Easy Needle Felted Valentine Heart Tutorial Using a Cookie Cutter

Are you Needle Felting a gift for your Valentine this year? Here's a "heart" felt idea for you! 

I hand felted this quick and easy sweet little heart shaped pouch a while ago as a how-to project for a master's degree class assignment (yes, I even managed to fit some needle felting into my higher ed work somehow!). We were assigned the task to come up with a short lesson plan demonstrating how to do something along with all the accompanying materials to go with it. I had even filmed a short video demonstrating this needle felted craft which has gotten lost somewhere along the way so you'll just have to settle for the step-by-step photo tutorial instead. 

The 5 Best FREE Needle Felting Videos Tutorials

Find the best needle felt how-to videos online without spending a dime! Right here!

Do you need a refresher course on how to needle felt or want to learn a brand new (and super fun) fiber craft?

Check out the needle felting video series below for tutorials and tips to get your started or for inspiration to dive into that wool you've been hoarding (yes, I know you have!). Each of the featured fiber artists below has a set of well produced needle felt craft videos to educate you on the basic techniques of felting. 

The Best Glue for DIY Glass Gem Magnets

Mod Podge vs. Tacky Glue vs. Quick Grip 

Which of these 3 glues work best for making quick & easy DIY glass gem magnets or pendants? I put them all to the test!

After many years working as a professional crafter and also as a publishing Craft Editor, I have gone through an enormous amount of glue - all types of glue from simple white school glue to glue dots to industrial strength adhesives. I've used bottle after bottle, and quite honestly, I've used some bottles just once and set them aside because they didn't cut it for the craft at hand. The right glue matters! And, more importantly, the right adhesive for the right project matters most.

How to Make Felt Wool Balls

Felted Wool Balls or Beads DIY Craft Tutorial 

easily create homemade wool dryer balls or felted beads for decoration

Like many of you who have been wet felting or needle felted for a while, wool balls or beads are probably one of the first things you tried making. Me too! I have been creating handmade felted wool balls in all shapes, colors and sizes for several years now. I have used them mainly in making felted jewelry and also as embellishments for fiber art pieces. 

You can see many examples of what I've done with my own felt wool beads at my Flickr gallery. I still have shoes boxes full of all sorts of colors that I keep on hand for future projects. Honestly, I just find them fun and so easy to make that I use up my scraps on them. My five year old also likes making them with me as they are a very kid-friendly felting project.

Mod Podge Bottle Cap Tree Card

Upcycle bottle caps and patterned card stock for this unique Christmas card! 

If you aren't much of a card maker, try an ornament or in a photo frame instead.

Want a unique but easy Christmas craft to try? This bottle cap Christmas tree is the perfect endeavor for you. Fill your caps with patterned card stock, photo images or even buttons or rhinestones for embellishment. I used a bit of glitter on mine! See below for the photo craft tutorial...

Recycled Cereal Box and Felt Christmas Trees

Need a quick & easy craft to do with your kiddos before Christmas? And fun, of course!

Upcycle old cereal boxes or cardboard and a little felt into pretty tree decorations!

These recycled cereal box Christmas trees are quick and easy, but also can be dressed up to look very cute sitting on a shelf or mantle. They are also an excellent kid's craft with a bit of supervision using the hot glue. For very small children, replace it with thick tacky glue instead so there are no boo-boo's in the making of these holiday trees! Find the photo craft tutorial link below....

Easy Peasy Handmade Salt Dough Ornaments

Having fun making Holly Jolly Christmas Crafts! 

Whipping up easy salt dough ornaments for memorable Christmas craft times.

Oh my goodness! Have you tried mixing and baking any of those salt dough or baking soda ornament recipes on Pinterest? There are many, many examples to choose from. My daughter and I first made some salt dough ornaments during the summer to try out various recipes. You can see those baking in our oven in the photo below.

Then a friend of mine made some for a recent kid's ornament party at my church. She brought a large container full of shapes for everyone to share and paint. My little girl painted and glittered the ones in the main photo above. We've had a lot of fun making ornaments of all kinds this year and plan to make a few more kinds before Christmas. 

