Sometimes, the most striking piece in a room is also the most simple to create. Think of a bowl of ripe strawberries, a mason jar full of sea glass, or a few branches of pussy willows set on a mantle. Simple, yet it fills us with awe.

Here, is one of those ultra simple, fast to do projects that can easily become the focal point on a shelf or table.

I wanted to use this to hold potpourri, but this technique is great for lining bowls and baskets to serve biscuits and rolls.

Start by grabbing a seasonally colored napkin. (It would help to iron it first, but if you tinker on laziness and develop a rash when you see an iron like I do, just tell yourself that the wrinkles will add to the whole earthiness of the look :)

Then, simply tie the four corners. Use a simple single knot. You want to tie near the end but leave a little tail. Confession time... to get my knots nice and tight, I hang on to the tail with my teeth and pull to tighten the knot. (Don't tell me dentist. I'm sure he'd frown on that practice!)

When you are done, it should look something like this.

Then, find an appropriate sized bowl or basket. Lay the napkin on top so the right side is showing.

Tuck the napkin into the bowl. The napkin should overhang the bowl. 

Now, fill your bowl with potpourri. You can use store-bought. My bag was from Yankee Candle, however, you can easily take a nature walk and collect items for your bowl. Pine cones, acorns, pods, sticks, colorful leaves, nuts all make wonderful potpourri. If you make your own, simply drip some essential oils on your mix, and wah lah... scented potpourri!

Now, your only decision is where to display your beautiful bowl of potpourri. Make sure you put it somewhere that gets a lot of attention but where the scent won't compete with meals :)

It's always nice to have the pups help with outdoor photo shoots :)

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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.

One of the questions that we get asked the most is “What are the different types of felt and which one do you suggest?” I realized that I was writing the same answer over and over again, so I decided it was high time I just did a post on it! Let me start by saying, this is just a quick overview. Feel free to add additional thoughts and comments. Today, there are many different types of felt, using different fibers. I am only discussing 3: 100% Wool Felt, Wool Felt Blends and Crafting Felt. Also, if you are looking for tips for cutting out felt, make sure you see our post on that, found HERE :)

General speaking, when used as a noun, felt refers to a NON WOVEN fabric that is created by pressing, condensing and layering various fibers together. It is thought to be the oldest cloth used by man, second only to animal hides, in producing body coverings. Over the years the process has been refined and a multitude of fibers have been used to create felt. Below is a list of the 3 most common types of felt.

100% Wool Felt – As the name implies, this felt is made from 100% wool. This is generally the nicest felt you can buy. When people make their own felt, they usually use wool roving, making 100% Wool Felt. The most noticeable advantage of 100% Wool Felt is its durability. By nature, wool fibers have scales. When the fibers are heated and agitated, these scales lock together, causing the fibers to shrink and to become denser. So, not only are fibers layered over one another, the fibers themselves lock together. This creates a denser, smoother fabric. 100% Wool Felt has a lovely feel to it and can be dyed any color wool yarn can be.

100% wool felt is not without its own set of disadvantageous. First, it is more expensive than non-wool felts with the price determined by a variety of conditions including the thickness of the fabric, the animal the fibers come from, the dyes used, and whether the felt is handmade or machine made. Although 100% wool felt can be dyed just about any color, often 100% Wool Felt Manufactures sell a limited pallet of colors to keep their own costs down. 100% wool felt will continue to shrink with washing and agitating, so special care must be used in cleaning items made with 100% Wool felt. Also, the colors will often bleed. If you plan on washing items made with 100% Wool felt, you might consider prewashing individual pieces of felt separately to remove access dye. And, if you are allergic to wool as I am, your hands/body can become irritated when working with the wool.

The advantages to 100% Wool Felt are numerous. First, it looks beautiful. The colors can be awesome, especially in handmade 100% Wool Felt. You can find variegated colorways that are breathtaking! The 100% Wool Felt has a softer, suppler feel to it than its synthetic counterparts. Wool Felt can be very durable. (Much has to do with the thickness of felt.) If you are using felt to make things that will receive much wear and tear, like penny rugs or children’s toys, 100% Wool Felt is worth the investment because the end product will last longer. Also, 100% Wool Felt usually won’t “pill”. Pilling are those nasty little balls that can form on fibers.

I’ve gotten to the point where I use 100% Wool Felt for almost everything I do.

Wool Felt Blends – Be careful buying felt that is simply called “Wool Felt” as opposed to 100% Wool Felt. Not that there is anything wrong with the Wool Blends, but often, sellers will refer to their felt as Wool Felt, when it is in fact, a Wool Felt Blend. Although the percentage of wool will vary from manufacture to manufacture, most Wool Blends use 15% - 20% wool, mixed with acrylic fibers. Before buying any wool felt, make sure to read the fiber content so you know what you are getting. When working with Wool Felt Blends, treat them as if they were 100% Wool Felt.

