New Wool

Back when Ryan and I went to Arizona, I scored this awesome raw wool from Tempe Yarn & Fiber. It was a great shop, I highly recommend it if you live in the area and are into yarn and/or roving.

What sold me was the cute picture of the lamb it came from! Look at that cute lamb face!

I love it because it has some natural curl to it, which I think will make for some super cute tomte beards. They were a big seller at last year's Lucia fair, so I hope not to run out this year. I also am hoping to design a Lucia for this year's fair. Either needle felted or a combination of mediums - wish me luck!

Have a wonderful day!

Felted Dryer Balls Tutorial

Want an eco-friendly way to dry your clothes? Hanging them on a clothesline is the best! But if you don't have 7 days of sunshine like we do here in California, these dryer balls will help you save money, use less chemical-y fabric softener, and save on energy.

These 100% felted wool dryer balls will speed your drying time and are just fun to make!

You will need:

Wool roving and/or 100% wool yarn

An old pair of tights or nylons

First, take your yarn or roving and create a small ball:

Next, take your roving and break into small strands.

Wrap the strands tightly around your yarn ball. Continue until it is the size you want your dryer ball. Mine are about 2 inches in diameter. I think 2-3 inches would make the most efficient size dryer balls.

Feel free to snazz them up a bit and add bits of decorative roving around in a design. Or, needle felt a design after you are finished.

Put the ball into your tights (or nylons) and knot between balls.

Wash in washer on the hottest cycle. It is okay to wash them with a load of clothes. I ran mine in two loads of wash and through two drying cycles.

Ta da, felted wool!

Enjoy shorter drying times. These are especially great if you have to go to a laundromat and use a timed dryer, they help get your clothes as dry as quickly as possible.

Happy felting!


If you're feeling un-crafty, you can still go green and buy this set from Amazon*!
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Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

O Holy Night

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Scandinavian Christmas, Day 2

Welcome everyone to the 2nd day of Scandinavian Christmas!

Today's inspiration comes from Pam over at Gingerbread Snowflakes. Check out this adorable little Nisse ornament she made! Pam has all sorts of neat holiday crafts over at her blog, including a complete tutorial for this little fellow and even a cute Dala horse ornament, go have a look!

Pam inspired me to recreate one of the many little Swedish Tomte figures my parents have around our house this time of year. I'm not quite sure if there's any real difference between the Danish/Norwegian/Swedish Tomte or Nisse, does anyone out there know? According to what I've read about them, Tomtes were mythical little farm helpers. The old tale is that back in the day they would either bring your farm prosperity, or ruin if you didn't treat them well.

I made a quick tutorial for how to make your own little (or big, if you prefer) Tomte! Enjoy!

You will need:

• Red or white felt
• Stuffing
• White or gray wool roving (or yarn if you prefer, for the beard)
• Flesh colored roving or felt (for the nose)
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun, or other quick-drying glue
• Floral wire
• Styrofoam balls, I used 2 sizes: 50mm and 80mm (a golf ball could also work)

You can vary the color and sizes to what you prefer.

1. First, determine what size triangle you need to cut for your Tomte. Measure around the midsection of the ball and add 1 inch. For example, my small styrofoam ball was 6" around + 1" = 7" total. I made my hats the same height. For my smaller Tomtes my triangle was 7" at the bottom and 7" high.

2. Cut out your triangle and measure it around the ball. Pinch together and pin. Sew across along the entire hat.

3. Trim any excess felt off and round the top corner. Turn right-side out.

4. Cut off a section of your styrofoam ball so it will sit flat. Next, glue a circle piece of white felt to the bottom.

5. Take your floral wire and cover the end with hot glue. Insert to the top of the Tomte hat and squeeze the tip so it sticks. This is so your hat will stay hunched over later.

6. Stuff the hat around the wire. Leave about 1" - 1.5" space for the ball.

7. Cut a circular piece of red felt with a hole in the center and glue it inside the hat.

8. Prepare your beard by pulling small sections of the wool roving off.

9. Working in 2" segments and starting near the bottom of the ball, add hot glue to your ball and start to stick your sections of wool roving on.

10. Work all the way around before starting with the top layer.

11. Do the same for the top layer. Add as much wool as you need so you cannot see the ball. You can lay longer pieces across the top and secure with hot glue. Trim the floral wire down and hot glue the hat on top of the completed ball. Curve the hat to one side, the wire will make it stay in place.

12. Make a ball with the flesh colored wool roving. If you don't have wool roving, you could paint a small wooden ball or cut a small circle from felt. Glue the ball near the edge of the hat so it looks like his nose is peaking out.