Put on some holiday music, mix up some dough and have fun with your kids making ornaments! Next up for us...trying a corn starch and baking soda ornament recipe that I found on Pinterest. It is suppose to be even easier than the salt dough ones and have a better texture and whiter color overall after drying. We'll see how it goes and have a lot of fun experimenting I'm sure :-)

Merry Christmas!

Easy Peasy Salt Dough Ornaments:

Mix a cup of flour with a cup of salt. Then add about a half cup of water (or as needed to form a firm dough). Knead dough and flatten to about a quarter inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to make shapes. Then bake on a cookie sheet for 3-4 hours at 200 degrees or let air dry for 24-48 hours. 

Be sure to watch them carefully in the oven as I had one batch burn a bit around the edges! If you have that issue, you can reduce the heat or let air dry until firm.

Easy Needle Felt Snowman Card Tutorial

Do love snowmen decorations in the winter? Me too!

Whip up this quick and easy needle felted snowman card in no time!

I don't know what it is about snowmen this year, but I am loving to make them. Big ones, small ones, with crocheted yarn, with felted beads, with men's tube socks (yes, with socks!)...you get the idea. There are currently a lot of snowmen decorating my house. 

Handmade Sock Snowman Tutorial

Have you made any of these little snowmen yet? 

Quick and Easy Sock Snowman Craft Tutorial for the Holidays

Towards the beginning of November, I had posted about having a craft party at my church where we created sock snowmen. We had an absolute blast together making these little guys and gals. Recently I whipped up several more to donate to my daughter's school and also for gifts. These are just plain fun to make and soooooo easy! If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. And, it is even better with a group of friends or getting the kids involved.

Download Free Printables Now

Below you'll find several more fun photo examples of my snowman army along with the original tutorial links for the sock snowman bodies and polymer clay carrot noses. I hope you take time to get crafty before Christmas and give these a try :)

Felt Card Holder Craft Tutorial

Stylish & Simple Felt Christmas Card Display

Make this craft in less than an hour to hold all your Christmas cards this year!

Although I don't send out many Christmas cards in the mail anymore, I always get a few from my thoughtful friends and family members. We have displayed them in many ways over the years. Sadly, some years, they have ended up propped up plainly on a shelf or desk, and then some years, we've had cutely crafted displays. This is one of those years. December is quickly upon us! I know the Christmas cards will start rolling in. Thankfully I am prepared this year. Now to get the other decorations out :)

I have a stack of felt craft sheets in many colors. They've been collected as leftovers from previous craft projects here and there. This tutorial used just three sheets of my leftovers to make a pretty Christmas card holder. I also made use of an old art canvas that was leftover from previous projects. All-in-all this is really a recycled or upcycled craft I suppose - just not using cans other stuff pulled from my recycle bin like usual. 

Handmade Crocheted Snowman Patterns

Meet My Autumn Snowman Sisters! 

handmade crochet snowman with FREE pattern

Yesterday I posted about how to easily sculpt carrot noses and button eyes from polymer clay. And prior to that, I had posted about accidentally stuffing many of my crocheted snowmen wrong side out. Ooops! Well, I decided to get past all that and just decorate my little army of snowmen and have fun with it.

This set of "sisters" is part of my snowman army that I decided to decorate with cuts of old felted sweaters. I've had a couple bags full of felted wool sweaters for, well, probably years now. I've used bits and pieces of them over the years on different projects. This orange felted wool screamed to me Autumn so I stitched up some simple cone hats and cut strips for scarves. Dressing up these ladies was as much fun as originally crocheting them. Now I have to decide whether to keep them for myself or make them a handmade gift for someone else.

Would you like to make some snowman "sisters" of your own? I used this easy amigurumi snowman pattern by Red Heart for the taller 3-tiered snowman and adapted it slightly. My adaptations included using a magic ring for the beginning and adding a couple of rounds to the bottom ball. I also used cotton yarn and a size G/6 (4mm) hook instead of what's recommended on the crochet pattern. You could use the original pattern as-is and get great results. I personally like to experiment and create new versions - gives each snowman a personality!

For the shorter snowman "sister", I adapted the pattern quite a lot more and made something brand new - a bit too much to explain in a sentence or two so I'm outlining the new crochet pattern below - absolutely free for you to give it a try!


