FREE Knitted by Hand Tags or Labels Printable

Do you knit?

Grab these totally FREE printable tags or labels for your handmade knitted items!

Printable tags especially for the knitter! These "Hand Knitted" tags will look fabulous hanging on your hand crafted gifts or craft show items. Simply click on the link below to download the printable tags file for your personal use.

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.

FREE Crocheted by Hand Tags or Labels Printable

Do you crochet?

Grab these totally FREE printable tags or labels for your handmade crocheted items!

Printable tags especially for the crocheter! These "Crocheted by Hand" tags with a yarn ball will look fabulous hanging on your hand crafted gifts or craft show items. Simply click on the link below to download the printable tags file for your personal use.

FREE Handmade with Wool Tags or Labels Printable

Do you create any handmade wool items? 

Grab these totally FREE printable tags or labels for your felted, crocheted, knitted, hand spun yarns or other handmade wool items!

Printable tags especially for the fiber crafter or fiber lovin' maker of things. Whether you felt, crochet, knit, weave or spin, these "Handmade with Wool" tags have an adorable little sheep that will look fabulous on your hand crafted woolen gifts or craft show items. Simply click on the link below to download the printable tags file for your personal use.

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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. 

WIP Crocheted Dishcloths for Christmas Gifts

What crafty project are you working on this week? 

WIP Wednesday: making crocheted holiday gifts while snuggled under my blanket

Unfortunately it is that time of year when all kinds of bugs are going around. My daughter and I have both been stricken with some illness the past few weeks. On the bright side, it gives me a good excuse to snuggle under my big purple blanket on the couch and crochet while catching up on some of my favorite TV shows.

Handmade Felted Bead Tree Ornament

Make your own felt wool bead Christmas ornaments! 

This simple craft uses felt wool balls, hot glue and ribbon.

After many years of needle felting and wet felting, I have an abundance of felted wool beads stashed away in plastic shoe boxes. They are all sizes, shapes and colors. This year, I dug through my stash to make some very simple Christmas tree ornaments. 

Maybe you have your own wool bead stash. If not, craft stores are beginning to carry them and you can find them online. Or, substitute large pom poms instead. This can also be a good kids felt craft with supervision if using a hot glue gun, or substitute a thick tacky glue instead. Improvising is allowed! Just make some quirky Christmas tree ornaments! See below for the easy tutorial.

Easy Crochet Dishcloth Pattern

Free Dishcloth Pattern for Crocheters

Need a quick & easy gift? These crocheted dishcloths are perfect!

If you are in need of a holiday, housewarming or birthday gift, these crocheted dishcloths are seriously perfect. They are quick and easy to whip up several at once. Then stack them and tie with a pretty bow - that's it! You're done! 

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These are a favorite of my mom. She's quite a practical woman too and loves how well they wear over time as she uses them in the kitchen and washes them. The crocheted dishcloths are not just for looks. They really last and work well for cleaning up messes, spills and even pots and pans in your kitchen. See below for the full free crochet pattern on these dishcloths. 

Handmade Kids Crocheted Beanie Cap and Butterfly

Crocheting Kid's Caps and Butterflies

Handmade beanies and butterflies for the little girl in your life!

These two crochet projects were adaptations from some that I found on Pinterest and pinned to my "Crochet Cuteness" board - the place where I bookmark bunches and bunches of free crochet patterns and inspiration for new creations. 

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Free Crocheted Snowman Holiday Pattern

Quick & Easy Snowman Gift to Crochet

Stitch up several of these for handmade holiday gifts this year!

I promised another snowman pattern a while back and here it is. This one I made for my daughter and she picked the bright colored hat and scarf. This new free pattern is for a bit taller one than the last free crocheted snowman pattern I posted. As with the other pattern, this one is also very quick and easy to make using cotton yarn. 

Needle Felted Wool Snowman Card With Upcycled Bottle Caps Craft Tutorial

Handmade Needle Felted Snowman Card 

Upcycled Bottle Caps & Wool Roving Create this Unique Snowman

Although my favorite crafts usually involves wool and some type of felting, I have experimented with just about every craft out there. Having worked in the craft publishing industry for most of my professional career, I've come across so many neat techniques that I can't even begin to list them all and remember everything I've created over the last 15+ years. 

Recently I've found recycling and upcycling to be a passion of mine when making crafts. I also like to incorporate unconventional materials together like these bottle caps used as the base for needle felted wool. One of the absolute best things about crafts is that it is the sky's the limit on what you can make and there is no right way if you end up with the results you want. Happy crafting and stay warm out there folks!

MATERIALS: 

Choice of card with envelope
3 clean bottle caps
Rubber mallet
Strong, clear drying permanent glue
Tacky glue or thick white glue
Ultra fine silver glitter
Small sponge brush
Scrap felt or fabric for scarf

For the needle felting:
White, black and orange wool roving
Medium gauge felting needle
Foam pad for felting on
1 inch round cookie or polymer clay cutter

Craft Tips: Not into needle felting? That's okay! Simply adapt the interior of the bottle caps by using paper instead. Use a 1 inch wide circle punch to cut three pieces from white card stock for the snowman body. For the round eyes and buttons use either a 1/8th inch hole punch or standard whole punch and black card stock. Then freehand cut a mouth from black card stock and a triangle shape carrot nose from orange card stock. Glue your cut card stock pieces on the bottle caps to form the snowman. Once the glue dries, I recommend using a domed epoxy sticker to cover it or a clear drying sealer of some kind.

