Birthday Countdown!

My son's birthday is fast approaching and since he LOVES advent calenders (just like his mama)- I thought it would be fun to make one and help build the anticipation to his big day! 

I got most of my inspiration from Nap Time Journal's Cupcake countdown.... when I saw it, I knew I had to make one for myself.  

I have a lot of felt leftover from my felt playhouse so this project cost me nothin'.

I am planning on having him take away one candle a day (which are velcroed to the cupcake)- Doing this will leave us with the BIG orange one { permanently sewn on} to mark his big day! 

{I made a total of 9 removable candles so if we use all of them, the countdown is ten days prior to birthday, ten makes things a bit crowded.. but more fun- right!}

The candles are made with two pieces of felt and some yellow ribbon 

{notes: The backing and orange hook are both made out of two pieces of felt sewn together.}

This was such a fun and surprisingly quick project.

Let the countdown begin... I know one little guy who is pretty excited!!

Felt Playhouse!!

It's done!!

I was able to finish my son's felt playhouse just in the nick of time- right before we headed home for Christmas break. It was quite the process but well worth it and am very happy with how it turned out!!

Unless you are new to all the crafty blogs... you have most likely seen this playhouse at Homemade by Jill.

My friend and I loved hers so much we felt like we better not change it up too much :)

Thanks again Jill for the amazing idea and tips!!

Check out her site for great templates and suggestions on how to make your own!!

(on this side, the strawberries are velcroed on)

Advent Calendar!!

It's done!!

I am finally done with my Advent Calendar and seriously- just in the nick of time!

I sewed my last ornament last night and couldn't be happier with how it turned out!!

Ornaments

Here are a couple of my favs

Soldier

Angel (inspired by an angel ornament we had on our tree growing up)

Ok I really love them all

 I had a hard time making my ornaments small so if there is a next time making one of these- I will make my tree a bit bigger- but overall- it works!!

It took A LOT of time and work, but I am so glad I did it and think it will make many fun Christmas memories for my children!

Thanks again Jill for the great idea!!

Major Crush....

on this wreath!

Seen over at Oh Happy Day

Info on how to make it here at Pickles.

If I didn't have 100 things on my to do list, maybe I would attempt to make this... maybe. 

But for now, I will just have to enjoy looking at it

TuRkEy HeAdBaNd!!

My craft addiction started full force with this project last year

Like my son's skeleton costume, my inspiration came from Pottery Barn.

It was one of my first projects where I had no formal directions, just an idea to go off of.

Looking at it this year, I realize there are many things I could have done differently (like making the feathers a little bit smaller...) -

 but the fun is in learning right....

Overall, this was a fun project and taught me that homemade opposed to store bought can sometimes be more exciting!

Thanksgiving Banner

 My mantle was looking pretty plain this year after putting all my Halloween decor down. Even though it is a short time until we will put up our Christmas decorations, I decided to make something to spruce it up.

I pulled a couple ideas I have seen recently together and came up with this

This was pretty simple, just took a bit of time to put together.

I cut each of my squares 6X8 (however now measure 5X7 after front and back pieces sewn together) 

As you can see, this is not hanging up on my little mantle- it was way too big but I like it this way- so you can  obviously adjust your square size to fit where you want it to go

My letters are felt and embroidered on using a back stitch

I originally planned

 on attaching rings onto each little panel through an eyelet

and then threading some sort of rope through but

in the end decided on using ribbon to attach everything together

-I still may change it later on, but for now, I am happy!

Advent with Jill

There is a reason why Jill and I are friends

This being one of them!!

(Jill, seriously- why didn't we just sit around the dorms and craft all day... ha!)

Check it out 

If you know me then you know I am all about

 any project involving an advent calendar and felt

Can't wait to get started!!

(p.s. and by posting this I am now obligated to complete this project, please hold me to it!!)

Oh and here is a link to the amazing Advent Jill is going off of!!!

So...

Anyone else joining in on the fun??