SHORT CROCHETED SNOWMAN PATTERN:
Crochet materials needed:
Size G/6 hook
White cotton yarn
Scissors & Polyfill (or comparable stuffing)

Note: Work in continuous rounds throughout the pattern. I recommend using a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round for tracking them as you go more easily.

Make a magic ring, 6 sc into ring and pull tight. 

Rnd 1: 2 sc in each st. around (12 sts.)

Rnd 2: [sc in next st., 2 sc in next st.] around (18 sts.)

Rnds 3-7: sc in each st. around (18 sts.)

Rnd 8: sc2tog around (decrease to 9 sts.)

Rnd 9: 2 sc in each st. around (increase to 18 sts. to start the body)

Rnd 10: [sc in next 2 sts., 2 sc in next st.] around (24 sts.)

Rnd 11-17: sc in each st. around (24 sts.)

Note: At this point, I recommend you flip the snowman right side out if you prefer it that way. I left mine wrong side out. Then stuff it with polyfill before starting the decreases in the next rows. Also, if it becomes difficult to decrease down to the 3 sts. in Rnd 20, you can stop in the previous Rnd, tighten and tie off. I like to decrease as far as possible personally, but do what works for you!

Rnd 18: sc2tog around (decrease to 12 sts.)

Rnd 19: sc2tog around (decrease to 6 sts.)

Rnd 20: sc2tog around (decrease to 3 sts.)

Tie off and weave in ends.

Like my little crocheted snowman? I have new patterns and holiday craft tutorials coming up soon. Be sure to follow me or subscribe to my feed on the sidebar to get those posts. Don't miss out!

CROCHET RESOURCE LINKS:

How to make a magic ring by the Curious Pig

Crochet abbreviations chart by Crochet Geek

Right side vs. wrong side crochet

Disclaimer: I have no advertising affiliation at this time with Red Heart. My opinions are my own. I share because I like what I do and appreciate a good free crochet pattern!

Polymer Clay Snowman Nose and Eyes Tutorial

A Poly Clay Tutorial for Carrot Noses & Button Eyes 

add personality to your handmade snowman this winter with this quick & easy craft

If you've been following along with my blog, you'll know that this Winter I've had a bit of a handmade snowman obsession. From tube sock snowmen to an army of crocheted snowmen, I have been experimenting with several crafty ways to create the little guys, and will probably experiment with even more ways to create fun snowmen throughout the season.

Download Free Printables Now

After being unsatisfied with the thought of using a button for a nose or drawing on a nose or skipping the nose all-together, I decided to dig out a few packages of polymer clay from years ago (thankfully they weren't dried out!). I then sculpted some tiny carrot noses and some button eyes. The noses were my favorite, and I have been using them on all my handmade snowmen. The dark brown button eyes weren't my favorite, but I've used them on a couple of snowmen and used a variety of commercially made buttons for the rest. Wiggle eyes would also be an option, but I haven't tried that yet on the ones I've made so far.

The polyclay tutorial below is very easy to do! And inexpensive as well! I have been crafting for years (and years and years) and was quite surprised myself how easy these were to make in batches. If you are creating handmade snowmen gifts for family and friends or perhaps whipping up several for craft shows, these polymer clay carrot noses and button eyes are a very good way to go - simple, fast and cheap, but they look great too.

POLYMER CLAY SNOWMAN EYES AND NOSE MATERIALS:

Orange polymer clay for the carrot noses
Dark brown polymer clay for the button eyes
Aluminum foil
A flat butter knife or something flat edged to cut the clay
A paper clip, pin or toothpick
Non-food pan
Oven 

POLYMER CLAY SNOWMAN EYES AND NOSE INSTRUCTIONS:

Prep: Line your non-food pan with aluminum foil (shiney side down seems to work better for me). Preheat your oven according to the polymer clay package directions.

1. For the carrot noses, first work the orange clay with your hands until it is pliable. Roll a small lump of it back and forth in your hands forming a quarter inch size cylinder shape about 6 to 8 inches long. 

Lay the cylinder stretched out on a small sheet of aluminum foil. Then use a flat surface, like a butter knife, to cut it into inch long or so pieces (exact measured lengths are really not that important on this craft). 

