FREE Patterns

When it comes to decorating our house for the seasons, Pixie is my "go-to" helper. Out of Michelle's 3 wee ones, she has the strongest interest in artistic pursuits, and arranging and showcasing our finished projects is almost as important to her as the project itself. She is forever collecting "props" to "stage" her work. We are certainly kindred spirits :)

I mentioned a few days ago that I had seen some City Chalkboard Blocks that were shared on Hello Bee. I loved the idea, and with the help of Tim, created a whole village. Here are the simple instructions for creating your own Autumn Village.

Materials:
Pine lumber boards in 2" x 4", 2" x 6" and 2" x 8" widths. This can be construction grade, just check each piece and find those with minimal knots and imperfections. You want the surface as smooth as possible. 
Saw for cutting
Sandpaper
Chalkboard Paint - I used chalkboard paint from Hudson Paint
Colored chalk

Directions:
Using your saw, cut the boards into random sized houses. When you are done, sand well. The chalkboard paint works the best on smooth surfaces. Check out all the photos below to see the shapes we had.

Apply 3 coats of chalkboard paint to all surfaces of the houses. I used colorful paint on the 4 sides of the house and the bottom, then used a dark brown paint on the tops for roofs. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly between each coat.

Allow the paint to dry for 48 hours before drawing on the houses with chalk. This was the hardest part of this whole project... waiting to draw on with chalk :)

Use a damp cloth to clean off the surface of the houses. Allow the surface to dry before drawing on again with chalk.

Now, arrange your houses. When the mood hits you, just clean off a surface and redo. Pixie had a blast arranging the houses on our seasonal hutch. I'm sure they will be redone and rearrange each and every time she's over :)

When Fairy saw the village the next day she was disappointed she didn't get to help draw on the houses. "No problem", I told her. Just get a damp cloth and erase a house and redo it!

Usually, when I am done crafting a project, it is "finished" and ready to be displayed or played with by the wee ones. The beauty of our chalkboard village is it is NEVER finished. With just a damp cloth you can redesign your village to suit your fancy whenever you are so inclined :)

HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO THE OTHER "PROPS" PIXIE USED TO STAGE OUR CHALKBOARD VILLAGE. IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO HAVE A STASH OF PAST PROJECTS TO PULL FROM :)

Old World Gnomes

Wooden Autumn Trees

Burlap Hay Bundles

Mini Pumpkins

Paper Bag Trees

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Few things are more icon of woodlands and autumn then owls. And, here, lording over his domain, is a whimsical, yet wise owl... much like his creator :) This applique, like most of ours, was designed to fit a 6" x 6" block, but the pattern can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. The pattern for our Woodland Owl can be found HERE. Enjoy!

The Woodland Owl Pattern can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Enlarge and Reduce can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Cut Out Felt can be found HERE.

The Stitching Glossary can be found HERE. 

 http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
 

PHOTO: 10-18-2010

I've worn bangs for longer than most of our readers have been alive... true story :) Anyway... Tim saw some sassy pics of me in the 70s, with long straight hair and no bangs.

Tim: Oh, how cute. (He had enough sense not to say... you WERE so cute. Gotta love that man :)
Me: Oh, go on. ((demurely twirling a lock of hair))
Tim: You should grow your bangs out.
Me: You do know I won't look 19, right? And even if I do grow out my bangs it's not going to make my boobs perkier.
Tim: I know, I just think you'd look adorable.
Me: ((Heavy sigh)) Okay, but it's like going through hell trying to grown out bangs.
Tim: ((eyes downcast)) If you really don't want to, that's okay.
Me: ((Heavier sigh)) Fine... I'll grow them out.

So, I'm growing out my bangs, and the truth of the matter is, Yes... I am in HELL! I'm at that stage where if I leave them down, they are jabbing me in the eyes ALL DAY LONG! But, in order for them to stay back on their own, I have to slick them back with tons of hairspray.

Michelle: You look like a vampire, and not the hot new vampires. You look like the old fashioned kind with grease back hair. (Ah, my daughter... ever supportive.)

On the good side, I've taken to wearing bandannas. (Trippin' down memory lane.) On the bad side, I've taken to wearing bandannas. Depending on the day and my mood, I can either feel youthful and free or I feel like I look like my great aunt Sophie, who must have been at least 100 years old when I knew her, and wore her hair pulled back in a tight bun, which only accentuated the 7 unruly whiskers she grew on her chin. I think the hairstyle was part of the uniform she wore on the boat she had taken over from Poland and she never changed the look.

Anyway... so, here I am, trying to grow out my bangs with a modicum of dignity, and, at the same time, not drive myself totally crazy. I find I keep falling into this mantra of "I love Tim, I love Tim" over and over to prevent me from "running with scissors" to the closest mirror, and hacking off this hairy bane of my existence!

Which, FINALLY, brings me to the point of this posting... the one silver lining is that those boingy contour barrettes have been a God send. With a couple of properly placed barrettes, I can keep the hair out of my eyes until they can finally reach the point of being tucked behind my ears. The only problem is, the rivets in the front of the barrettes can pull out my hair, so I want to cover them. Which made me look at the pattern we have for felt covered contour barrettes. I don't want to draw attention to my bangs, so I'm going to make a few solid brown ones, but I thought I'd share our link to the ones we made a few years ago in case you've never seen them. The pattern and tutorial can be found HERE.

There you have it. Hopefully, I'll be glad I grew them out. AND, most importantly, hopefully I won't hear...

Tim: You know, you did look better with bangs.

Because, my friends, I would have to kill him. I wouldn't have a choice... it would be a moral imperative!

Here we are doing yet another Freezer Paper Stencil. But as you can see, this method is really a splendid way to incorporate some personality into boys' clothing. I find as a crafty mother that I am sometimes hard pressed to find ways to bestow my crafty love onto my boy in something that he will actually wear (this seems to get harder every year). The girls' closet is full of mom-made beauties, but Bug has just a few well loved items. This shirt has made it into his favorites and matches wonderfully with the shorts I made him 3 years ago... gasp! (You can find info on the shorts below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Sometimes Bug comes looking for something "manly". When he asked if I could draw him a lizard, I was glad to oblige. After I drew it for him, (he was thrilled with it, btw :) it screamed "applique block"! So here, in some fun summer colors, and definitely "boy worthy" is our Lizard Applique Block. It was designed to fit a 6" x 6" block, but it can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. Enjoy :) 

The pattern for the lizard can be found HERE.

You can find tips for cutting out felt HERE.

Next week we will share a project that we made using this applique block.

PHOTO: 3-10-10

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.