Springy Rudolph

Christmas isn't far away so I thought I would make these fun easy decorations.

They are made from brown card, felt and 'lashings' of glue.

Any size can be made to form a Rhudolph family
They are a little bit of wobbly springy Christmas fun.

First I cut four strips of card 5 cm wide I joined two together so I had two longs strips. I glued them at each end forming an L shape. I then folded one over the other until I came to the end, this formed the springy body.

    I glued the ends together but left the short flap that was left this is what the head will to be stuck to.

I cut out some shapes from card for the front, back, head, antlers and ears. I stuck these on to felt, then cut them out, (the front and back are felted each side) the head, ears and antlers are different colours as a contrast.

 I stuck the back and front of Rudolph on to the springy card body, leaving the flap on which to place the head.
I cut out some eyes and a mouth, stuck on a red pompom for his nose, this could be felt too. The eyes on the smaller Rudolph are plastic google eyes but I think I like the felt ones because they can be placed in different ways to give more character to the face.

The antlers and ears were glued in place and I stuck another circle of felt to the back of the head to neaten it up.

The legs were turned up a little at the bottom to form feet and then I stuck on some contrasting felt to resemble hooves. I gave him a little head decoration of holly but this could have been tinsel, or anything decorative.
 The head was then glued to the flap at the front.

He was given a little curly felt tale

Here he is ready for Christmas.

An Autumn Wreath

 This autumn wreath was made up as I went along, from bits I had in my craft room, the natural bits were forraged from my garden and around trees in my area. I  think the result is quite pretty.

 Plastic pipe cut to size and secured with tape

 






It was then covered with bubble wrap and strips of hessian

  Hazel nut shells stuck together and put on wire with a glue gun, the stem covered with hessian, also some cones were put on wires

The base was dressed with hops

 The cones, shells and some conkers were added, along with some dried shrubs, silk leaves and fake berries.

    Command hooks were put on the back of the door and twine attached to the wreath   

 The finished result with an added hessian bow, all made from bits and pieces.

Coconut Creatures

These coconut shells were saved when we had some delicious coconut ice cream. I couldn't bear to throw away the shells, I knew I would find something to make with them and this was the result.

 

A Rag Dolly

For this doll I made the head and body stuffed it and then added the stuffed legs. I gave her some white bloomers, made a pretty dress, made her some felt shoes and gave her some wool hair.

Beatrix Potter so Far

Having needlefelted a few characters I thought it was about time they came together in a scene. My characters and all that goes with them are how I want them and not a copy of Beatrix Potters.

I decided to make mrs Tiggywinkle a house, this incudes a stove with an open fire, a dresser, and a swish chandelier with candles (a little touch of luxury I thought she deseved).

The tree  is made from twigs I took off of a tree in my garden, wrapped paper around the stems and formed it into a trunk, painted it and then added moss for the groups of leaves. It includes a bird house and a fairy door.
The food is all made from salt dough.
 I painted a background to bring it all to life. 

There are some more characters I want to make but this is the scene so far.....

 

 

Advent Calendar for Enid

I made this for my little grandaughter who's only 11 months but I hope it will be brought out year after year. It took quite some time to complete but I am pleased with the result.

Felt baubles hang from jingle bells and when turned each day there is a new felt picture until Christmas day, the last one has a star with her name on it.

Minature picnic food

I made this picnic food from salt dough, although the apples in the leaf are beads. It was fiddly but fun to make and it will be perfect for my Beatrix potter scene.

Needlefelt Jeremy Fisher

Jeremy Fisher complete with pond is my latest addition to the collection.

I am really pleased with the way he has turned out, I wanted my character to look a little more friendly, I've always thought Beatrix Potter's image of him looked a little sinister.

Needdlefelt Jemima Puddleduck

I have now added to the Beatrix potter collection Jemima Puddleduck who also has two baby ducks which are not shown in the picture.

Tee Light Tray

I thought as the nights are drawing in this tee light tray would make the Autumn nights a bit brighter.

My hubby made me a tray of M.D.F and wood. I painted the edges cream but left the bottom natural.

The stones are from my garden, I gave them a coat of varnish, and the glass holders are shot glasses which I found in the supermarket £2 for six ( a bargain I thought).
The tee lights are the ones that run off batteries, safer and less messy than wax ones.

I am really pleased with it and I think it looks very effective.

Felt leaf Wreath

Think this simple wreath looks effective, it's just leaves cut from felt, glued on thin wires then glued onto a a ring made from cable wire covered with rafia. Im pleased the colour combination.

Needlefelt Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggywinkle

     Inspired by a visit to the Beatrix Potter museum in Bowness on Windermere I made these needlefelt figures The spines on mrs 
 tiggywinkle were a challenge as to what to use but in the end I decided to try cocktail sticks, coloured and glued on, I think they work well.

                                                                                            

Fairy Mobile

I was inspired by some Waldorf  fairies I saw on Pinterest so I created this mobile.

The fairies are made of wool, I needlefelted the faces, arms and hair and fashioned the dresses from wool, the wings are lace.
The ring from where they hang is a piece of pipe covered with raffia and decorated with felt flowers, beads and butterflies and topped off with a felt butterfly.

It all fixes together with invisible thread.

More Needlefelting