Tag Archives: felt crafts

Hygge Week: Woven Felt Heart

You may have made these in middle school or girl scouts, or maybe you saw them hanging on your grandma’s Christmas tree every year.  Often made with red and white paper, these woven hearts are traditional in Scandinavian households…and are almost always found in hygge rooms, especially around Christmas.

woven heart

There are countless ways to cut and design your paper hearts, but for today’s project, we’re going to go with the classic woven heart.  I also decided to use felt instead of paper since that’s what I had on hand, but either will work!

woven heart 2

You can use this little heart “basket” to hold goodies for Christmas or Valentine’s Day, or fill them with potpourri and hang them around your home.  You can use red and white, which is traditional for these woven hearts, or mix and match your favorite colors to add this cozy festive touch to your décor!

Woven Felt Heart

Materials:

  • Two pieces of different colored paper or felt (bigger pieces of paper equal bigger hearts)
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Fold each piece of felt in half hamburger style.
  2. Cut the folded felt in half.  You’ll only need one half of each color.
    woven-hearts-1
    woven-hearts2
  3. On the unfolded side, cut to round the tops.  This will become the top of the heart.  I cut both of mine at the same time so they were the same.  If you want to use a pattern, you can find one to your liking online.
    woven-hearts3
  4. On the folded side, cut your strips for weaving.  Four strips should be enough for beginners.  Don’t cut all the way through, just about an inch from the top.
    woven-hearts4
  5. The weaving can get confusing, so rather than explain it with words here, I suggest checking out this YouTube video to see it in person:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jur29ViLEhk
  6. Continue weaving until your heart is complete.  Once done, open your heart to reveal the pocket!  Add a handle if you want and fill it with whatever you like!
    pocket
  7. I made another heart with the remaining two halves of felt, this time cutting 6 strips on each side.
    heart pocket2

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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Patronus Wreath

As I’ve gotten older and wiser in my years, I’ve come to appreciate the story of Harry Potter differently.  When I first read it, I loved the friendships and the imaginative writing.  I loved the use of allusion and symbolism and had a deep appreciation for the amazing plot development that this series undertakes.

But the more I read it, the more I came to appreciate and relate to other smaller elements of the story…namely, the Dementors.

patronus-wreath4

For those who are unaware, Dementors are ghost-like demons who guard the wizard prison, Azkaban.  They are the physical manifestation of author J.K. Rowling’s experience with depression…and they “kill” their victims by literally sucking the joy out of them.

The only way to get rid of a Dementor is to cast a spell (Expecto Patronum!).  The spell admits a Patronus, or a silver-like animal guardian that is also symbolic of each witch or wizard.

A few weeks ago, I did a post on how to make your own collection of felt Patronuses, and today I’m FINALLY going to share how I used them!

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I decided to create a Patronus Wreath to keep bad thoughts at bay.  I’m hoping it acts like a Dream Catcher…protecting my safe space and removing the negative and bad thoughts that every so often crowd my mind.

This wreath was made with a bunch of Christmas items that I got on sale last year, so shop the clearance section and see what you can find!

Patronus Wreath

Materials:

  • Felt Patronuses (see how to make these here)
  • Gold stick wreath (if you can’t find a gold stick wreath, you can spray paint a regular stick wreath with gold glitter spray)
  • Various gold ribbons
  • Chipboard star ornament
  • Paint colors of your choice (I used black and purple)
  • Paintbrush
  • Gold letter stickers
  • Mod Podge
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions:

  1. If your wreath needs to be spray painted, do that first. If it’s already gold and glittery, let’s get started!
  2. Cut out your patronuses. You can find the tutorial for them here.
  3. Wrap your wreath with various gold ribbons. The ribbons I used came in a set, so they worked together, but use whatever you’d like to add various texture to the wreath.  You could even add color ribbons if you want.  You can tie the ribbons or use the hot glue gun to secure them.
  4. Paint your star chipboard ornament however you’d like. I wanted a galaxy print to add some color, but you could paint it gold with glitter or just leave it as is.  Place “Expecto Patronum!” stickers on star; secure with thin layer of Mod Podge, if needed.
    patronus-wreath2
  5. Arrange your star and felt patronuses around the wreath. Secure with hot glue.  Hang it on your door to keep away the bad thoughts!
    patronus-wreath1

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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Felt Patronus Ornaments

Let’s be honest…we’ve all taken the Patronus Quiz on Pottermore, right?  Were ya’ll as bummed with your Patronus as I was?

