I love to decorate the house with handmade ornaments using natural materials as people used to do in olden-times. It reminds of a time before this season became so commercially focused and people made simple, handmade ornaments, decorations, and gifts.

These simple little felted wool acorn ornaments make a great needle felting project for anyone who is a beginner or for children who’d like to try out the craft (just mind those little fingers – felting needles are very sharp!)

Follow along the steps below and bring some handmade, natural charm to your home this season!

Making Needle Felted Acorns

what you will need

• Acorn tops
• Small amount of wool roving in colour of your choice
• Thin ribbon or twine
• Awl
• Scissors
• Glue
• Felting needle

Carefully poke a hole in the acorn top – be gentle and go slowly as the tops can crack easily. I find it best to make the hole close the the middle of the acorn top and not near the edge.

Using a small amount of wool, felt a small oval shape – if you are felting for the first time, just wrap a small bit of wool tightly around itself and then start poking it with your felting needle – this will start to felt the fibres together. Once you have a good shape, you can roll the ball around in your hands to further felt the fibres.

Cut a length of twine or thin ribbon and feed it through the hole in the acorn top. Tie a knot. You might need to enlarge the hole a bit if your ribbon or twine won’t fit through.

Pull the knot snug against the inside of the acorn top.

If using twine, you can pull the strands apart, then tie them at the top to make a hanging loop. If using ribbon, you can feed the other end through the hole and then make a knot, or tie the ribbon to itself near the base of the acorn.

Add some glue to the inside of the acorn top. I just used regular clear school glue, but you could also use a glue gun, if preferred.

Press the wool felted ball into the acorn top and hold for a minute or two to make sure it has good contact with the glue. Set aside to dry.

You can add other embellishments to your acorn ornaments – here I’ve added a little sprig of boxwood and tied it into the twine. You could also add a little bell, some dried berries, or other dried plants or flowers would look lovely too!

Enjoy hanging your lovely natural ornaments on the Christmas tree or around the house, or add as a nice little adornment for that special gift!

The post How to Make Needle Felted Acorn Ornaments appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

This is a fun little craft you can do to make your house a little more festive this season! It’s quick and easy and great to make with kids who like to paint. I had the idea to do festive doors as you see so many lovely doors at Christmas-time all dressed up with wreaths and garlands and even the doors themselves are lovely and ornate and have beautiful little details to replicate in a painted garland.

The best part of this craft is it is also low-waste as you can use any old cardboard envelopes or thin cardboard boxes (the thicker ones are a bit tricky to cut the shapes) and many people have an abundance of these coming in at this time of year.

I will include a printable outline for the door shape you can cut out and trace onto card in both large (about 8 inches tall) size and mini (about 5 inches).

Making the festive door garland

what you will need

• Recycled cardboard or brown Kraft paper cardstock
• White gouache paint
• Thin and medium thickness paintbrushes
• Festive ribbon or twine
• Antique-look bells or other trimmings

MethoD

1. Print out door template (if using), trace onto cardboard, and cut out.
2. Find some inspiration for festive-looking doors either in your neighbourhood or by searching online! Make some quick sketches so you have a few ideas to work with. You can reuse similar elements and mix and match to make your doors unique.
3. Using white gouache paint and thin to medium paint brushes, start to paint designs on your door shapes.
4. When all your doors are painted and dried, add holes to the top, string some festive ribbon or twine through and add bells or other embellishments as you please! I thought it would be nice to add some greenery around each door but didn’t get to it this time.

click on the image below to download pdf template

The post A Fun ‘Festive Door’ Garland to Make appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

This paper heart mobile is just about the easiest mobile you could make and turns out so very pretty!

If you’re looking for a sweet little gift to make for a new baby’s nursery, or decoration ideas for a Valentine’s party, this is the post for you! You can make this mobile in no time at all and since it is mostly made with paper it’s also very inexpensive, and you might just have everything you need on hand already!

making hearts using paper punch or die cutting machine

I used a paper punch to cut out the hearts for the mobile – there are many options for paper punches out there. You can check out options at craft shops such as Michael’s, art supply stores or of course, Amazon.

For my birthday I was so fortunate to receive a Cricut Maker die cutting machine (so grateful, yet a bit terrified at the same time!) and so for my very first project I decided to stick to something really easy and manageable whilst learning how to use the machine – a page of hearts similar to the ones I cut out with my old paper punch. So happy to say, they were a success!

If you have access to a Cricut machine and would like to use my heart page SVG, please see the bottom of this post to get a copy. Personal use only, please! Not to be copied and redistributed anywhere else (for free or purchase), thank you.

paper options

I made the mobile above with hearts gradating in colour from light at the top to dark at the bottom and the supply list will reflect that. You can choose whatever pattern and colours you’d like, of course! Experiment with different kinds of paper, or make from recycled materials such as magazines or pretty packaging paper – anything goes, really!

what you will need to make a paper heart mobile

• Cardstock – 6 shades from light to dark – made mine with lightest pink to red
• Mobile ring – I used a gold one with a 9 inch diameter – found at craft or bead stores
• Twine – Two lengths of twine that are 50 inches long each
• Baker’s twine – I used pink and white – cut eight – 16 inch strands
• Paper heart punch
• Hole punch with capability of punch small holes – I use a leather punch
• Alternately, use Cricut die cutting machine instead of paper punch + hole punch
• White glue (optional)

paper heart mobile tutorial

Making the paper hearts

1. Choose six shades of cardstock – I chose varying shades of pink and red. Cut out paper hearts (either using a paper punch or Cricut machine) – you will need six hearts in each shade. Feel free to add more or less, depending on the look you’re after!

2. Punch two small holes vertically on each heart. I use a leather punch that works really well for this, but if you don’t have one, you can also just make holes using a large needle or an awl.

Alternately, if you don’t have a paper punch and would like to cut hearts on a Cricut die cutting machine, please see the bottom of this post for my free paper heart SVG. If cutting hearts on a Cricut, the centre holes will be made for you.

After all your paper hearts are ready to go, gather all other supplies – metal hoop, baker’s twine, natural twine, scissors and white glue (optional).

Making mobile base – attaching twine to hoop

We’ll start making the mobile by attaching the natural twine to the metal hoop.

1. Cut two lengths of natural twine that are each 50 inches long.

2. Wind the twine around the hoop 3-4 times, leaving a few inches for tying. Tie a knot and then another knot to secure. You can add a little dab of white glue to further secure the knot and keep it from sliding out.

3. Attach the other end of the twine across the hoop from the knot you just tied. Secure in the same way as the first knot.

4. Attach the second piece of natural twine on the hoop at a 90 degree angle to where you tied the first two knots, so you will have knots equally spaced around the hoop, ensuring the mobile will balance.

