5 Hearts Sent, 5 Hearts Received!

Oh me! Oh my! As I was leaving to go pick D#2 up from school yesterday, I noticed my mailbox bulging so much that the door wouldn't close. Curious I stopped the truck and walked to the mailbox to retrieve the mail of the day. Guess what was in there?? The heart swap envelope from Debby of Cozy Blanket!!! It was all I could do not to race to that car line so that I could tear gently open the envelope and see all of my hearts!    

Look:

5 hearts sent, 5 hearts received!

Look at this most adorable heart! Thank you, Linda! I love all the handwork that went into it. The seed beads look like icing! I also love the diamond in the middle. This wonderful little gem was made by Linda of Lutka and Co. I love it, Linda! It was made to look like a Licitar heart, which looks kind of like a cookie but made out of honey dough. Take a look on her blog (lutkaandco) , she explains it beautifully and even has a tutorial on how to make the felt heart!

Look at Laura's (Vintage Betty's) heart!! Could it not be any more cuter. I love that she transferred some vintage Valentines onto the heart. I have wanted to know how to transfer photos/scans onto fabric for years! The scooter little girl is perfect. Santa brought D#2 a scooter for Christmas and she has been scooting all over the house, every day since Christmas. Don't you just love the tinsel around the heart? I love it, Laura, thank you so much! So adorable! 

What amazing patience Sandie (RetroSandie) has!! All of those tiny little seed beads have been hand sewn on! This heart is so beautiful and sparkly, just like Sandie herself! I love it, Sandie! Sandie is always creating the most cute stuff and showing us on her blog and this is no exception! Thank you so much, Sandie!

This sweet felt heart was made by Debby (Cozy Blanket). The nest and eggs are just perfect! Spring is right around the corner and I can leave this on my craft room tree until Summer. Thank you! The nest looks so real. I have never seen one stitched like this-look at the detail. The pearls make perfect eggs! I love it! Thank you so much, Debby, for organizing this wonderful swap! I have had a blast!

This wonderful heart uses two of my favorite papers! Vintage books and vintage sheet music! I absolutely love the detail on this wonderful heart. I love it, Penny! It took me a while to open it, I love the packaging too! For a little while I thought that I might display it in the packaging, but I did want to fluff out the heart..... I also love the vintagey ribbon and wanted to show it off. So, open it I did. It is so cute and I am not sure how you made the hearts so perfect!?! Thank you for sharing this beautiful paper craft with me. Penny's blog is At Home in English Valley. Doesn't that sound like a peaceful place?

Here is my Valentine tree. It is filling up and not looking so bare. When I took all of the Christmas ornaments off, I was worried that it would look sad. But, it looks wonderful to me now! I am going to leave it up for Easter then 4th of July and I guess for Fall/Halloween too! And then it is back to Christmas. I guess this is the tree that never takes up storage space! 

I had so much fun with this wonderful swap. I hope that each one of these talented new friends realize how much I am going to treasure each heart that I received. Every time I see their heart I am going to think of them and how grateful I am that I got a chance to "meet" them and how it probably wouldn't have happened without the internet and blogging and of course Debby. So....blog on my dear hearts and don't forget to make something crafty today!

Holly

Did You Not Know....?

Did you not know George Washington was the only president who did not live in Washington, D.C?

Did you not know George Washington was the only president who was unanimously elected?

Did you not know George Washington had all of his teeth pulled out when he was 57?

Did you not know that George Washington never shook hands with people?

Did you not know that George Washington never had any biological children?

Did you not know that there were only 13 stars on the American flag when George Washington became president in 1789?

Did you not know that five states were added to the Union while George Washington was president?

Did you not know those state were: North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee? 

Did you not know that George Washington's shoe size was a 13?

Did you not know that George Washington was 6'2"?

I hope that you have enjoyed these "Did you not know..." trivia facts. Sweet little daughter #2 loves to treat us to facts she has learned from various places. She always starts her factoid sentence with "Did you not know.....?". 