I mean, I was really excited to find out what my Patronus was, considering my spirit animal is the unicorn (you can find your own here!), but I was slightly disappointed to discover that my Patronus was a cat.

Image result for disappointed cat, gif

My disappointment was 2-fold:

  1. What help would cats REALLY be against Dementors? A stag could charge it, a wolf or dog could attack it…but really what would my cat even do?  Scratch out its non-existent eyeballs?  Sit there quietly in judgement?  Chuck hairballs at it?
  2. I’m allergic to cats. I’d be allergic to my own Patronus.

But alas, I stand by the quiz…and I’m sure, somewhere deep, deep down, my Patronus makes perfect sense.

Of course that doesn’t stop me from daydreaming of having a wolf or dog Patronus…and that’s where today’s craft comes in!  Made using sparkling white felt (you could also use clay!), these Patronuses are great for hanging on gifts, on Christmas trees, or throwing at people who get you down!  Expecto your Patronus on their face!!

felt-patronus

To make the animal shapes, I just found animal silhouettes I liked online, then used them as a stencil to cut out my Patronuses.  You can use plain thin felt, but if you can find the thicker cut felt, that’s the best kind for making shapes like this…and sharp scissors…crazy sharp.

Finally, you can use glitter to add a touch of sparkle to your animals, since we all know Patronuses dance in sparkly lights and smoke.  The felt I found had sparkles already on it, so one step down, but you can always add your own sparkles with glitter or sparkle paint.

patronus-guide

To make them into ornaments, just glue a small string to the back of each animal and you’re good to go!

patronus-close-up

The perfect gift for any Potter fan, these felt Patronus Ornaments are sure to keep bad thoughts and dreams at bay!

*Sidenote, about halfway through this project, I decided NOT to make ornaments, but something else instead…stay tuned for how I put my Patronus collection to work!

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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DIY Handmade Felt Flowers

Whether they’re in a bouquet or just a vase on my desk, I love the look of felt flowers.  They’re so sweet and charming and you can make them in such a wide variety of colors!  Not to mention, there’s no need to water them, which bodes well for me.

diy-handmade-felt-flowers

These flowers use a simple hand-drawn template and three colors of felt.  You’ll need one color for the petals, one darker color for the center, and a green scrap piece of felt for the base of the flower.  You’ll also need a pencil and paper for drawing your pattern, a good pair of scissors, and some flower wire (I used 18 gauge).

I have these sitting in a vase on my desk and I love them.  I might make them in a variety of colors and liven up every room in my house!

DIY Handmade Felt Flowers

Materials:

  • Felt in your choice of color
  • Black felt for center
  • Green felt for base
  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Scissors
  • Flower wire
  • Hot glue gun and glue
  • Felt ball or bead for center of flower

Instructions:

Put small dab of hot glue on tip of flower stem.  Attach center of flower.  If using a felt ball, you can press the stem in to secure it, or use clay or a bead.

Cut rectangle (about 3 in. long and ½ in. wide) from black felt.  Cut several slits in felt, but don’t cut all the way through.  Make “grass” like you would in middle school!

Place strip of glue on base of rectangle.  Wrap around center of flower.

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Draw leaf pattern on paper.  Using pattern, cut out 9 felt petals.

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Hot glue four petals around center.

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Fill in flower with remaining petals.

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Cut small circle of green felt.  Cut hole in center.  Insert stem through hole and hot glue green circle to base of flower.

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Arrange in vase and enjoy!