You will now have twine tied on four points around the hoop (image below)

5. Gather the twine together so that the pieces are even and then tie a knot so that you make a loop at the top that is about 2-3 inches long. This will be the hanging loop for the mobile.

Once tied, the top loop will look like the image below.

making strands of paper hearts & attaching to mobile

1. First decide if you want your hearts to go from light at top to dark at the bottom, or vice versa. Whichever you’d like at the bottom, you will thread that colour on first.

Thread your needle with a 16 inch strand of baker’s twine (for 12 inch length when finished + 4 inches for tying onto hoop) and make a knot in the end that is large enough it won’t go through the hole (will need to make knots on top of one another to make a larger knot).

2. Start by coming through the back of the heart in the bottom hole and then back in through the top hole.

The first heart should look like the above image, with the knot at the back of the paper heart.

3. Add on another paper heart in the same way as you did the first, by pulling the baker’s twine through the back and then into the top hole toward the back again.

4. Continue adding on hearts until you have as many of each shade as you’d like. I did 6 hearts for each strand, going from dark at the bottom to light at the top.

5. Continue making strands of hearts until you have eight strands total, or however many you’d like on your mobile!

6. Now you’ll tie each strand onto the mobile, between the places where you tied on the natural twine for hanging. I placed two strands per quadrant. Tie the stands on in the same way as you tied on the natural twine. You can add a little spot of white glue on each knot to secure it.

Your paper heart mobile is complete! Now find a lovely place to hang it or give it away to someone you love and warm their heart today

Please remember, if hanging mobile in baby’s nursery always make sure to hang well out of reach of baby or other young children.

hearts svg for cricut Maker

To save the SVG, please click on the image and once the image opens, right click on the image and save it to your computer. Please scroll down for more info regarding making the paper hearts on a Cricut.

When making the hearts on a Cricut, I made the canvas size 8 x 10 and used an 8.5 x 11 inch paper (US letter size). (See image below)

When selecting material size, select 8.5 x 11 in (Letter) in the ‘Material Size’ dropdown. I used the standard grip mat (green mat).

The post How to Make a Paper Heart Mobile appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

Clove orange pomanders are so fun to make and are a lovely way to make your home smell festive and fresh! I remember my mum making orange pomanders when I was little and loved having one sitting prettily in a glass dish on the piano at Christmastime, greeting us with it’s lovely scent coming in the house on wintry days.

There are a number of ways you can make clove orange pomanders and I’ll detail a few options in this post, so you can try your hand at making whichever strikes your fancy! Not only do clove oranges smell delicious, but you can also create pretty festive bowls to display them in and add a lovely natural touch to your holiday décor this season.

what is a clove orange pomander?

An orange clove pomander is a decorative ornament made by studding an orange with whole cloves. To make a pomander, you’ll need an orange, a package of whole cloves, and an awl, needle or other pointy instrument to poke holes in the orange so you can easily insert the whole cloves.

Start by poking the awl or needle into the orange to create a small hole, then insert a clove into the hole. Repeat this process until the orange is completely covered with cloves. The pomander will release a pleasant, spicy scent as the orange dries out.

To create a more decorative pomander, you can also add ribbon or other embellishments to the orange once it is covered in cloves. Pomanders are often used as holiday decorations, but they can also be hung in closets or drawers to add a pleasant scent to the air as well as to ward off pests such as moths (who dislike the smell of cloves).

using other citrus fruits

Not just reserved for oranges, you can also use other citrus fruits to make pomanders! I’ve used clementines to make smaller pomanders to hang on the Christmas tree and you can use lemons, limes, tangerines, etc. as you can easily stick cloves into these and they dry similarly to oranges.

4 decorative pomander ideas

Here are a few ideas for how you can make a variety of different clove orange pomander balls. Scroll down for details on how to make each type.

• COVERED – Completely cover with cloves, add twine through centre of fruit for hanging.
• RIBBON WRAPPED – Wrap a ribbon or cut a thin length of linen to wrap orange, leaving some parts of the orange showing. Add cloves to the uncovered parts.
• CARVED DESIGN + CLOVES – Use a tool to scrape off parts of the orange rind so that the white of the pith is showing beneath. I found using a lino-cut tool is really great for this, but you can also use the corner of a zester or other sharp instrument to a similar effect. You can then dot cloves along the design you’ve created.
• DECORATIVE DESIGN USING CLOVES – Make a decorative design over the surface of the orange – as simple or complex as you’d like! Using an elastic band around the orange is very useful for keeping your lines straight. A scrolling design is also quite lovely.

#1 – clove covered orange pomander

what you will need

• Firm, ripe orange, clementine or other citrus fruit
• Awl, needle or sharp instrument for making holes
• Whole cloves
• Twine for hanging (optional)
• Large needle (optional)

Step 1. If making a hanging ornament, start by cutting a long piece of twine and threading large needle with it. Going from the bottom of the fruit, push the needle all the way through from one side to the other and then back down and through, so your needle comes out close to where you went in. Make a knot at the top and tie a bow at the bottom.

Step 2. Using your awl or needle, poke a few holes in the fruit and begin placing cloves in the holes. Continue until the entire fruit is covered.

Hang on your tree for a lovely scented ornament or year round in the closet to repel moths.

#2 – Ribbon wrapped orange pomander

what you will need

• Firm, ripe orange, clementine or other citrus fruit
• Awl, needle or sharp instrument for making holes
• Whole cloves
• Ribbon or narrow length of linen or cotton – length will depend on the size of the fruit

Step 1. Start by wrapping your ribbon around the orange so that you go over the orange and down the sides, cross the ribbon at the bottom side and come up to the top again. Tie the ribbon in a bow at the top.

Step 2. Begin making holes in the orange at the parts not covered by ribbon. Place cloves in the holes, continuing until all exposed parts of the fruit are covered.

Note: If you find that the juice of the fruit is messing your ribbon as you work, alternately you can make light pencil outline at the edges of the ribbon, remove the ribbon and add all the cloves, then retie the ribbon once all the cloves are in place.

Add an extra ribbon at the top for hanging by looping under the top of the ribbon already in place then hanging on the tree or on a doorframe, etc.

Another display idea is to place your clove orange pomander in a dish to display along with other festive natural items such as pine, boxwood, cinnamon sticks, anise, etc.

PLEASE NOTE: Oranges that are not completely covered with cloves are slower to dry out and risk molding rather quickly. To lessen the chance of your pomanders getting mold, you can add make your clove design, then place the orange in a paper bag to dry out for several days. Once the orange has dried you can then add ribbon and hang up.

#3 – Carved design with cloves orange pomander

what you will need

• Firm, ripe orange, clementine or other citrus fruit
• Awl, needle or sharp instrument for making holes
• Whole cloves
• Lino-cut tool or citrus zester
• Elastic bands
• Pencil for marking

Step 1. If you wish to make straight lines of cloves on the orange, place an elastic around the fruit to use as a guide for placing the cloves. Use the awl or needle to make holes and then push the cloves into the holes. On the example below, I made one line of cloves around the centre and then made swirl lines using the lino-cut tool.