Try out different colors like this white and gray-bearded Tomte!

You can make an entire Tomte family!

And they make great gifts! I'll be giving these away to my grandma and brother-in-law's mom, both big Tomte fans.

St. Lucia Day

St. Lucia Day is quickly approaching, get ready! Clean out your coffee urn and start gathering ingredients for lussekatter, December 13th is almost here!

In anticipation of the big day, I decided to finish the needle-felted St. Lucia doll I started back in October. Remember this little girl? :

I think she looks a little lifeless without the candles in her wreath and without a face. So I spent an hour or two putting the finishing details on her face. I was hesitant about adding the eyes and mouth at first. I was worried I would make her look crazy or disfigured. So I added very little blue color for her eyes at first. You can barely tell in the picture below.

Then I got a little braver and added some more. Too much? I can't decide yet. I might take a little out or cover it up a bit, what do you think?

The wreath was my favorite part to work on. I used a combination of wet felting and needle felting for the green part. Then cut and painted the ends of toothpicks for the candles. I really think it pulls the whole doll/figurine (I don't really know what to call her yet) together.

Look how happy she is, she just can't wait for December 13th!

Happy St. Lucia Day!

Glad St. Lucia Dagen!

Needle felted St. Lucia

Well, I finally did it. I attempted to needle-felt my first object/person: St. Lucia. For you Scandos out there you're already familiar with St. Lucia. For those non-Scandinavian folk allow me to explain.

St. Lucia Day is celebrated each year on December 13. There's coffee, pastries and a girl who dresses up in a white dress, red sash and a wreath of candles on her head. I'll do a post later with all the nitty gritty details closer to the actually holiday. But for now I just want to share my first needle-felted doll.

Here is St. Lucia at the start, basically a white mass with a red sash.

Next came the wreath:

After that came some leather thimbles to prevent myself from getting stabbed with the felting needle again. I was afraid I would eventually stab myself so hard that blood would get on St. Lucia's white dress (gross, I know).

Then came coloring her face and hands.

And the last step I reached was adding the blond braids on either side. I'm debating how to do her face, if at all. Sometimes adding a face makes it look kinda creepy (at least when I do it...). Maybe I'll do just eyes? What do you think?

I also need to figure out how to do the candles for her wreath.
Felt is a difficult medium to work with for small items, like candles. I'm trying to decide if painted toothpicks (cut down) would look ok? Any suggestions?

I'll be giving this to my mom when it's finished for Christmas. She's an avid collector of St. Lucia dolls. I'm trying to get all my Christmas gifts made while I still have ample time on my hands. We'll see how far I get. :)

Felted Flower Tutorial

These felted flowers are simple to put together and can be used to decorate a purse, shirt, headband or whatever you just feel like jazzing up!

Even if you've never tried felting before, this is a great project for both beginners and advanced felters (I'm just a beginner felter, myself!).

For this project you'll need:

-Wool roving (in as many colors as you want flowers)

-A felting needle (can be purchased at any craft store)

-A "punching pad" for the felting process (I used a kitchen sponge)

-2 heart shaped cookie cutters, 1 small, 1 slightly bigger

Step 1: Take a few pinches of the wool roving and roll the fibers into a tube-like shape.

Step 2: Set this tube-like shape into your heart outline (or cookie cutter) and begin punching through the roving with your felting needle. Do this until the fibers don't break apart, approximately 45-60 seconds of quick stabbing. Flip heart over and repeat. Continue until you have your desired firmness in your wool.

Step 3: Make 4 of the large size hearts and 2 small.

Step 4: Once you've completed all your hearts, take the 2 smaller hearts and punch the sides together until they become connected.
Step 5: Fold the left side of the heart over and punch together again. Do the same for the remaining right side. It should look like this when completed:

Step 6: Start connecting the 4 large hearts by punching each side together. It should look like this once all 4 hearts have been connected together:

Step 7: Place the smaller hearts in the center of the larger 4 connected hearts. Take your felting needle and stab directly in the center several times to connect them together.

Step 8: Turn your flower upside-down and stab through the bottom of the flower in different directions, securing the individual hearts/petals together at the base.
Step 9: Turn your flower over - you're finished! Now you can attach it to anything you want, enjoy!

I've linked this post to Metamorphasis Mondays at Between Naps on the Porch, Just Something I whipped up at the Girl Creative , Mad Skills and Mad In Crafts, and Making Mondays Marvelous at CRAFT. Check them out!