"Did you not know that lizards' tails pop off and grow back?" "Did you not know that each snowflake is different?" "Did you not know that bats use echo location?" "Did you not know that dolphins breath air?" "Did you not know that the flu is worst now than a few months ago?" Ummmm..."Did you not know that God knows how many hairs are on our head?" Oooooo...."Did you not know that some birds can fly upside down?" Well......"Did you not know that cows have 4 stomachs?".....Ok.......we arrive at school. Time to get out and start the day and learn more "Did you not know...?" factoids. Only 6 1/2 more hours until I become smarter than I am right now :) Can't wait!!

George Washington

George Washington is made just like all of the other felties. 

His Tricorn Hat. Cut out the circle and sew "a" to "a", "b" to "b" and "c" to "c". Take tiny stitches, just enough to tack.

Make George's body first. Flesh arms and head, tan upper legs and pants bib. The pants bib is sew on last after everything else is sewn in place. The purpose of this bib is to make the pants look like they extend up to the waist line. You could also glue the bib in place if you wanted to. The body and hair are made out of white felt. Coat is blue with tan trim and gold embroidery floss tassels on the shoulders. The buttons are just pieces of aluminum foil cut out with a tiny hole punch and glued on. The ruffly shirt is just lace glued in place. Boots and hat are made out of black felt. Use these links here, here and here if you need help on how to make the felties. 

An unraveled piece of yarn or tiny piece of wool roving makes a perfect ponytail. 

His flag only has 13 stars and is hand painted on a scrap of fabric and glued onto a q-tip with all the tips cut off and painted brown. On the lid I painted the American flag. The bottom of the box I hand painted each president's name. I then painted brown (very very watered down) layer over the lid and bottom and them immediately wiped it off. This gives an antique look to your box. 

Happy (early) Presidents' Day!! I have one more Presidents' Day craft to share with you and then it is off to Easter! Can't wait!

Have a wonderful crafty night,

Holly

Why, hello Mr. President!

February brings two of my favorite February holidays: Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day. I love Valentine's Day for the obvious: express love to the ones that you love. I love Presidents' Day because of the history. I have always loved history, even political history. In 10th grade I had a history teacher, Mr. Carter. He was a kind, gentle old school soul who enjoyed history and enjoyed talking about it. He loved to call us "Dear hearts". The year that I had him would be his last, he retired after that year. 

When I think of Presidents' Day, I automatically turn to President Abraham Lincoln. With his iconic tall hat and black beard he makes a perfect Presidents' Day figure. 

He holds a miniature Gettysburg Address in his left hand and a feather pen in his right. I did some research and found out that Lincoln likely used a type of fountain pen but I thought the feather pen looked old fashion.

 

I know that it looks like he has a lot of parts, but he really doesn't. I didn't want to squish them all together onto one page so I spread them out over two. 

He is made the same was as all of the other felties. Follow the beard and robe (this will help with Lincoln's coat) instructions for Father Time and the hat instructions for the Snowman Trinket Box. If you notice the hat brim has a section cut out. This cut out will help the hat fit better on Lincoln's head. 

His head, nose and arms are flesh colored felt. His hair, beard, hat, eyes, eyebrows, coat and legs are black felt. His body was made out of white felt. Rub some blush on his face for cheeks. 

 A 1" piece of black ribbon was tied in a knot and used for his necktie. It is easier if you start with a 2 1/2" long ribbon and cut to size. I cut a feather down to size to use for his feather pen. His mouth was stitched on using two strands of embroidery floss.

I painted the lid to his box black. I printed out a copy of the Gettysburg Address and then mod podged it on to the bottom of the box. Go ahead, make him in honor of your favorite history teacher. What fun! I will use him in my 4th of July decorations, too! If you feel too crunched for time  to finish him for Presidents' Day, start on him now and finish him for the 4th of July!

I do have another historical president coming up. Can you guess who it might be? Hint, he did use feather pens. And I will also have a Presidential shaker soon. Can't wait to share with y'all!!

Have a wonderful, crafty night,

Holly

Raggedy Ann, I Love You!

As a child, I loved the Raggedy Ann stories. I have a book from my childhood displayed with some Raggedy Anns and even my very first Raggedy Ann doll is among them.

".....I am more worn, for each new rag doll has a candy heart and on it is written 'I LOVE YOU', just as is written on my own candy heart." said Raggedy Ann (The Raggedy Ann Stories).