Step 2. Using a zester or lino-cut tool, make patterns and designs by cutting shallow lines into the peel.

Step 3. Place cloves along the lines you made with your cutter or zester.

Make a pretty and festive display by placing a bit of raw wool in a wintry bowl or mug and placing the pomander on top, then tuck bits of natural elements such as lavender, holly, boxwood or pine behind the orange. Add anise, bells, cinnamon sticks, etc. to the bowl for a beautifully scented, festive presentation.

PLEASE NOTE: Oranges that are not completely covered with cloves are slower to dry out and risk molding rather quickly. To lessen the chance of your pomanders getting mold, you can add make your clove design, then place the orange in a paper bag to dry out for several days. Once the orange has dried you can then add ribbon and hang up.

#4 – Decorative design orange pomander

For this orange pomander idea, you will make a pattern over the surface of the orange using cloves. You can make a freehand design or if you like a bit more of a plan, try using a pencil to lightly map out your design on the surface of the orange peel.

what you will need

• Firm, ripe orange, clementine or other citrus fruit
• Awl, needle or sharp instrument for making holes
• Whole cloves
• Pencil for marking

Step 1. Map out your design idea. Swirling patterns look particularly nice, though radiating straight lines can look just as lovely! You can use a pencil to lightly mark the design or gently scratch the surface of the peel using a needle.

Step 2. Begin punching holes along your pattern lines and placing cloves in the holes. You can space the cloves either close together or further apart, depending the look you’re after.

Display your pretty patterned orange in a wintry mug or bowl with other festive elements such as pine branch bits, boxwood, berries and anise.

PLEASE NOTE: Oranges that are not completely covered with cloves are slower to dry out and risk molding rather quickly. To lessen the chance of your pomanders getting mold, you can add make your clove design, then place the orange in a paper bag to dry out for several days. Once the orange has dried you can then add ribbon and hang up.

The post How to Make an Orange Pomander with Cloves appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

I love to use oranges to decorate the house around the holidays – their lovely vibrant colour and delicious scent make them perfect for making garlands, adding to wreaths or making ornaments to hang on the tree! It also makes a fun activity to do with kids as they love to get involved with the process of preparing the oranges, seeing the fruit change texture as they dry and then making decorations they can hang on the tree or add to gifts.

Here are four methods for drying orange slices that you can then use for decorating your home this festive season. The one I like best and which is relatively fast and easy seems to produce the best result is the dehydrator method, though understandably not everyone has a dehydrator to use, so just choose whichever method will work best for you!

4 easy ways to dry oranges

dehydrator method

Start by washing and thoroughly drying the fruit. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the oranges crosswise into thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. If you would like to use the orange slices for hanging ornaments, poke a hole at the edge of the rind, making sure that it’s quite big so it won’t disappear as the orange dries. You can also poke a needle through the flesh of the orange later with a string if you forgot this step – the flesh will be easier to go through than the rind once the orange is dried and the rind dries quite hard.

Place slices onto dehydrator trays, set temperature to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and leave to dry for 4-6 hours, flipping occasionally. You’ll know they’re done when they’ve hardened significantly and are no longer sticky to the touch.

Oven method

To dry oranges in the oven, start by washing and thoroughly drying the fruit. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the oranges crosswise into thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. Place the orange slices on a drying rack or a lined baking sheet and place them in the oven set to the lowest temperature setting, around 200 degrees Fahrenheit or your lowest oven setting.

It’s important to keep the oven door open slightly to allow moisture to escape. Drying times will vary depending on the thickness of the orange slices, but it usually takes about 4-5 hours for the oranges to fully dry. If you find that the oranges aren’t quite dry, leave them on racks on the counter until they’re fully dry.

hanging up to dry method

This method takes some time (a couple weeks) but the oranges do seem to retain their colour well this way. They also look lovely hanging as they dry and make quite a nice decoration even like that! I hung mine on a wooden hanger and they do brighten the room and smell so nice as they dry.

Start by washing and thoroughly drying the fruit. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the oranges crosswise into thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. Thread a large needle with a length of twine and pierce the needle through the rind, close to the edge of the orange slice. Pull the twine through, then tie twine to a coat hanger and hang to dry where there is plenty of airflow so that the oranges don’t start to mould. As noted, this does take some time so if you need oranges for decorating sooner rather than later, you might want to choose one of the other methods listed.

sun drying method

Another option is to dry the orange slices in the sun. This method takes longer, but it allows the fruit to retain its bright colour. To dry oranges in the sun, simply place the slices on a drying rack or a lined baking sheet and let them sit in the sun for several days, turning them occasionally to ensure even drying. Of course, if you are in a colder climate this method won’t be the best choice for you!

Uses for dried orange slices

I’ll have some more ideas coming soon in future posts but here are some ideas to get you started!

• Hanging ornaments – thread twine through the rind or close to the rind and decorate with other natural elements such as cloves and anise.
• Garlands – taking a length of twine, string or ribbon thread through the centres of the orange slices to make a bright and festive garland. Looks lovely over pine boughs or paired with a felt ball garland.
• Place in pretty bowls, teacups or mugs along with other natural festive elements and place around your home – they look festive and smell so lovely!
• Add a naturally festive touch to gifts by tying on with twine and adding a small branch of pine or boxwood beneath.

The post Drying Oranges for Holiday Decorating appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

I like to think that the best gifts are the homemade kind, and this is especially true when they are gifts given to you by children – kids make some of the sweetest (and sometimes really quite funny) things! A few years ago I had come across a gift that I had made for my mum for Mother’s Day – it was a plastic Alf doll (remember that show!?) that had once been filled with candy, taped to a white rag, on which I had written some Mother’s Day sentiments with colourful markers. I could have at least given it with the candy still in – sorry mum! It did make me laugh when I found it though!

Schools are daycares and great for working with kids on crafts to give their parents on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, so in the past I have often made photo gifts to give along with whatever craft the kids have made at school for their dad. We’ve also done a few of the fill-in ‘All About Dad’ printables, as they’re fun to do and when you come across them years later it’s cute to see what the kids’ perspective of their dad was when they were small! I made up my own little printable for you to print and fill out with your own little ones, please see the bottom of the post for download!

A few simple last minute ideas

Anyway, I just thought I’d share a few ideas for simple Father’s Day gifts that the kids and I have done for their dad over the years in case you’re like me and don’t start thinking of these things till the last minute!