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Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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10 of My Favorite Felt Flowers

I am notorious for killing flowers. I don’t know what it is, I water them, I love them, I talk to them…but for some reason, I just can’t keep them alive. This is why I have succulents literally taking over my apartment…

But fake flowers…now that I can get behind! I love the look of flowers in a room, and fake flowers are a great solution for us who are cursed with not-so-green thumbs.

Fake flowers can be made out of several materials, but I happen to love the look of felt flowers. Felt comes in a wide assortment of colors and textures, so it’s easy to create an arrangement that is both beautiful and eye-catching. Felt flowers are also cute enough that they don’t look tacky and they can easily compliment almost any decor.

Gathered here are 10 of my favorite felt flower patterns. I’ve used several of these in creating flowers around my home and I love how they instantly brighten up a room. I am also looking forward to making those felt pine cones for the holidays. How cute are those?!

felt-flowers

Pinterest Top 10: My Favorite Felt Flower Patterns

Turquoise Torie Jayne Flower
bb44544eb83237728605fdb97078a2f9

5-Petal Pearl Flowers
2

Circle Petal Flower
3

Felt Succulents
f4de614e79a39f90bfb80795b5eba811

Felt Anemones
somethingturquoise-diy-felt-anemone-flower_0001

Pom Pom Flowers
how-to-make-felt-flowers-35_thumb

Cone Mums
7

Felt Pinecones
3eb277c759f7a64ce9e540bd768470fd

Felt Poinsettia
felt-poinsettia

Felt Feather Mums
img_3568-1024x1024

Want to see more of my favorite felt patterns? Check out my Pinterest board, Crafts Made with Felt!

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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Anthropologie Knock Off Necklace

I’m all about the knockoff. I know there are people out there who will stop at nothing to have the real deal, but if I can have something just as good for half, sometimes a quarter, of the price, I’ll take it.

When I was browsing through my local Anthropologie store, I came upon a necklace that I just loved. It was made with 3 simple felt accordion beads and 3 contrasting color beads. I carried it with me through the store, contemplating whether I could force myself to splurge on this $100 necklace…and finally I gave up. I put it back and told myself that maybe I’d come back if I got a bonus, or lost 10 pounds, or happened to find a $100 bill in a pair of old jeans…

felt-necklace2

Needless to say I’ve yet to buy the necklace…however, I did discover a fun way to make my own rendition! While this one isn’t as colorful as the one I saw, it’s the same basic idea. I didn’t want to have to buy anything to make it, so I used felt scraps I had in my fabric drawer and the beads from a broken bracelet that has been sitting in my dresser for years. I didn’t have a chain that was empty, so instead I used some yarn and made it long enough so it can slip over my head.

I think this is an easy and fun statement piece and a great way to get the look you love for free!

felt-necklace

Felt Knockoff Necklace

Materials:

  • Scrap pieces of felt–you’ll need 5 small circles of the same size per felt bead.  I used a quarter as my template
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun/glue
  • Chain or yarn
  • Needle
  • Beads

 

Directions:

  1. Fold one of the circles in half and place a thin line of glue down the middle crease of the circle.  Fold another circle in half and glue the two pieces together.  Repeat this all the way around and then secure the bead by gluing the center fold of the last circle to the center fold of the first circle.  You can also make the bead lie flat by gluing the last circle to both halves of the first and last circle folds.  That way it opens up like an accordion.  
    felt-necklace3
  2. Repeat for your other two felt beads.
  3. Then with a needle and your yarn, string your beads into a necklace.  If you’re using a chain, it’s helpful to place the chain in the middle of the bead before you secure it closed to you don’t have to thread the chain through the felt bead.  

And there you go!  Easy, fun, and economical.  Plus it’s a great way to make a thrifty and fashionable statement!

 

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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Vintage Felt Pinwheels

As you can all probably tell, I’ve been on a kick recently to clear out my craft stash. I’ve been trying to use up leftover yarn, fabric, felt, and more in an effort to A) make room in our closet for things we ACTUALLY need to store there…like coats and shoes and B) ultimately make room for more craft stuff that I obviously don’t need. Ugh…it’s a vicious cycle.