Hopscotch Mat

I saw this Hopscotch Mat a couple months ago and fell in love

I love everything about it and want to just jump into the picture every time I look at it.

I decided I wanted to make one myself and thought the massive amount of felt I had left over from my felt playhouse (pics coming soon) would work great for this project!

This wasn't the quickest project and definitely took some time in the measuring, pinning and sewing departments but overall a fun and enjoyable project!

Add a beanbag using this tutorial and you are set!

Hope my son's friend likes it!!

Skeleton Costume

Awhile back, while brainstorming costume ideas for my son... I came upon this

The cutest skeleton costume

The minute I saw it, I knew I needed to have it-

that is until I came back to reality and realized I probably shouldn't be spending $50 on a costume.

I went back into Pottery Barn Kids a couple times to check it out (always just to torture myself) and decided that I could make it myself.

And I did. 

I found some black sweats and long sleeve shirt at Walmart for cheap

and bought 1/4 of a yard of felt @ 50% off

Grand total: $7

I used Pottery Barn's costume as a general reference, cut out some bones and hand sewed them on. Took maybe 3 hrs max and I was done!!

(I liked the look of hand sewn better- think how much quicker this would be on the machine!)

It was such a fun costume to make and looks pretty stinkin cute on

Wouldn't you say!!

We had our first Halloween activity today and got to try it out

Let the fun festivities begin!!

Fall Rose Wreath

Ok a break from all the soup for a sec

I had to post this great project!

My friend showed me a wreath she had made last week 

and the minute I saw it I knew I had to make it too.

It's such a fun quick craft and perfect for the fall season

(actually, like always, I want to make one for every season!)

You can find the tutorial here

and another persons take on it here!!

{F.Y.I - For our wreaths, we used 1/4 yard yellow fleece, 1/4 yard green fleece and 1/4 yard brown felt. It was the perfect amount!!}

(just dont even mind the ridiculous amount of shine in some of these pics k!)

Happy Fall

Update!

Ok so do you remember this post I did awhile back about Felt Baby Squares and how I said I really wanted to make one of my own?? 

Well I did it and made a Felt Square "book" for a friend of mine expecting a baby in a couple weeks.

Let me tell you this was a lot of fun and VERY simple.

All you need is 

black and white sheets of felt

 ( I used 4 white and 4 black with lots of spare scrapes left over- making a total of 8 pages)

coordinating thread

eyelets/eyelet tools (optional)

metal ring (optional)
I loved using the ring because it allows you to enjoy the squares together in a book or spread out on the floor!

Thanks to Crafting Chicks for the great idea

Felt Squares for Babies

I saw this idea over at Crafting Chicks and LOVED it!! Felt Squares for babies- Did you know that babies love black, white and bright colors? I have learned that until your child is about six months, he/she will respond best to bold, contrasting colors and graphics. SO how perfect are these?? 

Supplies:

-Felt: black, white, and some colors

-Hot glue gun

-Sharp fabric scissors

-Paper to make square pattern

check out directions here

I love this idea and am going to try it out! I am thinking of making mine into a book though- I will post pics when I finish. Wouldn't this be a fun/ quick/ simple gift to give. I know I would love having one!!

Anyone made anything similar to this before? If so I would love to see!

ABC Quiet Book

My secret project is finally done!! I know you have been just on the edge of your seats- and not able to eat/ sleep kind of  excited to see it so sorry about the wait :)

I have been trying to teach my son his letters for awhile now and thought it would be fun to make a little ABC book for him to help.

It's a lot like my other quiet book but boy did this take less than half the time to make. All the letters are attached with Velcro to allow for matching and quizzing! 

You obviously could go all out with the objects but I tried to keep it simple. 

Of course felt played a big role with this project- along with muslin, embroidery floss, some yarn and buttons. I bound it with 2 metal rings as I did before.

It was a lot of fun to make and a great size- making it easy to bring it along wherever you go!!

Matching!

This was an original idea- I am going to try and get a pattern available if  anyone is interested. Feel free to ask any questions!!