3 Quick and Simple Gifts using photos

Photo gifts make such a nice keepsake and it can be fun for the kids to dress up and have their picture taken in a little ‘photoshoot’. Well, depending on the age – when they’re very little, a photoshoot can be quite a tricky endeavour and can take a lot of patience, especially if you’re trying to get multiple kids together for a photo, but I think they’re well worth the effort!

#1 – Dad glasses photoshoot – Father’s Day Card Print

When I saw the Father’s Day Typography Glasses on Mr. Printables a few years ago when looking for Father’s Day gift ideas, I thought they were such a cute idea, and not just a little bit ingenious too! I made a couple pairs for the kids and we set about doing a photoshoot with the aim of making a gift for their own lovely ‘dada’. They had lots of fun posing and acting silly for the photos and we got some really nice shots to make a memorable card for their dad – he loved it!

We’ve used these great templates a few times and reused the old glasses too and have a few sweet keepsake photos that show their love for dada over the years. These photos make a lovely simple and touching gift for dad!

what you will need

• Calm and willing children
• DAD glasses printable template – free download at Mr. Printables
• Colourful or decorative cardstock to trace DAD template onto
• X-Acto knife and scissors to cut out glasses
• ruler
• glue or rubber cement
• Canva or Picmonkey (or whatever program you like to edit photos in- these two are free, though some elements are subscription-based)
• Camera or phone camera for snapping some cute photos
• Good lighting – try to do your photos by a window with decent light coming in
• A plain wall for backdrop or whatever backdrop you choose
• Inkjet printer (mine is the Epson ET-2750) and does well with printing photos on light card stock or cover stock
• Light cardstock or cover stock

How to make Dad glasses Photo card

1. Print out the DAD glasses template from Mr. Printables
2. Cut out using scissors and/or X-Acto knife. Cutting with a ruler placed along the lines of the template helps keep your cutting lines straight.
3. Place paper template on the back of your colourful cardstock – make sure that you place the template so it reads backwards so that when you cut it out it will read the right way around! Using a pencil, trace the glasses onto the cardstock.
4. Cut out the glasses using ruler and X-Acto knife or scissors. It really helps to have an X-Acto knife or something similar here as it would be tricky to cut the middle out of the glasses with just scissors.
5. Put glasses together (glue arms on) and let dry (details come with the printable).
6. Set up backdrop or pick a wall or outdoor location to take photos.
7. Once glasses are dry, fetch the kids and take some (lots of) photos! (See below for some tips on taking kids’ photos).
8. Once you’re satisfied with your shots, upload them to your computer then edit them using free software such as Picmonkey or Canva. Alternately, you can edit them directly on your phone with apps such as Afterlight or Lightroom.
9. Picmonkey and Canva have lots of nice templates for card making, so you can pop your photo in one of those or try making your own.
10. Print your card on card stock or cover stock and trim to size using a paper cutter or X-Acto knife and ruler.
11. Let the kids personalise the card with greetings and little drawings. Don’t forget to print an ‘All About Dad’ questionnaire to go with your lovely, unique card!

#2 – Formal Photoshoot Framed Photo

This gift idea for dad is by far the easiest, but one that dad will treasure! One year I got the kids dressed up in some formal attire (save for the soccer socks that A insisted on wearing with her tutu, haha), put up a sheet for a backdrop beside a bright window and took some shots with brother and sister together and then a few shots alone. No need to rush out to a photographer – a few simple portraits can be done at home to quite a nice effect! You could also add a more personal touch to your photos by having the kids hold a board – felt letter board, chalkboard, or simply written on paper – with things they love about their dad.

It makes a nice little gift to either do one print to frame or do a set of three or four smaller ones to place together. The kids’ dad loved this photo gift along with the printable ‘All About Dad’ questionnaire that I helped them fill out for him. You can find these printables if you do a quick search online, I will also list the simple one I made at the bottom of this post. It is lovely and quite funny to read the responses the kids had to these questions when they were smaller.

#3 – D-a-d Letters photoshoot t-shirt iron on

The same year we made the formal portraits we also did a little photoshoot with the kids spelling out ‘DAD’ for a t-shirt. It turned out quite cute, though there was a lot of bickering over those letters and who gets to sit on the stool! If you do this one, make sure you use something durable for the letters and not construction paper like I used as they barely lasted the length of the photoshoot, haha.

I decided to print the resulting photo on a t-shirt with an old-school 90s style iron-on transfer! It was fun to make at home and it turned out surprisingly really well. Alternately, you could also easily get it printed new-school using Vistaprint, Zazzle, Black’s or something similar.

what you will need

• Cotton t-shirt
• Inkjet printer
• Inkjet printer iron transfer sheets
• Iron
• Black cardstock for letters, or use wooden letters from a craft shop
• Scissors
• Canva or Picmonkey (or whatever program you like to edit photos in- these two are free, though some elements are subscription-based)
• Good lighting – try to do your photos by a window with decent light coming in
• A plain wall for backdrop or whatever backdrop you choose

how to make d-a-d iron on t-shirt

1. Set up your backdrop near a window with a good amount of light coming in or choose location outdoors.
2. Cut out letters from cardstock – I just free-hand drew them, but you could use a template for neater results! I found lots of printable letter stencils at stencilletters.org.
3. Have your well-rested, well-fed kids hold the letters whilst standing against the backdrop and snap lots of photos.
4. Once you’re satisfied with your shots, upload them to your computer then edit them using free software such as Picmonkey or Canva. Alternately, you can edit them directly on your phone with apps such as Afterlight or Lightroom.
5. I used a collage function on Picmonkey and chose 3 to spell out D-A-D, but of course you can spell out whatever your kids call their dad…probably go with something nice. And something that easily fits across a shirt.
6. Print out on your ink transfer following the product instructions
7. Iron onto the shirt, again following the product instructions.
8. Surprise dad with his lovely shirt on Father’s Day and then make him wear it to work on Monday.

A few tips for taking kids’ portait photos at home

• Make sure kids are well rested and fed – it’s not fun for anyone if the little ones are cranky and fed up five minutes into the shoot.
• Natural light is ideal when taking kids’ natural portrait photos – try to take them by a big window with lots of light coming in, though not so they are in direct light – you want to aim for that nice, soft light falling on them. Outdoor photos are lovely too, just make sure you’re in indirect light.
• Use a plain, neutral background – keep it simple here as you don’t want anything too distracting or harsh – I’ve used sheets, a bit of linen fabric or just a plain wall and they’ve all worked nicely.
• Keep the shoot as short as you can – kids get fed up with this quite quickly, so you need to try and get as many photos as you can in a short time!
• Take many more photos than you think you need – especially if you’re working with more than one child – it’s tricky to get them in the frame, not blurred, with eyes open and smiling – so make sure you end up with lots of photos to choose from.
• Do some simple edits using free photo editing software such as Picmonkey or Canva. Often it just takes a little cropping and adjusting the exposure and contrast to make your photo really pop. Picmonkey and Canva are also great for making photo cards as they have many templates to choose from.
• To get the most natural and true-to-personality portraits, keep it light and fun – sing songs, joke around and let the little ones play – there is nothing lovelier than capturing images with natural smiles and expressions and their true personalities shining through!