As I was thinking over things to make to celebrate Valentine's Day, Raggedy Ann kept coming into my thoughts. That's too hard, I can't make a Raggedy Ann doll. But, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed possible. So...putting needle and thread to felt, I finally came up with her: 

i love you!

To make the apron: stitch panel 2 to panel 1. Add panel 3 to the bottom (this will make the apron look like it is on top of the dress without wasting all of that blue felt because it is unnecessary to make a full dress since the apron would cover it up anyway). Sew the pocket on and then add the piece of blue fabric hankie. You could use a blue piece of felt instead of fabric.

If you have made any of my other felt dolls then she will be a snap! If you have not, just go back to the trinket box tutorials to see how they are made. These dolls are really easy and no sewing machine required.

Her arms and legs are made like the Santa trinket box. Stitch her hair on after you have finished her face. Before you add the head to her body, glue the apron straps on her shoulders and then add the finished apron. A running stitch pulled tight will secure the apron on. Either glue head on or stitch it on.

The red stripe on her stockings are just pieces of red embroidery floss glued on. I felt that this would be the easiest way to get the red stripes. You could embroider the red stripes if you want too.

Back.

Raggedy Ann is ready to give Raggedy Andy her Valentine.

Here's my small collection of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. The three in the back I made. The doll on the left I am not sure where I got her and the one on the right is my old doll, I believe that I got her for Christmas when I was one. I love her, she is clean but stained.

The Raggedy Andy book is mine that was given to me by my grandmother in 1977.

Cutie pie Valentine child. Made from Elizabeth's example.

Another cutie pie Valentine child. They are just so adorable that I had to make some. I do have a few more in various stages of completion. Hopefully I can get them all finished and on my Valentine tree.

Have a wonderful day and keep those crafty fingers busy,

Holly

ps If you are unable to print any of my patterns, just let me know and I can email them to you :)

Will You Be My Tweetheart?

My husband and I are college sweethearts. We did grow up together, going to the same school and even the same church. Even though we are 6 months apart in age we were one grade year apart in school. He was a grade older than me. During my freshman year of college we had Sunday School Christmas party. It was at this Sunday School Christmas party, while watching It's A Wonderful Life, that he sat next to me on the couch and ate five hotdogs and three hamburgers." Oh, his poor parents!", was all I could think about. Coming from a family with three girls and one skinny brother, I had never in my life seen someone eat so much at one sitting. He did pique my curiosity and later on in the evening he asked me out on a date and two years later the same Sunday School class had an ornament party for our upcoming wedding. We married in December, the month we met.

 

So, in honor of our first Valentine's together (many, many years ago) I made two tweetheart birds. They will be tweethearts 4ever!

Legs

To make the legs, twist two 6 1/4" pipe cleaners together. Using Love Bug's (trinket box) leg and foot instructions make tweetheart's. Sew the red felt feet onto the pipe cleaner feet using a buttonhole stitch. You might have to adjust the pipe cleaner feet a little, cutting the pipe cleaner if needed.

 

Wings

I added a small length of pipe cleaner to the wings after lightly stuffing them. This will help them to hold their shape when you bend them. Glue the wings onto the their bodies.

 

Face

To make an eye socket, so that the love bird doesn't look bug eyed, indent first with thread. Going from the back with knotted thread, come to the front, make a tiny stitch, then go to the back making another tiny stitch, push needle over to where other eye should be (hiding thread in the head not on the outside), doing the same as with first eye. Tie off in the neck area. You can use the neck area for the black thread for the eyes, this way the black thread will not show, and the black thread is not necessary for the eye sockets. On the back of the head you should only see a few tiny stitches. These are hardly noticeable, but if it bothers you just cover them up with feathers. It didn't bother me, so I just left them exposed. *If you need help with this step, just let me know and I will gladly add some photos to better explain.

 

Beak

After you cut the beak pieces out, spread a tiny, tiny bit of glue along the straight side of one beak piece. Now, fold  (if you want you can cut this one a tiny bit smaller, it is the lower beak) pointed end to pointed end and let the glue dry. Do not pin it, the pin marks will show (of course I found out the hard way). For the top part of the beak, do the same with the glue along the straight edge, now tuck the lower beak inside the upper beak, fold. Let glue dry. Glue in place on tweetheart's face.