Pick up each piece one at a time. Roll one end into a point and scrunch the other end down a bit forming a long cone, or carrot, shape. Then use the paper clip or toothpick to make a few little notches on one side like the crooks and stripes on a carrot. Repeat for each carrot piece laying them on the non-food pan to bake later when formed.

2. For the button eyes, follow the same procedure to roll a cylinder with the dark brown clay and lay it on the aluminum foil. This time though, use the flat knife to cut much thinner sections of clay about a quarter inch wide each. 

Flatten or squish each little disk you just made into a pancake shaped circle. Then use the paper clip or toothpick to make four holes in each button (or two holes if you prefer). First form the holes on one side, then carefully flip each button using the flat knife and trace the holes again on the other side so they are evenly formed. Lay each on the non-food pan for baking later.

3. For baking, follow the manufacturer's instructions for baking your polymer clay. Depending on what brand you purchased, baking times and temperatures can vary a little.

4. When finished baking, let sit for about a half hour or so to completely cool down before putting them on your handmade snowmen. Then use hot glue or thick tacky glue to adhere a carrot nose on each snowman. Sew on the button eyes or glue them down as you like.

Did you find this useful? I have a lot more craft tutorials on the horizon. Be sure to follow me or subscribe to my feed through the subscription box on the side to get those upcoming posts. Don't miss out!

Easy Tube Sock Snowman Craft Tutorial

A Quick & Easy Snowman Craft 

Filling an afternoon with friends & crafting

This past Saturday, there was another Craft Party Fellowship where we created these very easy-to-make tube sock snowmen. (You can read about our first church craft party here.) In the photo above are some of the little guys that we created. It was a fun afternoon spent stuffing socks and hot gluing, and chatting about kids, family and life in general. 

Below you'll find the basics of how to make your own. I highly recommend this craft for all ages and groups as it is both inexpensive and very easy!

Download Free Printables Now

Quick and Easy Felt Flower Tutorial

Sew or Hot Glue these Pretty Felt Flowers

Use just one 25 cent craft felt sheet per flower!

If you missed my original craft tutorial on these cheap, quick and easy felt flowers, click on the link below for full photo instructions. I have been using them all Fall season to decorate indoors and outdoors. Check out the Autumn themed wreath I made with them for my porch for a little inspiration. 

Each flower is created with just one sheet of 25 cent craft felt and either hot glued or sewn together. You can make at least a half dozen in an hour - probably more if you work quickly! I like to make several colored flowers ahead of time and store them in a gallon bag for later craft projects. 

If you've made anything with this style or other felt flowers, please share your post link or photo in the comments. I'd love to see what you've been up to!

Felt Flowers Craft Tutorial

Autumn DIY Painted Polka Dot Planters

Quick & Easy Painted Polka Dot Pots for Autumn

Got 20 minutes in your day? Then whip these up for your porch!

I scored a few very cheap end-of-season clearance pots at the local department store. These are already colorful plastic, but I wanted to dress them up a bit to use on my little back porch along with my other Autumn decorations. This craft project literally took me about 20 minutes excluding dry time to do four pots. It was an inexpensive and simple way to dress up my porch steps. Now I just have to find something to fill my pots...on to the next crafty adventure for a later post.

MATERIALS:

Choice of plastic or terra cotta pots
Round foam spouncer like these
Acrylic craft paint

PAINTED POLKA DOT POTS CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS:

First, be sure the surface of your pot is clean. You can use a little rubbing alcohol if necessary to remove any oily or chemical substances and then let it dry well. Apply a very liberal but even coat of paint to your foam spouncer. At a straight angle, press it against the surface of your pot. Then very gently rock it from side to side and up and down, never lifting it up off the pot's surface. This will help the paint to adhere around the edges for even coverage. Then lift straight up and you're done. The paint will look thick and perhaps have some little bubbles, but that's what you want so it dries with even coverage.

Re-coat the spouncer and do the next dot. If you mess one up, have a damp cloth ready to wipe it off the surface quickly and redo it. Don't wait to long, and don't try to just reapply over the top as it is hard to align your spouncer once it has been lifted. I recommend wiping the funky dot away completely and doing it over. Apply as many dots of any size and color you like on the surface.