Dad questionnaire Printable for kids

This is a fun little questionnaire for little ones fill out and answer questions all about their dad! There are lots of these printables around on the internet, but I just thought I’d include one here to make things easy! Just click on the image below to download the sheet and then print it out.

Please click on the image below to download

Photoshoot outtakes!

The post Father’s Day Photo Ideas to Make With Kids appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

At our house, we love making homemade Hallowe’en decorations! Who needs store-bought plastic stuff when you can easily make your own haunting decorations that look great and are so fun to make?

The wonderful thing about Hallowe’en decorations in particular is that they don’t need to look perfect – they can be as messy as you like and it doesn’t matter, since Hallowe’en is the time for the old and worn out – torn/dirty fabric, broken things – they can all make great spooky decorations!

When I was little we always made a scarecrow to sit on our porch by stuffing old clothes with leaves, then making a head and putting some old boots and a hat on him – it was such fun to see our scarecrow come to life. A little bit different every year, but his name was always the same – Clem!

This year I wanted to try making a haunting ghost. I knew I wanted it to look old-fashioned and definitely spooky! In previous years I’d seen figures made from chicken-wire and some draped in cheesecloth, though I knew I wanted mine to have a face, so I decided to incorporate using my newest favourite printing medium – Solarfast!

I’d never used chicken-wire for any purpose before, but it was quite fun to try and make a person-like form with. I learned the hard way that you should definitely wear gloves when working with chicken-wire as part way through cutting I realised I was dripping blood all over my photo backdrop! Luckily I found some gardening gloves to use and carried on.

I am quite pleased with how our ghost turned out! She looks very spooky hung up outside, especially if you illuminate her by positioning a light beneath.

Now, just where to store our life-sized ghost lady the rest of the year…

how to make a diy haunting victorian ghost

using chickenwire & cheesecloth

You won’t need many materials to make this ghost, but it is a bit of an undertaking so you will need a bit of patience! You can also make your ghost without a face if you want to skip the Solarfast printing – I think it would look very spooky just with cheesecloth draped over the head!

what you need

for the ghost body & Head

• Lots of cheesecloth – I used about 10 yards – 5 of higher quality and 5 cheap quality
• Teabags for dyeing cheesecloth – 10
• Chicken wire – I bought a roll that had 1 inch cells and was 18 inches x 25 feet
• 20 gauge wire (not totally necessary but handy for securing chicken wire together)
• Heavy thread or fishing wire for hanging
• Needle and thread
• Head form or ball or something head-shaped to wrap chicken wire around

for the ghost face

• Piece of cotton, muslin or linen for face about 12″ x 12″ (prewash and dry fabric to prevent shrinkage after printing)
• Transparency sheets – 2 (8.5 x 11″ size)
• Solarfast dye
• 8.5 x 11″ piece of glass for placing over transparency (optional)
• High resolution vintage photo…or your own photo!
• Piece of board or cardboard the size of the cotton piece
• Sewing clips or clothes pins

tools

• Wire cutters
• Work gloves or gardening gloves
• Scissors
• Sponge
• Paintbrush

diy Haunting ghost – Process

shaping the head

Start by taking whatever you’re using for your head form – I’ve had this Styrofoam head for years and use it for many things, you can find them at Value Village for about $5. You’ll also need wire cutters and some kind of gloves to protect your hands.

Unroll the chicken wire and fit your head form inside.

Start cutting through the chicken wire ‘cells’ at the point where the two ends meet, so that it fits snugly around the head.

Cut across the chicken wire about 3-4 inches above the top of the head. Carefully remove the head from the form and start folding the overlapping wires to secure. I cut another smaller piece of chicken wire to strengthen the top of the head to be sure it wouldn’t come apart when hanging the ghost up.

Set the head aside for now while you work on forming the body.

forming the body

For the body, you will need to cut a piece of chicken wire that is 24″ x 36″. My chicken wire is 24″ wide, so I cut a piece that was 36″ long. Roll into a tube overlapping the long ends about 3-4 inches. Begin folding the cut wire edges over the wire cells where it meets to secure in place.

Now you’ll start bending on the wire to form a body shape – push in near the middle for the waist and at the top to form the shoulders.

Now take your head shape and place it on the shoulders and start bending the open wires around each other to secure. You can snip open some of the cells to make it easier to wrap the wires around one another. You can also use some of the 20 gauge wire if you have it to help secure the chicken wire together.

Now on to forming the arms: cut a cut two pieces of chickenwire that are 12 inches by 26 inches. Roll each into a long tube and overlap edges about 3 inches at one end and 1 inch at the other end – one end will end up wider (the shoulder) and the other narrower (the hand end).

At the hand end, pinch wires together to make a hand shape. Pinch in near middle to make an elbow.

At the shoulder end of the arm, snip open some of the chicken wire cells and fold outwards.

Attach the arm to the body by placing the arm at one side near the shoulder area and folding the open wires over the cells on the body shape. Then bend the arm towards the front of the body.

Here is one arm attached. Don’t worry to much about the shape of it yet, you can do some more forming when everything is in place!

Front view of the finished chicken wire body form.

optional: Adding Light inside the head to illuminate the face

This part is optional! I had the idea to add a light inside the head to illuminate the face by placing a plastic battery-operated ‘tealight’ inside. While it does light up the face a bit I think illuminating the ghost from underneath using a flashlight is a bit more effective. Here is how I added the tealight in case you want to try it..

First, open the cells at the top of the head.

Cut an extra piece of chicken wire that is approximately 6″x6″. Turn on your plastic tea light (these tea lights last quite a while so you can leave it on – once inside the head it might be too hard to get to to turn on from the outside).

Take the 6″x6″ piece of chicken wire and attach one edge near the base of the inside of the head, place the tealight inside, then close the piece of chicken wire over the light and bend the top wires to close off. Close up the head again.

creating a ghostly face

To create the face I used a method of printing on cloth using Solarfast dye. You can see my other tutorial here for further instructions on this method. Don’t forget to prewash your fabric to prevent it shrinking after you make your print – I forgot to prewash and my print turned out a little smaller than I hoped!

You will need a sunny or bright-ish day to do this printing since the dye develops under UV light. Overcast is okay too but the image will take longer to develop. Just make sure there’s no rain forecast!

Start by taking an image that will print to about the size of an 8.5 x 11″ piece of paper and turning it into a negative. Solarfast has a handy negative generator for making negatives.

Print out your negative image on a sheet of transparency. If all looks good, print out a second transparency negative (you’ll need two to make sure it’s dark enough).

