Month: November 2021

lamb ornament DIY

November 27, 2021
by annwood

These little sheep are super fast and very easy to make. And the pattern includes two sizes so you can make little sheep families.

DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN

You will also need:

  • basic sewing kit
  • scraps of fabric – cotton, flannel, or light wool all work
  • black felt
  • glue stick
  • stuffing – I like wool
  • chopstick or similar
  • embroidery thread – black and ivory

1. Pin the body pattern onto doubled fabric -right sides together – and cut out. Pin the head, tail and leg to a single layer of felt. Cut out one head, one tail and two legs.

2. Clip out the little triangle mark on the body.  Draw on the seam allowance and indicate the area to leave open.

3. Separate the body pieces so the right side of the fabric is facing you. Place the body pattern on one piece of fabric – matching the little triangle notch.

4. Mark the three dots on the pattern on the fabric with a pencil or disappearing marker. You only need to mark one fabric piece.

5. Put a dot of glue stick at the center of each leg.

6. Fold the felt legs in half – forming  V shapes.

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holiday ornament roundup : 9 sweet little project ideas

November 19, 2021
by annwood

Patterns and DIY’s I think you’ll love. Easy and pretty quick projects you can make a bunch of with stuff you probably already have. Little extras on a package, tiny unexpected presents are magic.

tiny fabric mitten ornaments

1. Let’s start with these super sweet mittens. I love a thing that you can tuck another thing inside of.  They work as ornaments, wrapping extra’s, advent calendars, garlands etc. etc.. And there is a free PDF! Find it Oliver and S Patterns.

2. Also from Liesl Gibson:   these tiny walnut ships! Hot glue, a walnut shell, toothpick and paper. Brilliant.

The next 2 use my free patterns as starting off points and add super clever details.

3. This raccoon!  @erinpcf used the mouse pattern and added raccoon details. It would make an adorable ornament.

fish advent calendar

4.  Kates Creative Space used the lucky fish pattern to create this charming advent calendar.

5. Make macrame trees with this detailed tutorial by The Pretty Life Girls.
And if macrame appeals to you you’ll love this too.

6. This is a great one to do with little folks. Everybody loves a pompom. Find this instructions on Project Kid. That tree!!

owl ornaments made from scraps

7. Rocky the owl! From the free pattern page here. This group is by @cjasews You can get the owl pattern here.

8.  Pinecone people have a very firm place in my childhood holiday memories. Check out Lia Griffiths super cute video tutorial for these elf friends.

nostagi christmas light ornament diy

9. So nostalgic! And clever. Old fashion fabric christmas lights tutorial.

Plus don’t forget these other holiday gems from the free pattern page! woebegone pines, paper swan treat  boxes, and easy waxpaper snowflakes.

Are you making ornaments? have a favorite holiday DIY? let us know in the comments.

news from the notecard department

November 19, 2021
by annwood
painting table with notecards in progress

painting table with notecards in progress

All of a sudden there’s a real notecard department. It’s taken about 2 years of research, experiments and failures (so much failure) to put together this little collection of 11 notecards. The imagery is from the daily paintings. They’re printed on super deluxe, thick cotton paper. Totally frameworthy.

cat notecards 4 images - cat with fish dinner, cat with frog soup, sleeping cat and cats on a tiny island

The cards a re 4.25 by 5.5 and are packaged with a heavy weight craft or natural white envelope. And you get a discount on multiple cards – 20% of 5 or more with code – artcard21

My first (and only card) last year was square. It features an interspecies friendship and I love it but it turns out square cards need extra postage. Such a pain. So lesson learned, the square card is being retired and you can get it a an awesome closeout price.

card with illustration of goats in a snowy twilight

The response to the new cards has been outstanding and I’d love to add more stationary items next year with daily paintings imagery.  And maybe fabric.  After the holiday busyness I’m going to explore some hand printing methods and maybe try making some repeat patterns.

There is so much involved in choosing paper and learning about printing. I found a ton of help here.  And the paper saga continues. Did you know there is a global  paper shortage?  I bought all I could find and hopefully it will get me to next year when stuff will be available again.

find all the notecards here

Are you a snail mailer? Is there a design from the daily paintings you’d love to see on a card?  Let me know in the comments.

frog (or toad) doll tutorial

November 5, 2021
by annwood

Think “elf on a shelf” but amphibious.

They are remarkably expressive. A combination of the long limbs and eyes that follow you everywhere, silently judging you. An amphibious elf on a shelf. Why not.
Do you need more supervision? They are easy to make.

frog doll pattern sheet and supplies

download the pattern sheet

You will also need:

1. Fold your fabric with the right sides together. Pin one leg and arm along the fold and pin the body and cut out.

2.  Refold the remaining fabric, place the arm and leg on the fold and cut out. Pin the oval to a scrap of contrasting fabric and cut out.

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3. Fold over each bottom edge of the frog body – wrong sides together – and press. Mark all your seam lines.

4. Stitch all seams. You can sew by hand or machine.  Leave open as indicated.

5.  Trim little triangle section around the curves of the head. Be careful not to snip the seams. Trim away about 1/2 of the seam allowance on the arms and legs.

6. Use the chopstick to turn the body right side out. Use this trick to turn the arms and legs:  insert a turning tube or straw cut in half into a limb. Push the straw all the way in.

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