 

Cheeks

Use blush or chalk (wonderful tip that a reader sent to me-I need to get me some tinting chalk) for cheeks.

Just poke a tiny feather into the top of the head.

 

Apron

This apron was a real pain to make. Very tiny! I did not include the instructions on how to make it because I thought it might cause too much frustration and this is suppose to be a fun project!

You can use a wide ribbon for the apron and just run a gathering stitch around the top and then tie it on to girl tweetheart. Easy Peasy!!

 

Bow tie

Tiny piece of ribbon, knotted and glued in place.

.

 

 

Tweetheart Trinket Box

"will you be my tweetheart?"

I turned their feet inward. I think that it gives them an innocent, shy quality. Kind of like Suzy Zoo.

 

She was the inspiration for these two tweethearts!

 

Girl bunny now added to the felties.

Had this skirt since I was a child. I am not sure what/who it belonged too, but it looks perfect on my little bunny.

 

Have a wonderful day and we might get a little snow tonight,

Holly

Little Mr. Love Bug and His Valentine

 

Whew.....taking a much needed break from putting up Christmas decorations. I do love to leave the snowmen out just a little longer. They will be boxed up sometime in March. I also love to leave out some red and white, at least through Valentine's Day. Speaking of Valentine's, here's another fun trinket box for you to make.

He is assembled like all of the other characters, except for his arms and legs. They are pipe cleaners. Don't cut the pipe cleaner keep it the full length. To add the arms just insert the pipe cleaner between the stitches near the neck and push through. After the arms are in place, bend the ends of the pipe cleaner to form little hands. And then bend the elbows. Do the same thing for the legs, bending the pipe cleaner into a "V" shape before you insert it between stitches. His antennas are about 1 1/2"

long.

Trinket box painted, ric rac trim added and little hearts cut out of paper.

 

 

Valentine desk. A happy place to think, draw, and design.

The craft room is a buzz with Valentine, the rest of the house is still Christmasy. As Elizabeth says, "Side by Side holidays". I love it.

 

 

This sweet little couple started my crocheting adventures. I wanted my father in law (yes he knows how to crochet-cute story I will share another day) to make them for me, but he told me that if I wanted them I would have to make them myself. Oh boy! Do I dare to learn this complicated looking craft? I wanted them so badly that yes, it was worth it. I love to crochet now!

I contacted the company to see if it was copyrighted because I wanted to share it with you. But, it is still under copyright protection. The company was so sweet in their reply. I can tell you the company and pattern number so that you may contact them to purchase it. I will do that tomorrow, I am too lazy  tired to go back upstairs to get it. I will let you know in this post right under the snowman/woman photo.

 

Tomorrow, time to get busy. We will conquer the trees. As much as I would love to keep Christmas  around for a while, it must go :(

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to keep your hands busy,

Holly

Somebunny Loves You!

 

Son is home from school sick today so I am going to make this a quick post.

Don't you just love bunnies? With their cute wiggly noses and long soft ears. Well... I just couldn't wait until Easter to share this cute little guy. He is a trinket box character but could easily become an ornament.

 

Hi!

 

His banner says "Somebunny loves you!". He practiced his letters all day in preparation of making the banner. He did get a few letters backwards, but that's ok, he did it himself!  

Cute little pom pom tail. Made the same way that my pom pom birds are made. I used a fork to wind the yarn around instead of my fingers. This makes a much smaller pom with less waste.

 

I did use the hot glue to glue his stick to the top of the trinket box. This was much quicker than waiting for the white glue to dry. The top of the box was also glittered to look like snow.

Here's a pom pom bird ready to deliver a Valentine.

The tutorial for the pom pom bird is here. If the link doesn't work (blogger issues) it was in the October 25, 2012 post.

The pattern for Somebunny. Please note that I forgot to draw the gusset for the leg. It is the same as all the others. Just use one from one of the other characters. Bunny body is made the same way as the other felty trinket boxes, just add the ears to his head as you stitch. I did use lady makeup blush for his ears, cheeks and the bridge of his nose. His eyes are french knots made from two strands of brown embroidery floss. The floss was also used for his nose.

I hope that you enjoy making this sweet little bunny for somebunny special!

 

Have a wonderful and crafty day,

and remember if you have any questions on constructing him please don't hesitate to leave a comment,

Holly