way to make some similar little monster guys.

I wanted to start out simple so I made this blue monster guy... he is a bit funny looking and kind of shaped like a chicken nugget, but still pretty cute I think.

I also made this little dino guy although he maybe could be confused for a fish. 

I found that getting basic shapes was pretty easy but making smaller parts was a bit trickier for me - I should probably actually read some tutorials online to get more tips on how to make more complicated items.  Have you ever tried needle felting and do you have any tips to share?

Christmas Decorations

As I mentioned yesterday, we decided not to get a Christmas tree this year, so I put extra effort into all the other holiday decorations.  In addition to the pillows that I showed you yesterday, I also sewed up a tree bunting garland using this tutorial.  

When I saw this tutorial, it immediately reminded me of a Christmas garland that we hang on the mantel at my mom's house every year - my grandmother made it using wallpaper samples cut out in stocking shapes, and it is a very special family heirloom.  So I was very excited about the prospect of making my own special garland, and I love how it turned out!  As I have mentioned, green is my favorite color, so I have quite the stash of green fabrics.  This was a great way to showcase some favorites... some are new favorites, and some are scraps from quilts that I made about ten years ago.  I look forward to using it for years to come.

I also have some pottery displayed on the mantel.  Lately I have had a group of celadon vases out on the mantel, but I switched them out for these copper red glazed vases for halloween and then realized they were also great for fall and Christmas!  My pottery studio had a new glaze this year which reliably gave this copper red color (which is often hard to acheive) so I was very excited about it and made several vases - although the second from the left was a gift which I did not make.

I also have some turquoise/green candlesticks out which I made, they seemed Christmas-y enough to keep so I left them out.

On our coffee table, I put out two of the items that I made in the warm glass class I took last year - the Christmas tree sculpture and the slumped green plate.  I also filled a bowl with decorated glass ornaments that I made a couple years ago.

These ornaments are a quick and fun holiday project - you just buy some colored glass ornaments and a metallic paint pen, then draw designs on the ornaments.  We made a bunch of these the first year we had a real tree to help fill it up a bit, since we didn't have a ton of ornaments yet.

This year we actually have quite a few ornaments, especially with the new ones I made after I won Fa La La La Felt in the giveaway... so I was sad not to get to put them out on the tree.  We decided to hang a few favorites, both new and old, from the chandelier over our dining table.  It doesn't look entirely elegant but we like it!

Finally, we got a Pointsettia plant for our sideboard and we hung our fake evergreen bunting on the railing (we also have a lovely wreath on our front door which was a gift).  So now it certainly feels festive even without a tree!

Festive Felt

I was very excited when I won the giveaway on the long thread for Fa la la la felt, a book full of holiday decorations made from felt.  I was initially excited just to have won something, but I was even more excited when the book came in the mail and I saw all the cute ideas for felt projects.  I especially liked the ideas for ornaments, since we don't have a ton of ornaments for our tree yet and have been enjoying building our collection.  Last year we got a number of different bird ornaments so we have a bit of a bird theme going... so I was especially excited to see a number of bird related patterns in the book.

When the book came in the mail, I ordered a sampler of felt squares on etsy, and then I was raring to go... despite not having the right kinds of embroidery thread, or having made enlarged copies of the patterns in the book.  So I made a few things with the materials I had on hand (and sketching out the patterns) and ended up with the adorable baby owl on the left above.  I didn't realize until I made the enlarged copies how much smaller it would be than the actual intended design, but I actually think it is super cute to have a big one and a baby one to go with it.

These birds were a great chance to use up some william morris fabric that I have had for quite a while - I love how the leafy patterns look like feathers on the wings.

These ornaments are super adorable, they were one of my favorite designs when I first looked through the book and I am thrilled that they turned out looking so much like the design!

I liked the snowflake ornaments in the book, but decided to make something simpler (this shows the two sides).  Snowflakes are one of my favorite holiday motifs so I have a few more ideas of snowflake ornaments I'd like to make.

And here are ones that I made up myself.  I thought it would be fun to do a pointsettia... my first attempt is on the right, my second attempt on the left.  I like how the petals of the second one are separate, I think it looks much more like a pointsettia, but I like the shape/outlining on the first.  So maybe I will do a third attempt to try to perfect the design.

I hope to make several more projects out of the book, and am also inspired with more ideas for my own designs.  In keeping with the bird theme, I was thinking I should possibly make a penguin ornament.  Or maybe I should get the backyard birds kit and learn how to needle felt?