Secure your two negatives together using a tiny bit of tape, making sure they are matched up exactly. Take your piece of cotton and mark on there where the corners of the negative are, this will help you see where you need to apply the Solarfast dye.

Take your bottle of Solarfast and give it a good shake. Place your piece of cotton onto an old board or piece of cardboard.

Pour a little of the dye into a small dish or cup. Apply the dye using a paintbrush or sponge all over the area where you marked off on your cotton. You want it covered completely but you don’t want it to be too wet either. Press with a rag or paper towel to soak up any excess.

Now place your transparency negative on top of the dye and then cover over with a piece of glass. If you don’t have glass, that’s okay, just make sure not to print on a very windy day or your negative might fly away! You could also secure the negative with a tiny bit of tape at the edges.

Time to take your photo printing bundle outside! I was printing with black dye on a pretty sunny day in October so I left it out in the sun for 30 minutes. Here is an exposure chart from Solarfast which lists the various times needed for different ink colours. The photo above shows what it looked like after 30 minutes – you can see the developed ink around the edges of the transparency.

Note: When the developing time is up, leave your negative in place until you get your print inside and away from UV light as it will keep developing and will make the parts you want to keep light develop darker.

Here is the print just after I’ve brought it inside. After removing the negative you need to wash out the Solarfast dye. I hand wash mine in hot water with regular detergent and it works out just fine. You can also wash out the dye in the sink and then throw your print in with the rest of a regular laundry load – I’ve never had the Solarfast do anything detrimental to my laundry, but you might not want to put it in with anything you don’t want damaged, just in case!

Here is my final print – printed with black Solarfast on white linen. I love how it turned out! Though it shrunk a tiny bit in the drying process – I forgot to prewash my fabric, oops!

Just to show the difference that different fabric and timing makes – I made this print previously, it was on cotton muslin fabric with a 20 minute exposure time on a sunny day, not under glass.

Here are the two prints side-by-side, you can see how much my new print (on the left) shrunk!

putting your ghost all together

Once your print is all washed and dried, it’s ready to attach to your ghost’s head. I first started by placing the fabric on the head and positioning it where it looked about right.

Next, use sewing clips or clothes pins to hold the cloth in place around the edges.

Using a needle and thread, make a few stitches at the edge of the cloth and then catch the chicken wire underneath to secure. Do this at a few points all around the head. I did a couple at the top and 2-3 around the sides. You can leave the bottom un-sewn as this will be covered by the cheesecloth.

dressing the ghost

Start by ‘tea-dyeing’ all of your cheesecloth in 2-3 litres of boiling water with about 10 orange pekoe teabags. Leave in the tea about 1/2 an hour, rinse with cool water and hang to dry. Some cheese cloth is already a natural beige colour, so you can skip this step if you’re happy with the colour of your cheesecloth. Some of mine left as-is, the rest was very white so I tea-dyed it.

Once dry, take some of your cheesecloth and rip or cut a few strips. These are handy for tying the cheesecloth ‘clothing’ to the body.

Cut a length of the higher quality cheesecloth for the first layer of clothing. You need a piece that will drape down both sides and extends a bit longer than the chicken wire body. Cut a hole about 7 inches in length in the middle centre of the cheese cloth. Fit this over the head. You can make some cuts and rips along the bottom edge of the fabric to make it look tattered.

At the underarms, roughly sew the fabric together down the length of the ‘gown’. You can use pretty big stitches as it doesn’t have to look pretty, just needs to hold together!

Using the higher quality cheese cloth again, cut two pieces of fabric to cover around the arms and hangs a few inches over the hands. Using the strips you cut, tie on the ‘sleeves’ at the elbow and wrist area.

adding a bonnet

Cut a length of plain cotton, cheesecloth or muslin that is big enough to cover over the sides, top and back of the head in a sort of bonnet shape. The piece I used was about 20″ x 22″. I sewed one edge to make a sort of front for the bonnet, placing the sewn edge at the front, around the face. Sew a few stitches to secure the bonnet to the face fabric.

You can just tuck some of the ‘bonnet’ fabric into the cells of the chicken wire at the back, this seems to secure it well enough.

Here is the back bonnet with the fabric tucked into the chicken wire.

Here is the bonnet sewn in place with a few stitches at points around the face.

You can also use some of the cheesecloth strips you cut to tie around the neck to secure the bonnet better.

Continue layering on sheets of cheesecloth until you’re happy with the look of the ghost’s gown. I used layers of the thicker cheesecloth for the base layers and then layered the thinner cheesecloth over top. I draped some of the thinner cheesecloth over the head and face to create a veiled look.

The last thing to do is to add a string for hanging! I used some thick nylon shoe-making thread, but you could use anything that has a good amount of strength. Using a needle threaded with your strong thread, go into the fabric on the top of the head and go under some of the chicken wire and back up. Do this a couple times so you have a few loops to hang your ghost from.

And your Haunting Victorian Ghost is finished! Isn’t she lovely!? Hang her up outside, add a strategically placed flashlight behind for some illumination if you’d like, and you’re all ready to spook some little children…perhaps some adults too!

Try out different lighting to get just the right spooky effect!

I hope you’ll try making your very own Haunting Victorian Ghost It’s a bit of work, but I think quite worth the effort!

Please let me know if you try this tutorial!

The post How to Make a Ghost for Halloween: Haunting Victorian Ghost Decoration appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

Here is another simple pattern from the Little Ones Learn-to-Sew pattern series – a Jack O’ Lantern! This is a simple Halloween craft designed to teach kids how to sew and embroider!

The instructions are much the same as for the Felt Pumpkin Pattern, but just with a couple other ‘face’ options for a more Hallowe’en-y look. At the bottom of this post you will find PDF pattern downloads for two different Jack O’ Lantern faces.

ALL ABOUT LITTLE ONES LEARN-TO-SEW PATTERNS

All Little Ones Learn-to-Sew patterns are simple patterns with few pieces and easy-to-follow instructions that are designed so that older children should be able to do them with little help and smaller children will also be able to do them with just a little guidance. Of course, although these patterns are designed with children in mind, they are really for everyone to enjoy!

The printable download includes the pattern plus the instructions all on one page, so they are ideal if you are printing them for a class or a Girl Guide group, etc. and don’t want to print multiple pages per person.

All the materials you need for these patterns is a little felt, embroidery floss, and stuffing. Tools are just scissors, an embroidery needle and pins.

I came up with the idea for these simple little patterns when my daughter needed a project for her Family Studies class. I hope they inspire little ones to try their hand at sewing!

