Fall Yarn Wreath

I am so ready for fall. Partly because it is my favorite time of the year and partly because it is still so hot here making me even more uncomfortable! I LOVE fall. Here are a few of my favorite aspects of fall:

-the colors. Golds, reds, orange, brown. Warm colors that look good in any home.
-the leaves. There is nothing better than the streets lined with orange and red fall leaves. Raking the leaves into piles and jumping in the pile is one of the best fall activities.
-PUMPKIN. I love pumpkin. I love the color, I love the shape, I love the smell, and I especially love the flavor. I have recently seen a few pumpkin recipes here and there on pinterest and it makes me want to bust out my canned pumpkin and make something yummy to eat and fill my house with amazing pumpkin smells.
-Halloween. A day when every person can go back to childhood and dress up in whatever they like.
-the smell and feel of a crisp day. When you need a jacket but can still take a stroll without freezing.
-Jackets. I love light jackets. There are so many cute styles and colors that can complete an outfit.


It is not quite fall yet but I am getting a head start by making a new wreath for my front door. I choose some of my favorite fall colors: wine red, plum, sage green, gold, grey, and beige. I made a variety of felt flowers some of the tutorials can be found here. It is a simple yarn wreath but a great transitional piece that will get me through the late summer into early fall.

I did add a few embellishments like buttons and decorative brads to give it a personal touch.

Do you have any great fall crafts you are currently working on?

Kids Craft: Felt Vase (video tutorial at SheKnows)

My daughter and I recently worked on felt vases and she had so much fun!  This easy craft only requires a few supplies and makes a great gift.

I hosted the SheKnows TV Daily Dish show a couple of weeks ago and some of my kids craft videos are now featured in their how to video library.  For a quick video with complete instructions to make this craft, please visit their site.

SheKnows TV "How to Make a Felt Vase"

 

Simple Rosette Necklace

This past week I was at the SNAP conference in Utah.  I had a great time and learned so much but it will take a little while for me to recap the event.  In the meantime I'll be sharing some of the projects I completed in preparation for the event.

Last year I was making a lot of rosette necklaces but was bored with the trend so I wasn't wearing any of them myself.  I've gone back to loving this style of necklace and wanted to make myself something to wear during the conference.  

I used scrap fabric to make rosettes and hot glued them onto white felt.  I did not draw a template on the felt for this necklace but if it's your first time making this style of necklace I would recommend taking that extra step.  You don't want to end up with an odd shape after you get all your rosettes glued together.

I trimmed the loose threads, cut the white felt backing around the edges, and added a couple of embellishments.

The project was going smoothly until I realized I did not have a chain for the necklace.  I spent almost an hour attaching little rings together.

To attach the chain I glued a piece of felt over each end on the back of the necklace.

I attached a clasp and my necklace was done.

 

I was wearing the necklace during a photography class and was lucky enough to get my friend, Katie of Sweet Rose Studio, to take a pretty picture of me.  I love it!

photography by Sweet Rose Studio

I just might be wearing more of these necklaces this year!

Someone Call for a Superhero?

My son turned 4 this week and we celebrated with a Superhero party. He has really been into imagination and Superheroes so this party was perfect for his current interests.

We started out with Mr. Freeze capturing all our favorite superheroes and freezing them in ice. The kids had to save the Superheroes by spraying the ice with hot water from their squirt guns. The kids loved it. We told a story beforehand to get them excited and then they were so pumped to try and save the heroes.Next we painted Spiderman masks. I bought the masks at Joann's in the $1 section. What a cheap and easy craft! I love a craft that shows the kids creativity as well as being low cost.


Then we dinned on pizza and strawberry lemonade. Every Superhero's power food, lol.

Next we all became Superheroes ourselves by creating our very own capes. I cut the capes out of felt and added sticky Velcro circles for the closures. Then I cut out a variety of shapes from presto felt (it is felt that already has sticky backs). The kids assembled the capes themselves. Again creativity and the glory of being the Superhero they all dream of becoming.


Once all the kids were in costume we finished the party games with a Superhero scavenger hunt. I made a key with all the Superhero characters then I placed their matching logos all over the house. The kids had to match up each logo to the Superhero on their sheet. It was really nice to see the kids helping each other find the logos they needed for their sheets.



We finished the party with a Spiderman cake and pinata and the kids took home all the candy in Superhero gift bags. It was a super party for my little super man.

Burlap and Felt Turkey Table Runner

Wow, November is here!  It feels like just yesterday it was summer and I was wishing for colder weather and pumpkin spice lattes.  Today I was excited to take down our Halloween decorations and get a few turkeys out in our house.  I made a very quick table runner to add some color to our kitchen.  This little turkey was made completely with supplies I had at home.

I used a plate from my daughter's tea set and a coffee can lid to trace the turkey's body on burlap.

The other pieces were cut from felt with out a pattern. 

I had a big piece of burgundy fabric in my stash that was the perfect size for a small table runner.  I ended up just pressing the edges instead of using pins before I made them pretty with my sewing machine.

I chose a fun embroidery stitch to add some character to the runner.

Bright yellow thread looked great against the darker color.

I stitched the turkey pieces with the same yellow thread.

Hot glued googly eyes finished the turkey.

My kitchen table was looking a little dull this morning.

After only half an hour in my craft room, our table is looking festive!

I'm so excited to see November!

 

Spider Web Headband

Tomorrow I'm hosting a Halloween play date for some of my daughter's little friends and their mommies.  In preparing for the party I completely forgot to make sure I had something festive to wear.  This is the first year I didn't spend time putting family costumes together.  My daughter is dressing up as Cinderella and she already had a really pretty Disney Cinderella dress that had only been worn once to Disneyland.  There was no reason for me to make anything other than a blue headband for her costume.

I decided to make myself a quick spiderweb headband to wear to the party tomorrow.  It turned out really cute and I'm sure the kids will think the spider on my head is funny! 

I started by using my sewing machine to stitch a web with black thread onto a piece of white felt.  I completely free handed the web while stitching.  I didn't trim any of my thread until the web was completely finished. 

Don't worry about mistakes...spider webs certainly aren't perfect!  You can always just cover your mistakes with the spider.

Once the web was done I used hot glue to sandwich ribbon between the web and another piece of white felt.

Be sure to glue around the border of the web because you want the pieces stuck together after you trim off the excess felt.  Be careful not to cut your ribbon when you trim the felt.

Use hot glue to attach your spider to the web.

Now you have a fun headband to wear trick or treating!

I'm linking this post here.