INSTRUCTIONS:

First needle felt the body circles for your snowman. Using a 1 inch round cookie or polymer clay cutter, lay it on a thick foam base and fill it full of white wool roving in crisscrossing layers. Then poke the wool repeatedly with a medium gauge felting needle to shape it into a small disk. Once the wool is felted firmly, remove the disk from the cutter containing it and carefully use your needle to shape the edges and smooth out the surface for a polished look. Repeat this process to make two more disks for three total, one for each body piece. (Technique Tip: Don't have a cookie cutter or polymer clay cutter to use? Simply use a permanent marker to draw a 1 inch round circle directly on your foam. Then felt inside of it for a guide. Or, freehand felt your disks until you get the size you want.)

Once you've felted the body disks, use black and orange wool roving to add the features. For the eyes, use a couple of very small pinches of black wool, roll to ball them up and felt in place. Do the same for the black buttons on the middle and last disks. Then use a small rolled pinch of black wool to add the mouth. For the carrot nose, pinch off a small amount of orange roving, roll between your fingers and felt lightly with the needle to shape into a cone. Then attach it at the cone base centered between the eyes. Use the photo below as a guide of where to put the snowman features or get creative and make him or her have a personality of their very own!

Prep your bottle caps by flattening them. (You can use clean, recycled bottle caps or purchase funky colored ones at the craft store like my lime green ones.) Lay the bottle caps, top up, on a sturdy surface that you don't mind hammering on. Then use your rubber mallet to gently hit the top of each bottle cap in a circular motion until the edges peel up all around. It should only take a few seconds of hammering per bottle cap top.  (Technique Tip: A rug covered floor works great as a hammering surface. My 4 year old loved helping me with this part too!)

Glue the felted body pieces onto the flattened bottle caps. Use a strong, clear drying permanent adhesive for this and glue one disk centered on each bottle cap top. (I personally like Quick Hold adhesive by the same makers of E6000 for gluing felt to metal or other substances because it dries fast and holds well. I don't recommend it for use by children though so be sure an adult uses it.)

Now take a little time to add some bling to your card. With a sponge brush and Tacky or thick white glue, paint a small hill shape on the front of your card. Cover with ultra fine silver glitter. Then shake off the excess on a paper plate and put it back in your bottle for later (no waste here!). Set the card aside letting the glue dry for at least a few hours or until set well.

While waiting for all that glue to dry, use a scrap piece of felt or other fabric to make your snowman's scarf. Cut about a 1/2 inch wide by 8 inch long strip. Then fold each end in half and cut on a diagonal to make those pretty v-shaped ends. Fold the entire strip in half and tie a knot about 1 inch down from the folded center. Set the scarf aside for now.

When everything is completely dry (which may be several hours later), use the strong, clear drying permanent adhesive like Quick Hold to attach the three snowman body pieces to the front of the card. See photo below for placement. Use a toothpick or paper towel if needed to wipe away excess glue. Also glue on the scarf leaving the ends unattached and only adhering the base above the knot. Now it is a waiting game again letting the card dry completely before packaging it to mail. I recommend letting it sit overnight.

Write a thoughtful note on the inside and package it well if mailing. Be sure to have it weighed at the Post Office too. Those bottle caps can make it heavier than your average card!

Unique Handmade Bottle Cap Christmas Tree Card with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic & Patterned Card Stock

Recycle Bottle Caps into This Cute Christmas Tree Card

Not a cardmaker? Try an ornament, tag or framed artwork instead!

I actually created this card for a dear friend of mine that I recently worked with at Country Woman Magazine. I didn't send out mass Christmas cards this year. Between moving recently across states and just being busy in general, I didn't find the time, but my friend is such a thoughtful person that I wanted to design a handmade card just for her. 

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You can create several of these at once pretty easily or adapt it into an ornament, tag or even a neat framed piece of artwork.

MATERIALS:

6 bottle caps
Scraps of Christmas patterned card stock
1 inch wide circle punch (optional)
Colorful card with envelope
Miniature bow or other topper
Holiday phrase sticker or stamp with ink
Permanent, clear drying adhesive
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
Ultra fine glitter (optional)
Toothpick and paper plate

Craft Tips: Don't have any Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to use? You can substitute 1 inch round clear epoxy stickers or use a few coats of clear drying sealer to cover the patterned card stock. I personally recommend the Dimensional Magic on this project because it is very easy to use acting both as a glue and sealer. It also clear drying and allows for add-ins like the glitter I used or other neat little extras.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Use a 1 inch wide circle punch (or trace and cut) to make six patterned card stock circles, one for each bottle cap interior.

