Well after last nights blog we've got my little Pie's xmas wardrobe sorted. Now to the house:
Todays blog is about the decorations:
Last year - when I was pregnant and stuck on chair rest (like bed rest but basically had to sit all the time!) is when I took up sewing, I'd never had any interest in it before that and one of the first projects I did was to make felt christmas decorations. I made some green and red and whites ones to use to decorate gifts - silver gift wrap, white ribbon and a little felt decoration looked quite nice:
These are so easy to make, so I thought I'd share a tutorial (with no step by step photos cos I dont have any!) for you all.
So start by collecting the felts you want to use - as a preschool teacher I've made many a felt play set so I just used my scraps bags for mine but if you need to buy specifically then get yourself along to any cheapy shop - the crazy clarks/go-los/$2 shops of the world or a craft shop and you'll find plenty - its about $1 a sheet of felt. Also get a little thin ribbon for hangers and you can use scraps of bright ribbons to decorate them - like I've done to these colourful decorations I made to keep for our 2011 xmas tree (cos they didn't at all go with 2010 colour theme):
Ok cut shapes out of the felt - google xmas decorations stencils - you will find heaps of inspirations - or you can just do circles like on this christmas garland version I made last night:
Cut out all of your shapes - if you're decorating them then use a little craft glue to hold the pretty blingy bits in place or pin them there.
Once ur happy with how they look:
For decoartions - tack a loop of ribbon to wherever u want the hanger to go on ur decoration
For garland - tack the decoration to whatever you're using for the garland - I used ric rack, you could use string, ribbon, even tinsel, whatever floats your boat ;)
Then (for both types) place a piece of felt on the back side ensuring that it is big enough to cover the entire decoration with a little extra around the edges - and sew the pieces together. Trim off the excess back felt leaving a little margin of felt like in the pictures - DONE! Continue til they are all finished :)
This is really a simple craft and because felt is such an easy to work with fabric you can easily do this with children - get the kids to use glue instead of sewing them and you can later sew them together so that they will be long lasting! You can also up the anti and make a really special set of felt ornaments like these or these, a pretty gardland like this or a gorgeous 3D garland like this one. I sewed vintage buttons on to my garland for something a little different (photo to come!) Hit google or pinterest and let yourself be inspired!
Now this year I was really keen to make an advent calendar BUT its only 3 days til it will be time to use an advent calendar so I think I'll end up buying a felt one I saw at Big W. It will last us a few years and by then I might be clever enough to make a really gorgeous one! I'm loving the idea of a reuseable advent calendar with little cards in each pocket with a Christmas activity for us to do as a family - inspiration thanks to Pinterest here - put up the christmas tree, make cookies, go see Santa, look at the Christmas lights, watch a Christmas movie, listen to christmas carols etc. When Pie is older (If her dairy intolerance gets grown out of!) I'm sure she will still want a little advent calendar with chocolates BUT I really want her to enjoy the experience of christmas, not just the presents and junk food!
Another decoration I've 'made' this year is a photo ornament - I got a free one by going here and I plan to make a photo ornament every year - imagine when I'm older and my baby (and her siblings that I hope we will have in years to come) are all grown and have left home and I'll still have all of their beautiful faces throughout the years right there on my xmas tree!
Again I would love to hear about or see any xmas decoration crafting you and your family have been making!
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