LITTLE ONES LEARN-TO-SEW PATTERNS:

• Use wool felt – which is thick, doesn’t fray and is easy for children to work with
• Are small projects – easy to complete in a short time
• Use few pieces – not an overwhelming amount to put together for a beginner
• Use simple, easy to follow instructions

I hope you will enjoy these patterns! Please do let me know if you have any questions or if anything is unclear and I will amend the pattern instructions for greater clarity. Thank you

FELT Jack o’ lantern TUTORIAL

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Printed Jack O’ Lantern pattern – see bottom of this post for free printable pattern
• Wool blend felt – orange, green, black
• Embroidery floss – orange, green, black
• Raw wool or poly-fil stuffing
• Embroidery needle
• Pins
• Sewing scissors (or scissors sharp enough to cut felt)

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FELT Pumpkin

Step 1: Gather all your materials and tools – wool felt, embroidery floss, stuffing, embroidery needle, pins, scissors and printed pattern.

Step 2: Cut out all the pieces of your pattern. Cut just outside the black outline of each pattern piece. Keep the instruction card so you can refer to it as you’re working. (Shown in the photo is the pattern for the pumpkin tutorial – I forgot to take a photo of this step for the Jack O’ Lantern, oops!)

Step 3: Pin your pattern pieces to the wool felt. You should have 2 main pieces in orange, 2 white pieces for the eyes, 2 black pieces for the eye pupils, 2 pink pieces for the cheeks, 1 green stem and 1 green leaf. Some of the smaller pieces are difficult to pin, so it might be easier to trace these in chalk or a washable fabric marker. (Once again, shown in the photo is the pattern for the pumpkin tutorial – I forgot to take a photo of this step for the Jack O’ Lantern!)

Step 4: Carefully cut out all your felt pieces.

Step 5: Pin the black eye pieces and the black mouth piece onto one of your orange pumpkin pieces.

Step 6: Using a straight stitch and with black embroidery floss, sew each black piece in place. Note: You could also use a contrasting colour to sew on the face pieces for a bit of a different look (see top photo in this post).

Step 7: Place the green ‘stem’ piece at the top of your pumpkin and pin it in place. Using green embroidery floss, sew a line of straight stitch along the bottom of the ‘stem’. Set your pumpkin pieces aside for a minute while we prepare the ‘leaf’.

Step 8: Take your green ‘leaf’ piece and thread your needle with green embroidery floss, knot one end.

Step 9: Using straight stitch, make a line of stitching down the centre of your leaf.

Step 10: Starting at the top and making stitches on either side of your middle stitching line, sew some more ‘veins’ on your leaf using straight stitch.

Step 11: Continue down the leaf adding more stitches on either side of the middle line of stitching.

Step 12: At the bottom of the leaf, you can pinch the ‘stem’ bit together and secure with a few stitches. This just makes your leaf curl up nicely atop your pumpkin.

Step 13: Place your leaf at the back lower edge of the stem and stitch in place using a few small straight stitches. Knot at back and trim end.

Step 14: Now place your two orange pumpkin pieces with wrong sides together and make sure edges are matching up evenly. Place a few pins to hold it together.

Step 15: Thread your needle with a long (about 20 inch) piece of green embroidery floss, knot one end.

Step 16:  Beginning at the bottom corner of one side of the stem, begin blanket stitching around the stem. Do your best to stitch around the leaf when you get to it – it’s a bit tricky at that part!

Step 17: When you reach the bottom edge of the green stem, knot your thread and snip off end.

Step 18: Now thread your needle with a very long (about 55 inches) orange embroidery floss. You will begin sewing where you ended blanket stitching the stem with the green embroidery floss.

Step 19: Begin blanket stitching with your orange floss around the edge of the pumpkin using blanket stitch. Stop when you get 3/4 of the way around the pumpkin (leaving about a 3 inch gap open).

Step 20: Now that you have sewn 3/4 of the way around the pumpkin, you are now ready to start stuffing!

Step 21: Time to start stuffing your pumpkin! Begin by pushing some stuffing up into the ‘stem’. It helps to use something like the end of a chopstick to push the stuffing into this small area.

Step 22: Continue stuffing until your pumpkin is nice and plump! Now you’ll be continuing blanket stitch around the rest of the pumpkin.

Step 23: If you’re finding it tricky to sew up the rest of the pumpkin without the stuffing coming out, you can keep the gap closed using sewing clips (as shown above) or a few pins (just mind your fingers!).

Continue stitching until you reach the point where you started sewing. Now just knot the thread at the back and trim ends.

Your little Hallowe’en Jack O’ Lantern is complete!

You can also sew a little felt loop and a carabiner clip and attach your Jack O’ Lantern to your backpack to make it a little Hallowe’en festive too.

To add loop: Just cut an orange piece of felt that is 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, fold it in half and stitch it to the side at the back of your pumpkin, then attach a clip or carabiner and your new little friend is ready to adorn your backpack!

I hope you found this pattern and tutorial easy to follow! Best wishes and happy crafting

FELT jack o’ lantern PRINTABLE PATTERN

Here are the Felt Jack O’ Lantern printable patterns. There are two versions with slightly different face styles.

NOTE: Please make sure that the document is set to ‘actual size’ in your print options so that the pattern prints out at the proper size!

Please click on the image below or this link to download the PDF.

The post How to Make a Felt Jack O’ Lantern ~ Pattern + Tutorial appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

Continuing with the Little Ones Learn-to-Sew pattern series, now that it’s October (my favourite month!) I thought I would make some fall and Hallowe’en patterns for little ones to get into the spirit of the autumn season! I have some ideas for a few more to put up on here, so I’m hoping I can get them done in time and get them out to you!

ALL ABOUT LITTLE ONES LEARN-TO-SEW PATTERNS

All Little Ones Learn-to-Sew patterns are simple patterns with few pieces and easy-to-follow instructions that are designed so that older children should be able to do them with little help and smaller children will also be able to do them with just a little guidance. Of course, although these patterns are designed with children in mind, they are really for everyone to enjoy!

The printable download includes the pattern plus the instructions all on one page, so they are ideal if you are printing them for a class or a Guide group, etc. and don’t want to print multiple pages per person.

All the materials you need for these patterns is a little felt, embroidery floss, and stuffing. Tools are just scissors, an embroidery needle and pins.

I came up with the idea for these simple little patterns when my daughter needed a project for her Family Studies class. I hope they inspire little ones to try their hand at sewing!

LITTLE ONES LEARN-TO-SEW PATTERNS:

• Use wool felt – which is thick, doesn’t fray and is easy for children to work with
• Are small projects – easy to complete in a short time
• Use few pieces – not an overwhelming amount to put together for a beginner
• Use simple, easy to follow instructions

I hope you will enjoy these patterns! Please do let me know if you have any questions or if anything is unclear and I will amend the pattern instructions for greater clarity. Thank you

FELT Pumpkin TUTORIAL

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Printed Pumpkin pattern – see bottom of this post for free printable pattern
• Wool blend felt – orange, green, white, black, pink
• Embroidery floss – orange, green, white, black, pink
• Raw wool or poly-fil stuffing
• Embroidery needle
• Pins
• Sewing scissors (or scissors sharp enough to cut felt)

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FELT Pumpkin

Step 1: Gather all your materials and tools – wool felt, embroidery floss, stuffing, embroidery needle, pins, scissors and printed pattern.