Use a dot of the Dimensional Magic as glue on the interior of each bottle cap to secure the patterned circles in place.Coat the top of the circles liberally with the Dimensional Magic. Use a toothpick to spread it out and pop any bubble that form if needed.

Next I sprinkled a little glitter over the tops for some bling. You could also place add-ins like beads or rhinestones on the circles before covering them with Dimensional Magic if you like. The sky's the limit with embellishments!

Now you'll need to be patient and wait a few hours to a half day for the Dimensional Magic to dry completely. Then you can use a sturdy permanent glue to adhere the bottle caps in a Christmas tree shape to the front of your card. I used a miniature bow and holiday sticker for added decoration, but you can mix that up as well and embellish as you like. Or, you can choose to turn this into a handmade ornament, tag, magnet set or even framed artwork - whatever makes you giddy!

 Finally, gift it! If you plan to mail this as a card, I suggest wrapping it in some tissue paper before putting it in your envelope. And, don't forget to have it weighed as the bottle caps will make it a little heftier than an average store bought paper card.

 

Have a Very Merry & Blessed Christmas!

Make Your Own Needle Felted Elf for Your Little One!

Cute Handmade Needle Felted Wool Elf for Christmas

Do you have one of those popular elves on your shelf this season?

I've seen a lot of people online, friends and acquaintances, having great fun with The Elf on the Shelf craze this season. It is such a cute idea and a neat way to get your kids and whole family involved in an activity together. My daughter just turned 4 years old this summer, and I didn't feel quite ready to introduce her to the branded story book and Elf quite yet so I decided to make her her very own little Elf. She got to watch me make him and be involved that way. And, I told her once I had taken a photo of him for the blog that he was all hers to play with. Maybe we'll try the official story book and no-touch "adopted" Elf like on the website next year, but I think she'll have plenty of fun with my handmade version this year and also like holding and playing with him too.

Below is the basic construction method that I used for my handmade needle felted wool Elf. I didn't do step-by-step photos this time because I made it with my daughter watching. If you've made any dimensional felted objects though, this Elf isn't that difficult to construct with a thick foam base instead of using core wool. I chose the foam base because it was quicker to make, softer and more durable for my 4 year old to handle over time.

MATERIALS:

A 5-x7-inch piece of 3-inch wide or wider dense foam
Serrated knife and sharp scissors
Permanent black marker
Choice of wool roving or fleece in red, green, tan and black
Multi-needle felting tool and felting needles
Large base foam piece for felting on

BASIC CONSTRUCTION METHOD:

First use the permanent marker to freehand draw a triangular shape on the rectangular piece of dense foam for the base. Use the serrated knife and sharp scissors to cut out the triangular shape. Also flatten and round off the top edge of the triangle for the head.

Then cover the bottom 3-4 inches of the rounded triangle foam with green wool or fleece using the felting needle tool to felt it into the foam base. Use tan wool or fleece for the top couple inches of the triangle for the head and felt it in place. Use the felting tool to shape features like the nose, a small felted wool ball, and the ears, two small felted wool disks, for the face. Also use some small pinches of black wool to make ball shapes for the eyes. Use the felting needle tool to attach the facial features and shape it into the little Elf character. Then separately use the red wool or fleece and felting tool to shape a long rectangle for the scarf and a cone for the hat. Then attach both to your handmade Elf with the felting tool. 

This project took 3-4 hours total and was a lot of fun to make - mostly because I knew my daughter would enjoy it when finished. Next up, I'm going to attempt a snowman using the same construction method with photo tutorial pictures for it so be on the lookout for that craft project on the blog in the next few weeks. And, yes, the snowman will go to my daughter too when finished. She specifically asked for me to make that one.

I hope you are enjoying all your Holiday traditions this year with family!

Handmade Felted Play Hat with a Flower Theme

In the midst of everything, I have found some time to do a little feltmaking!  Hoorah!  I recently went to a local felting guild meeting (my first one) and really enjoyed myself.  They pick a theme for each month.  Then they share their needle or wet felted creations with one another at the next month's meeting.  September's theme is flowers.  I was very happy to have a focus for my felting.  I think it has helped me to find time to create things again and given me a little inspiration.  In the photo above you can see my handmade felted wool hat being worn by my lovely daughter, Rowynn, while she plays with a bin of my needle felted flowers, hearts, geodes, and other beads.  The hat is a bit big on her and a bit snug on me so I have deemed it a play hat, and she loves to wear it around the house.  It has a flower on top and pointy cut out petals that make the hat itself a flower of sorts.  It is all corriedale wool.  I made it through a combination of needle felting and wet felting.  Although I don't have as much freedom in the variety of shape of my hats with needle felting the bases, I have found that it is easier time-wise for me to needle felt first, and then wet felt the hats to finish them out.  I did come across this wonderful pointy needle felted hat form though and want to purchase it soon.  My existing foam hat forms are ones that I've crafted from combining a pillow bolster and foam pad.  They work just fine, but I'd like to have some more variety.  Below are some photos of the process and some more of Rowynn in the hat.  I've also made an alpaca/wool mix hat that I've yet to embellish and photograph so hopefully I can get that finished and share it soon.