Anyway, I’ve been working through my felt stash and came upon this idea to make these cute vintage inspired pinwheels. I’m not quite sure how I want to use them, although they’d be great on a gift package or as a hair accessory, but they were so fun and easy to make, and it was a great way to get rid of all those little felt scraps that are too small to reuse but too big to throw away.

You could also make really tiny ones and turn them into earrings or a necklace! Ohh! I think I just found my next craft project!


felt-pinwheels2

Vintage Felt Pinwheels

Materials:

  • Felt squares, about 4″ on all sides
  • Scissors
  • Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
  • Vintage beads or buttons

 

Instructions:

  1. If it’s not cut already, cut your felt into a small 4″ x 4″ square (you can go smaller or larger depending on how big you want your pinwheel to be).
    felt-pinwheels4
  2. Fold your square corner to corner so it forms a triangle shape.
    felt-pinwheels3
  3. Cut from the corner to the fold, but DO NOT cut through the fold.  Stop a few centimeters before the fold.  Unfold and repeat with the other two corners.
  4. When you unfold your square, you should have 4 slices, one from each corner going towards the center of the square, but not through it.
    felt-pinwheels5
  5. Now you’re ready to start folding!  Place a dollop of hot glue or fabric glue in the middle of your square and fold down one corner to the middle of the square.  Repeat this with every other corner to create a pinwheel shape.
    felt-pinwheels7
  6. Secure the corners with another dollop of glue and a bead or button embellishment.
    felt-pinwheels6

And there you have it!  These cute pinwheels make great pins, magnets, gift package embellishments, hair accessories, and much more.  This is also a great way to use up felt, fabric, and paper scraps.

felt-pinwheels

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Mini Felt Cinnamon Rolls

One of my absolute favorite memories of Christmas morning is the smell of cinnamon rolls in the oven. The delicious scent of cinnamon, bread, and icing would slowly drift into our bedrooms and wake us from our slumber, and as my brother, sister, and I made our way downstairs, the scent of cinnamon rolls would become stronger and stronger, and would begin mingling with the smells of pepper bacon, hash browns, fresh bagels, Christmas cookies, and mulled apple cider (clearly we’re a carb-lovin’ family!).

So a few days ago as I watched A Christmas Story and began planning out my holiday shopping list, I became nostalgic for those Christmas morning treats and decided to head on into the kitchen and make some of my own.

Well, clearly that didn’t work out so well.

So instead I made some felt ones! They’re simply adorable for hanging on the tree or turning into a necklace, gift embellishment, garland, or magnet. And, best of all, they’re calorie free!

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Felt Cinnamon Rolls

Materials:

  • 2 8×11 felt sheets, one light brown and one dark brown
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

f

Instructions:

  1. Start off by cutting your felt in half hamburger wise.Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls2
  2. Then cut those halves in half again, so you have 4 smaller squares (8 squares total with both sheets of felt).Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls3
  3. Fold those squares in half again so you have 8 smaller squares (16 squares total with both sheets of felt).Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls4
  4. Fold those squares in half, this time hot dog wise, to yield 16 long pieces (32 total with both sheets of felt).
  5. Fold those squares in half hot dog wise one final time, to yield 32 strips that are about 1/2″ wide (64 strips total with both sheets of felt).Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls5
  6. You’re going to be using 4 strips per cinnamon roll, two of each color. Layer three pieces together, starting with a light brown, then dark brown, then light brown again.Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls6
  7. Begin rolling the strips to form a cinnamon roll shape.Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls7
  8. Take the last dark strip and wrap it around the cinnamon roll to hide the ends. Hot glue in place.
  9. With your thumb, carefully push up on the center of the cinnamon roll to make it look like it has risen in the oven. A little pop is all you need!
    Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls9
    Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls8
  10. Repeat until all your cinnamon rolls are done.Felt-Cinnamon-Rolls10

This “recipe” yields 16 calorie-free cinnamon rolls!

 

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Framed Earring Storage

This past weekend was one of my favorite quarterly projects…Spring Cleaning!  I love spring cleaning so much that I do it once a season…sometimes twice.  Yes, I’m THAT person.  I’m that much of a nerd.

