Just a quick one tonight; this little cat is destined to be attached to a brooch back as a gift for my mother in law. Of course I have just had to order more brooch backs but we will get there in the end!
Not too horrendous quality picture for once on my phone!
Yes it’s bad light & not a great picture (on my phone!) but I think this little felt Christmas tree brooch is quite sweet. And it has buttons. I like buttons ;0)
Yes, that’s right. Advent candles can be very expensive but they are something we really like to have each year… I had a bit of a brainwave earlier and thought they would probably be very easy to make yourself. All you would need is a plain candle (mine are from Ikea & 20cm tall) Sharpies or similar permanent pens and a ruler to make sure the marks you make are evenly spaced…..
As you can see I made one slightly more traditional, with plain numbered lines and a “wreath” around the bottom. The other is a decorated Christmas tree with the numbers going up the centre (there are more decorations to the sides as the tree sticks out more at the bottom.
Though this was really quick and easy to make I would really leave it up to adults or older children as you really do need to use permanent pens or the picture will rub off very quickly. If you make a mistake you can simply scratch away the ink in that patch (try not to dig into the wax too much)
What do you think? Do let me know if you try it 🙂
Ta-daaah!
yes the embroidery & stitching could be straighter but this advent calendar promises to be very special to us all; My children’s “first Christmas clothes” have been included as have pieces of the fabric that I made their stockings with….. I also made this bunting with some of it;
I must confess to flagrant cheating; I made the bunting about 3 years ago! I haven’t shared it here yet though…
What do you think? Do you have any special decorations that you bring out every year?
xxx
Yesterday I may not have posted my countdown update BUT I did go to our local Christmas Lights switch on event and made some progress on something that might not seem festive at first…. I felted a rock…..
But I didn’t stop there. Next I added a little needle felted Christmas tree, which I made a couple of days ago in preparation….
And finally I added somebody that you may find familiar if you have read my blog before….
I haven’t attached Radley to this little snowy hill because there is still more to do, which I will of course update you on once it’s complete.
What do you think? I’d love to see any comments or suggestions you may have 🙂
A festive green hairband that I bought for my daughter has been made even more Christmassy with the addition of a little felt Christmas pudding. She is almost as excited about Christmas as her mother so loves it!
See you tomorrow…..
This is a craft that’s great to do with children, especially if they are old enough to cut quite accurately by themselves. My 5 (nearly 6) year old daughter can cut out most of it by herself but needs help with the more fiddly bits….
1. Firstly print the template below onto thin card; then cut along the solid lines but leave the dotted lines uncut.
2. Turn the paper over so the lines are on the back. Draw a face and hair (or you could stick a bit of wool on for hair instead) on the small circle in the middle and decorate the dress and wings (in the top picture they look very plain don’t they, I usually go for a bit of glitter for this sort of thing). If you want to decorate the arms make sure you do this on the other side of the paper.
3. Glue along the tab and line it up with the edge of the dress on the other side, with the dotted line of the glue tab lined up along the edge as a guide to keep it straight.
4.  Fold the arms around to the front and glue the hands to the dress.
5. Fold the wings so they are resting just behind the head on each side. I find they stay upright better if I put a bit of sticky tape across both folds.
And there you are, it’s very easy and makes a sweet little Christmas decoration. If you like you could attach a bit of ribbon on the inside to hang it from your Christmas tree.
TTFN!
My Festive offering today is a needle felted baby Reindeer…..
With his red nose you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a young Rudolph, however the signature red nose is a bit of a family trait…
This is Radley, Rudolph’s baby cousin. He is wearing a sleigh bell around his neck so that his family can keep track of him; Radley is quite an adventurer already even though there is still no sign of antlers between his ears and he still has his baby spots.
He’s off to play in the snow now but hopes he’ll get to see you again……
I must confess that you could describe me as leaning towards the “quite festive” at this time of year. As soon as November kicks in I start feeling justified in my building excitement, especially now that the Christmas adverts are out in full force and the Christmas lights in our town are being switched on this weekend. With two poorly children at home today I may or may not be keeping them entertained with that awesome Christmas favourite Elf.. I admit to nothing. This year has been a tough one for me so I’m looking forward to the big day even more than usual, however the build up is surely the best part.
With that in mind I have decided to try to post a picture of my crafty festive preparations here on my Blog every day until Christmas Eve. I will try to include a couple of tutorials too so watch this space.
So until tomorrow, here are the little festive bits I have made so far….:
This little piggy is very quick & easy to crochet. I wrote the pattern up as I designed it a couple of years ago; part of a selection of crochet animals for a Christmas present for my son. The pattern is worked in the round starting at the nose. The row/round number is at the start & number of stitches in each round is in (brackets) at the end. The gauge is not an issue, however to ensure you do not end up with gaps between the stitches it is best to use a crochet hook that is a half size smaller than recommended on the side of your yarn; I usually use a 3.5mm or 3mm hook for DK yarn, for example.
Abbreviations used;
sc = single crochet (I use US terms so where I say sc I mean a UKÂ double crochet)
sc2tog = crochet 2 single crochet stitches together decreasing by one stitch.
2sc = make 2 single crochet stitches in one stitch
St = stitch
Sl st = slip stitch
Ch = chain
rep = repeat
Main body; snout to tail
1. Magic ring 6 st (this is dead simple once you can do it but if not ch3, attach in a circle with a sl st & 2sc in each st to get a 6st circle)
2. Sc in each st only inserting the hook throught the loop on the wrong side of your work. (leaving the loop free on the side that will show gives a clearer line around the snout)
3. Sc in each st. & join with a sl st (6)
4. Sc in first 2 st then 2sc in each st. To end (10)
5. Sc in first 2 st then *sc 2sc sc* rep between ** to end (14)
6. Sc in first 2 st then *sc, sc, 2sc, sc* rep between ** to end (18)
7. Sc in first 2 st then *sc,sc,2sc,sc,sc* rep between ** to end (22)
8. Sc in all (22)
9. Sc 8, *ch4, in 4ch; sc in 2nd ch From hook, hdc, hdc, join to same st with a sl st* sc6, rep **, sc8 (22)
Rounds 10 to 17. Sc all (22)
18. 2sc *Sc, sc2tog, sc* rep ** to end (18)
19. *Sc, sc2tog* rep to end (12)
20. sc2tog to end (6) join with sl st & tie, leaving a long tail to close end.
Stuff the body & use a yarn needle to close the hole making sure each stitch is picked up. Pull tight and tie a knot in the end of the yarn; this is the tail.
 Legs (make 4)
1. Magic ring 6 st
2. Sc in each st only inserting the hook through the loop on the wrong side . (gives a clearer line around the edge)
3. Sc in each st. (6) Sl st, bind off leaving a tail long enough to attach to body
Attach legs to body using a yarn darning needle. The front legs should be attached under the body with the front about in line with the ears. The back of the back legs should be in line with the last row before you began to reduce stitches.
NB. When attaching the legs (or other appropriate body parts for different projects!) I find I get a neater result by pushing the needle up through the stitch on the body (in the gap, never through the yarn) threading it through both loops of the stitch on the edge of the leg and then back into the same gap on the body. Does that make sense?! If you use two “holes” it just doesn’t seem so neat in my experience.
let me know if you make one, have fun!
Rainbow Stitch 