If using outdoors, you might want to coat your planter with a clear sealer of some kind. I didn't do it for this particular project, but I have in the past and it is useful for slowing down wear on painted surfaces. 

Giant Felt Ball Instructographic

How to Make Giant Felted Wool Balls

a handmade craft photo tutorial in 4 easy steps

These large sized felt wool balls are about 3 inches across! They are great for home decorating, holiday ornaments or kid's toys. For the full instructions, find the craft tutorial here. And, you can check out something adorable I made from one here.

Handmade Sewn Felt Flowers Craft Tutorial

DIY Quick & Easy Felt Flowers

create a bunch of these pretty flowers in a snap for home decorating

I had been curious for a while about making flowers from craft felt sheets. There are many, many shapes of felt flowers out there along with great craft tutorials. I decided to go with this style and stitch them by hand. You could speed it up by using your sewing machine to sew the straight line. Then hot glue them together as you roll them up. Or just use hot glue for all of it. I personally like sewing so it was a treat to make these.

Download Free Printables Now

The photo above shows them on a Fall wreath I made recently. I will be posting about it a little later in the week so please check back in or subscribe to receive my posts in your inbox.

MATERIALS:

Felt craft sheets (1 per flower)
Tapestry needle and embroidery floss
(or you could use a sewing machine and hot glue)
Iron or sewing pins
Sharp scissors

FELT FLOWER CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the craft felt sheet in half length-wise. Fold each of those piece in half length-wise. Either use an iron to crease the fold or pin them in place.

2. On one folded piece, use the embroidery floss  and tapestry needle (or a sewing machine and/or hot glue) to stitch about a half inch from the felt sheet edges (opposite the fold), sewing them together.

3. Then cut about half inch wide slits, evenly spaced, along the folded edge. These are your flower petal rings. Cut all the way down to the stitched edge, but do not cut through it.

4. Now tightly roll up the folded sheet at the sewn edge. Secure in place as you go with stitching (or hot glue). 

5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 on the other folded piece. Then add it onto the one you've already made by rolling it around the bottom edge and stitching (or hot gluing) it in place as you go.

DIY Pool Noodle Wreath Craft Tutorial

How to Make 2 Wreaths from 1 Pool Noodle 

a cheap and easy way to create wreaths for your home decorating

When I came across a few tutorials on Pinterest showing how to make a wreath from a pool noodle, my cheapskate self was thrilled. I already had one in my storage space and purchased another one from the local department store for just a few bucks. Having been a frugal crafter for a very long time now, I wondered how I could have even more bang for my buck. Hence, creating two wreaths out of one pool noodle! Be forewarned, it does take a little time and effort, but it is certainly not rocket science.

Download Free Printables Now

Recycled Tin Can Felt and Ribbon Centerpiece

Felt & Ribbon Covered Tin Cans Upcycled DIY Craft

rinse them, dry them and hot glue them to make these quick & easy home decorations

This is more of a DIY decorating idea than a full-blown craft tutorial. As I've stated in previous posts, I'm a bit of a recyclables hoarder. My husband actually takes them to the local recycle center. I, on the other hand, have a tendency to save things from tin cans to cereal boxes to peanut butter jar lids (yes, I could probably use a good self-help group at this point). I do somehow manage to keep the stacks pretty organized which helps, but the recyclables call to me to make them into things and that brings me to today's funky little upcycled tin cans. They just asked to be covered in felt, but doesn't everything really ;-)

For this project, you'll obviously need some clean, dry tin cans. Make sure any sharp edges around the top are filed down or covered before you begin - please no 911 calls during this little craft project! 

Next collect some coordinating colors of felt and ribbon. I personally love all things bright - pinks, blues, greens - the sky's the limit on my color obsessions. However, as you can see, it is always good to mix in a neutral or two like the rusty brown to break up wild color combos.

Measure the distance around the perimeter of your can and add about an inch to that for overlap. Then cut some 3 to 5 inch wide colored strips the measured length of felt for the base covering. The width really depends on your can height. I tried to leave anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 inch of space of raw tin can at the top and bottom of my can as I like it showing, but you can cover it completely or show even more can - totally up to your great taste. 