Step 2: Cut out all the pieces of your pattern. Cut just outside the black outline of each pattern piece. Keep the instruction card so you can refer to it as you’re working.

Step 3: Pin your pattern pieces to the wool felt. You should have 2 main pieces in orange, 2 white pieces for the eyes, 2 black pieces for the eye pupils, 2 pink pieces for the cheeks, 1 green stem and 1 green leaf. Some of the smaller pieces are difficult to pin, so it might be easier to trace these in chalk or a washable fabric marker.

Step 4: Carefully cut out all your felt pieces.

Step 5: Pin the black ‘pupil’ pieces onto the white eye pieces in the places indicated by the dotted line on the pattern, or wherever you’d like them- just depends on the look you’d like!

In the paper instructions (printed with the pattern) I’ve said to sew the eye whites onto the pumpkin first… you can do it in whatever order you’d like for that bit. I should have followed my own instructions as I was taking the photos for the tutorial!

Step 6: Using a straight stitch and with black embroidery floss, sew each black piece in place. Set these aside for a minute while we prepare the ‘leaf’.

Step 7: You will now prepare your ‘leaf’. Using straight stitch and green embroidery floss, sew some veins onto your leaf.

Step 8: Continue with the straight stitch until you’re happy with your leaf design.

Step 9: At the bottom of the leaf, you can pinch the ‘stem’ bit together and secure with a few stitches. This just makes your leaf curl up nicely atop your pumpkin Set your leaf aside for now and leave the thread as is (don’t trim it off just yet – if you already did, not too worry, you can always add another on!).

Step 10: Take the prepared ‘eye’ pieces and place them on your pumpkin wherever you’d like them to be – just not too close to the edge of the pumpkin as you will need room to sew the outer edges there. Pin in place.

Step 11: Using white embroidery floss and using straight stitch sew the eye pieces in place.

Step 12: Now take your pink ‘cheek’ pieces and place them where you’d like them to be. If you don’t want ‘rosy’ cheeks on your pumpkin you can skip this step!

Step 13: Using pink embroidery floss and using straight stitch, sew ‘cheek’ pieces in place.

Step 14: Using sewing chalk or an erasable sewing marker, make a mark where you’d like your mouth to appear.

Step 15: Using black embroidery floss and using straight stitch, sew along the line you made to form the mouth.

Step 16: You can leave the mouth as is, or go back along your previous stitching: slip a stitch underneath each straight stitch to smooth out the line of stitching. This is called ‘whipped running stitch’. I hope to add a little video to demonstrate, but in the meantime you can also search for videos online demonstrating this stitch.

Step 17: Take your green ‘stem’ piece and place it overtop of the orange ‘stem’ area. Pin in place.

Step 18: Using green embroidery thread and straight stitch, stitch the ‘stem’ in place along the bottom edge. Knot thread at back and trim end.

Step 19: Using green embroidery thread, place your leaf end at the back lower edge of the stem and stitch in place using a few small straight stitches. Knot at back and trim end.

Step 20: Now place your two orange pumpkin pieces with wrong sides together (make sure that your pumpkin’s face is to the outside) and make sure edges are matching up evenly. Place a few pins to hold it together.

Step 21: Thread your needle with a long (about 20 inch) piece of green embroidery floss and beginning at the bottom corner of one side of the stem, begin blanket stitching around the stem. Do your best to stitch around the leaf when you get to it – it’s a bit tricky at that part!

Step 22: When you reach the bottom edge of the green stem, knot your thread and snip off end.

Step 23: Now thread your needle with a very long (about 55 inches) orange embroidery floss and beginning where you ended sewing at the stem, begin blanket stitching around the edge of the pumpkin using blanket stitch. Stop when you get 3/4 of the way around the pumpkin (leaving about a 3 inch gap open).

Step 24: Now that you have sewn 3/4 of the way around your pumpkin, stop here and gather your stuffing material.

Step 25: Time to start stuffing your pumpkin! Begin by pushing some stuffing up into the ‘stem’ and then continue until your pumpkin is nice and plump. Now you’ll be continuing blanket stitch around the rest of the pumpkin.

Step 26: If you’re finding it tricky to sew up the rest of the pumpkin without the stuffing coming out, you can keep the gap closed using sewing clips (as shown above) or a few pins (just mind your fingers!).

Continue stitching until you reach the point where you started sewing. Now just knot the thread at the back and trim ends.

Et voilà! Your little pumpkin is complete! Give yourself a pat on the back for all your hard work

Place your new little friend in a nice fall setting as a cute Thanksgiving decoration, or give to a friend!

You could also sew a little felt loop and a carabiner clip and attach your pumpkin to your backpack to make it a little festive too Just cut an orange piece of felt that is 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, fold it in half and stitch it to the side at the back of your pumpkin, then attach a clip or carabiner and your new little friend is ready to adorn your backpack!

I hope you found this pattern and tutorial easy to follow! Best wishes and happy crafting

FELT pumpkin PRINTABLE PATTERN

Here is the Felt Pumpkin printable pattern.

NOTE: Please make sure that the document is set to ‘actual size’ in your print options so that the pattern prints out at the proper size!

Please click on the image below or this link to download the PDF.

The post How to Make a Felt Pumpkin ~ Pattern + Tutorial appeared first on Kindred + Willow.

These little crochet earrings are quite simple to make and make a great last-minute gift idea! If you have never crocheted before, just get a hook and some yarn and familiarise yourself with a few basic stitches and you’ll be able to make these earrings with no problem. There are lots of great videos on Youtube that are really helpful for learning crochet.

Stitches to Know to make pretty Crochet earrings

• crochet chain
• slip stitch
• single crochet

how to make pretty crochet earrings

what you will need

• Earring hooks – I used the kind that self close and do not need a backing
• Flat head pins – I used 30mm as that’s what I had, so had to trim them down
• 6mm jump rings
• 6mm Agate beads, or similar sized bead of your choice
• Sport weight yarn of your choice – I used Drops Baby Alpaca Silk
• 3mm crochet hook
• Round nose jewelry pliers
• Wire cutters
• Yarn needle

Tutorial: how to make pretty crochet earrings

I would love to hear if you’ve tried out this craft. If you have trouble, or my instructions weren’t clear enough, let me know and I will try to help!

The post How to Make Crochet Earrings ~ A Simple Gift Idea appeared first on Kindred + Willow.