To be fair, I do have a lot of crap…and I live in an apartment with hardwood floors, lots of books, and windows that stay open quite often…so there’s lots of dust.  I also live with a boy…and, well, we all know how that goes!

So when I do my spring cleaning, I like to start one room at a time and just take my time going through things and throwing stuff away.  This year I started with my jewelry.  I needed a way to store all my earrings so I could see all of them at one time.  I had some left over wire shelves from my craft unit I showed you a few weeks ago, so I tied a ribbon to those and was able to hang hooked earrings on them.  It looks oh so chic!

As for my studded earrings, I needed a way to store them that wasn’t in a little bowl in my dresser.  So I decided I’d do double duty and create a storage system that was also decorative…bada boom!

These sweet earring frames are so easy to make and they’re a great way to store your studded earrings in a way that looks professional and stylish.

Earring Frames

Materials:

  • Wooden frames (I got mine at IKEA.  I think they come in a package of 5 or 6.  I only had to use 2 for this project.  These frames are 4 x 6)
  • 1 8 ½ x 11 sheet of felt, color of your choice
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun
  • Felt flowers (optional)
  • Ribbon

Instructions:

  1. Take the backing off the frame and remove the glass/plastic part.  Lay it on your felt and cut out a felt rectangle, using the glass/plastic as a guide.
  2. Hot glue the felt piece to the inside of the frame where the backing used to be.  Don’t put the backing back on because you want to be able to poke your earrings through the felt.
  3. That’s really all there is to it.  You can add felt flowers if you’d like to give it a feminine touch.  Then hot glue a ribbon to the back (if there isn’t a wall hook on the back of the frame) and you’re ready to go!
  4. To attach your earrings, poke them through the felt and secure them on the other side of the frame.

Done and done!  Moving on to necklaces…

Since I’m a renter, I can’t really drill massive and awesome storage units into my bedroom wall.  And since my apartment is small, I can’t really afford to waste space with units that sit on the floor and take up room…and since I’m a bit of a crafty minded person, I have a LOT of necklaces.  I needed a way to store and display them so they wouldn’t get tangled and messy.

I have to thank my brilliant man friend for this idea.  I had these great mini hangers that I also got from IKEA, but they put huge holes in the wall, which I didn’t want to do.  He suggested simply attaching them to my dresser, also from IKEA, and hanging my necklaces there.  Um…genius.

Instead of having to drill screws into the wall to hang up these awesome hangers, all I had to do was push a thumb tack through the hole and into the dresser.  My necklaces aren’t super heavy, so that was all the support they needed.  This is a great space saving idea for ladies who live in little lofts and flats.

As for my bracelets, which I don’t wear too often, I simply threw them on some glass vases (wait for it…ALSO from IKEA!) and threw some fake flowers inside the vase.  Boom.  Storage with style!

I was so excited with my jewelry plans that I really didn’t have time to finish much else!  I did clean up the bathroom, though…and next week I’ll have a helpful tip for renters who are looking to add some color and style to a bathroom they can’t really do anything to…

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

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Sweet Spring Felt Birds

These birds look so cute sitting on a window sill or hanging from a spring branch decoration.  You can even make them in darker colors to hang on your Christmas tree come holiday time.  With some red and black felt, you can make a bunch of cardinals that would be perfect as Christmas package decorations.

Thanks to Kata Golda for this great idea and pattern!

Felt Birds:

Materials:

  • Felt
  • Pattern
  • Needle
  • Embroidery thread (black, orange, and a complimentary color to your felt color choice)
  • Fabric filling or cotton balls

Directions:

Using the pattern provided by Kata Golda, cut out all your felt pieces.

Using a needle and black embroidery thread, embroider on the eyes.  Do the same with the orange felt for the beak.

Use your complimentary color thread to attach the wings, as shown in the pattern.

Use a blanket stitch to sew up all sides of the bird.

Stitch until there’s only a small opening left.  Use that opening to stuff the bird and then continue sewing it closed.

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