Posted on October 22, 2013 at 07:49 AM in Beginner's Guide to Felting, Create, Felt, Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Last week we had a glorious vacation at the beach in Sarasota, FL. The highlight of the trip was surprising Nola and Kira with a trip to Disney World!
We made it all the way to Orlando without the girls even suspecting anything was up. We told them in the hotel room right before taking them to Downtown Disney. They freaked out! They were literally bouncing off the walls and the beds and squealing with delight.
It was one of our favorite parenting moments that we will never forget.
Continue reading "Secrets to Magical Moments at Disney World" »
Posted on October 16, 2013 at 09:10 PM in Family, Popular Post, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted on September 25, 2013 at 07:24 AM in Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Posted on September 12, 2013 at 10:21 AM in A Quick Craft, Create, hand-made gifts, Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Even robots can be curly girls. I made this little family for the girls and they have been zoomed and flown all over the house.
Posted on March 10, 2013 at 07:49 PM in Create, Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Need a really quick gift for your sister-in-law who just moved to Tennessee?
1. Buy a bottle of Jack Daniel's, or another pretty bottle of booze.
2. Have a fun night with friends and drink all the booze.
3. Buy a bottle of liquid soap - choose the fanciest pump you can find.
4. Pour soap into Jack bottle and screw on the pump.
Okay, I didn't drink all the Jack, I bought a flask and filled it with Jack Daniel's. And now I also have a present for my sister-in-law's fiancé. Welcome to Tennessee!
Please Note: I bought Caldrea soap from Target (it was in the kitchen section, not with the soaps). From what I can tell, the pump thread is a universal size, but you have to be careful to get a pump that does not bulge out at the spring as it will not fit in the bottle neck.
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Posted on December 09, 2012 at 08:40 PM in A Quick Craft, hand-made gifts, Holiday Makings, Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (36) | TrackBack (0)
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 09:30 AM in Beginner's Guide to Felting, Popular Post, Sewing Projects for Preschoolers | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0)
Last week we looked at roving and how to buy it. This week we will start wet felting with kids.
Wet felting is the process of
using hot, soapy water and friction to stimulate layers of perpendicularly placed roving to
bond together and become felted.
Children of all ages treasure feeling wool slowly meld to become an object – it is quite magical.
The natural fibers have such a rich texture that children become engrossed and tend to spend an amazing amount of time wet felting amazing creations.
Younger children will enjoy the process of feeling the felt in their hands, while school-aged children often focus on a tangible object they want to sculpt.
LET'S GET MAKING
To Prepare the Roving: Pull off layers of roving and roll it into a ball, pull off another layer of roving and wrap it in the opposite direction around your tiny object. Continue wrapping layers at 90 degrees angle to each other until you have an object about 2 inches in diameter.
To Prepare the Water: When I am felting on my own, I make my water as hot as possible. When I am felting with my girls, I make the water as warm as I think they are comfortable with. Mix in a generous squirt of dish liquid with the water. I have used many different varieties of dish soap from Dove to Meyers and Green Works and they all seem to work fine.
Getting Wet: Dunk the wrapped roving into the soapy water. Gently squeeze and shape. Shape into any shape you want. The roving will slowly begin to congeal and become smaller and harder. Repeat dunking, squeezing, rolling, squishing, and adding roving until you achieve your desired size and shape.
Rinse: Rinse in cold, clean water and let dry. Drying usually takes a day or two.
Kira's unicorn - she is so proud that she made her creation all by herself. First Kira wet felted the pieces and then sewed them all together.
The act of felting tends to make this art-form more about the process than the outcome, especially for young children. Even so, there are few useful techniques that are fun for kids to learn:
Making felt balls
Using a mold
Creating flat felt
We will cover all of these projects over the next few weeks...
Ultimately, your children will never have cleaner hands. Ever.
IT'S FUN TO SHARE
If you have projects that you have already made, please add a link in the comment section so we can all have a look. And if you're motivated to make something inspired by the series, please send pictures to [email protected]. By becoming a fan of Curly Birds on facebook you'll be able to join in the fun.
Facebook: Behind the scenes shots and first to see new projects. You can also upload your pictures to the Curly Birds facebook page.
Pinterest: I will be continuing to update my Felting Pinterest borad with tutorials, ideas, and inspiration. Follow along with felted projects and ideas.
Posted on September 04, 2012 at 08:46 PM in Beginner's Guide to Felting, Create, Felt, Popular Post | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Every little sewer needs a pretty sewing kit.
To make your little sewer a kit, use an old biscuit/cookie tin and personalize it with a hand-drawn label.
Include a variety of supplies: embroidery hoops, needles, silks, and buttons.
The prettier the buttons, the better... include some personal buttons from your collection, and a few fancy new ones.
Pretty soon, your little sewer will love sewing as much as you do.
My girls and I really enjoy sewing together, perhaps our sewing projects for pre-schoolers will inspire you.
Posted on July 19, 2012 at 07:44 PM in Create, hand-made gifts, Popular Post, Sew, Sewing Projects for Preschoolers | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
How to make fortune cookies with no wire, no glue and only 3 romantic stitches...
1. Cut a 3" diameter round piece of felt
2. Fold the felt in half and pin. In like-colored thread (I used pink only so you can easily see my stitches), make 3 downward stitches from the middle of the fold. Finish off and cut thread.
3. Peel each side of the 'cookie' up and fold over the stitches. Manipulate the felt until you have the desired look.
4. Insert a special note to your love.
Perfect for Valentine's, weddings, New Years, birthdays and pretend Chinese meals.
Also available in my Etsy shop.
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Posted on January 18, 2012 at 09:25 PM in Celebrate, Create, Curly Birds on Etsy, Felt, hand-made gifts, Popular Post, Sew | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)