Felt Flower Goodness

Felt flowers are so fun to make, and easy!  

I think I am going to use them as the bows on Christmas presents this year.  

I found this tutorial that had a little different twist than I had done before and I like it!  

Go here for the tutorial.

 Fold a strip of felt in half, and along one side.

 Cut the strip either in straight lines or on the diagonal all the way down.  

  Start twisting the strip together.

Pin it closed.

The left one is cut on the diagonal. The right is a straight cut.

 Cut a circle of felt for the backside and make two slits for the pin to go through.

 Add hot glue.

 Stick it on the back.  Let dry then close the pin.

Now, repeat!  

Pinecone Love

I learned the coolest trick at our church's Apples of Gold program.  Did you know you can take pine cones that are covered in sticky sap and bake them?!?!  I know life changing, right?!
Well, almost.  

You bake them at 250 degrees on a baking sheet covered in foil- very important or that sap will get on your baking sheet.  A half hour later or so, they are shiny and done.  The sap crystallizes and turns hard and looks like the tips of the pine cones have little glass drops on them.  So cool.
Hey it's the little things, right?

In all their sappy goodness:

 

After they have been baked...

So pretty!  Just waiting for the perfect craft to come along...

By the way- when you bake them your house will smell very piney.  You've been warned.

Tent Making

I finally got around to making this tent here.  It came together pretty quickly with a twin sheet.  If I hadn't used the fitted sheet and pieced it together, it would have been even faster!  

The flat sheet was made into a tepee tent, but is still waiting on one more dowel to finish it off... pictures will have to wait.

The boys LOVE it!  It has been great for outside play, and inside now that we have snow!

I love that it folds flat when they aren't using it and can easily be tucked into the closet. 

Bird Mobiles

We have been busy creating around here this morning.  I love this mobile!  This is Leif's creation, and it now resides above his bed.  He is pretty excited about his new feathered companions!

We used twigs with the bark removed, embroidery floss, and some felt bird decorated with felt scraps.  

Then we had fun trying to balance our twigs and birdies!  

The creator, he's pretty proud of his work.

Here is one more mobile I made a while ago.  I used an embroidery hoop for the base, and strung the origami birds in a circle down the sides.