For the top layer felt strip (the neutral rustic brown), I cut a piece anywhere from 1 to 2 inches less wide than the base covering felt. Just eyeball it to your design taste being sure to let the colorful base show through a little on the top and bottom edges.

Now use some dots of very hot glue to attach the layers of color and neutral felt to your can along the seam. Check here for some great tips on how to best glue felt. 

To top it off, tie a pretty ribbon around the center of it all. Mine was a 1-1/2 inch wide patterned gross-grain ribbon from the local Hobby Lobby store. I knotted one, tied one and just left one plain. I like a variety for visual interest.

And, if you are admiring those tissue paper flowers, you can find the DIY craft tutorial for those here. They are a quick and easy way to dress up your house or a party. They're also fun to make.

You can also make a similar upcycled can for craft storage shown here covered in fabric scraps instead of felt. I use these (which are even quicker to make) in my craft room to hold all sorts of things.

Happy crafting!

Hoot! Hoot! I'm Cute!

Giant Felted Wool Ball Owl Craft for Autumn

dress up a wet felted wool ball with craft felt cutouts for this funky fall ornament

In the past two weeks, the temperatures have been dropping little by little here in southern Missouri. There's also been a moisture in the air and briskness as you step outside. Sure signs that Fall is coming! Although I was thankful for summer here after a long snow-filled winter, I am more of a Fall weather kind of girl. I can respectably wear my sweat pants and long sleeve t-shirts. And, being a fiber crafter at heart, it also sparks me to dig my hands into all kinds of fibers from wool to fabrics to burlap. Fall has always been a magical time of year for me and instantly lifts my spirits.

If you are a subscriber to my little craft blog, then you hopefully got my Gigantic Felted Wool Ball craft tutorial in your inbox last week. That's what I used as a base for this cutie pie DIY owl ornament. So to get started, you'll need to click on over to those DIY instructions and make one or a few of those giant felted balls to turn into owls like the one above. I used orange wool roving for mine, but you can, of course, make a variety of owl colors. (Picking colors is part of the fun!)

MATERIALS (not including the felted ball base):

Craft felt sheets or scraps in white, black, dark brown and dark yellow
Hot glue gun with glue sticks
1/8 inch wide brown satin ribbon
Sharp scissors and pencil
Round cookie cutters: 2-1/2 inch wide for wings, 2 inch wide for body, 1-1/8 inch wide for outer eyes and 5/8 inch wide for center eyes

CRAFT TIPS:

You can use a compass for the circles listed above or freehand cut all the shapes - do what works best for you! I used the cookie cutters for convenience. Make your owl have a quirky personality, and if kids are involved, they'll especially like improvising the shapes and colors.

DIY FELTED BALL OWL INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using the cookie cutters (or whatever you have on hand), cut the following shapes for your owl: 

• 2 white 1-1/8 inch circles for the outer eyes
• 2 black 5/8 inch circles for the center eyes
• 1 dark brown 2 inch wide circle for the body
• 1 dark yellow 2-1/2 inch wide circle for the wings, then cut it in half
• freehand cut 1 dark yellow triangle (about 1 inch wide) for the beak

2. Using hot glue, attach the shapes to the side of your giant felted wool ball. First place the dark brown body circle. Then the dark yellow triangle beak. Followed by the white outer and black center eye circles. Finally attach the dark yellow half circle wings last facing inward at the bottom outer edge of each white eye circle as seen in the photo. (I wedged my wings slightly under each eye corner.)

3. Cut two 8 inch lengths of brown ribbon. Tie one into a small bow and loop the other piece, knotting the end. First glue on the looped ribbon, knotted end next to the wool ball, centered above the eyes. Then attach the small bow at the base of the loop covering the knot. Trim bow ribbon ends at a pretty angle.

That's it! You're all done and have a cutie hootie in your hand! Hang it, gift it or throw it (after all, it is a ball). Whatever you do with it, I bet you'll want to make a few more. I already do. My little owl needs a buddy or two, therefore, you'll be seeing some other felt ball critter tutorials in the near future here on the blog so be sure to subscribe. I can't help but think this would also be a great Fall craft activity for a girl scout troupe, youth group or class party. It would be a hoot to see a bunch of little felt ball owls lined up (sorry, I couldn't resist). Happy crafting!