Wool Blends have many of the same disadvantageous as 100% Wool Felt. The wool in the blend will continue to felt and you must use care when cleaning. Also, the colors can bleed just like 100% Wool Felt. They are not as durable as 100% Wool Felt and I’ve noticed that the toys I made for the wee ones using are showing signs of wear, and there has definitely been pilling.

The most noticeable advantage is cost. Understandably, Wool Blends, having less wool in them, make them more inexpensive than 100% Wool Felt. There is often a wonderful selection of colors, although you won’t usually find the unique colors that handmade 100% Wool Felt can offer. Personally, I’ve never seen a handmade wool blend.

Because of the cost, I tend to use the Wool Felt Blends when making my prototypes. I can change things many times before I am satisfied with the end results, so it is more economical to use the wool blends. Also, I will often use a wool blend if the project will not experience wear and tear, like in a picture or wall hanging. I do have a soft spot for Wool Felt Blends because they were my intro into the world of felt. They will always have a place in my crafting cupboards.

Crafting Felt – Crafting Felt contains no wool. Often, when you are in large chain crafting shops, this is the wool you find cut into squares and displayed on metal racks. It is often found with the children’s crafting supplies. The felt can often have a hard feel, like it was starched, and is often thin. You can also find 100% acrylic felt on bolts, which are wide and you can buy yardage. Often, this crafting felt is thicker than the little pieces of felt, and have a more diverse usage.

The most troublesome disadvantage to Crafting Felt is it is not durable, especially the small squares you can buy. Not knowing any better, I made my first gnome using Crafting Felt, and in a very short time, his hat had worn through, and his robe started stretching. Another disadvantage is that the colors are often limited, with manufactures choosing basic primary and secondary colors.
     
The primary advantage to Crafting Felt is the price. Most Crafting Felt is very inexpensive. Another advantage is it can be washed without fear of it shrinking, and in most cases, it is colorfast. I have a denim shirt that I use when gardening. As I’ve developed little holes here and there, I’ve used Crafting Felt to make little appliques that I embroider to the shirt. (I used woven fabric on the elbows.) I can throw the shirt through the laundry, with no fear of shrinkage. Yes, the crafting wool is wearing BUT so is the rest of the shirt. It would have been very impractical to use wool felt on a shirt that gets washed daily.

Although my stash of Crafting Felt is limited, there are times I will use it. If I want to add felt to a handmade card, I have no problem using Crafting Felt. If I want to add felt to a piece of clothing that will be washed frequently, I might use the higher end (denser) Crafting Felt. Also, although I believe in using high quality crafting supplies with children, if I am going after process instead of end product with children, I will let them use Crafting Felt. (i.e. cutting up pieces of felt to glue to a piece of paper.) Also, if you have a child that is allergic to wool, Crafting Felt is an alternative, but there are other felts, like Bamboo Felt, that might be a better choice.

If you had questions about the various types of felt, I hope you find this helpful. As always, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. We will try to answer them :)

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.

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.

Autumn... traditionally a time to harvest the bounty from our gardens and a time of gratitude. The simple words "GIVE THANKS" reminds us to count our blessings and to Give Thanks. With just some inexpensive pine 2" x 4"s and a little paint, you can share this message with family and friends.  

If you can cut a piece of 2" x 4", you can make this project. BTW... even if YOU can't cut a 2" x 4", many lumber yards are willing to do it for you for a nominal fee. Use your imagination to share greetings and messages by simply stenciling or hand painting letters to the blocks.

Materials:
2" x 4" pine board. You need 1 block per letter (Figure approximately 3 blocks per linear foot)
Saw for cutting wood
Sandpaper for sanding wood
Paint - I used our Non-Toxic Soy Paints available in our shop
2" alphabet stencils or you can pick a 2" font from your word processor (more about this later)
Paint Brushes
Wood Finish (optional) - I used our Original Beeswax finish available in our shop or you can use our recipe for Olive Oil and Beeswax Finish available HERE

Directions:
Cut a pine 2" x 4" to create squares. (Each block will be approximately 3 3/8" x 3 3/8".)

Lightly sand the edges to remove sharp edges.

Paint all 6 sides of the blocks. Allow to dry completely. You should only need 1 coat of paint.

When choosing my paints, I wanted colors that reflected the season, had a bit of whimsy, and coordinated with the painting that they were going to stack under. Although teal/aqua isn't usually considered a "fall" color, I wanted to pull the color into my letters. (BTW... I bought a series of 3 owl pictures at Pier 1 a couple of years ago. They were only $30.00 a piece. I LOVE them. I just checked. They still have some available online... on sale... for $19.00 a piece! You can find them HERE. I'm sure their supplies are limited.)

Before adding letters, arrange the blocks in the manner you plan to display them. Decide if you want a random look or a pattern.

 
You can either use a set of purchased 2" letter stencils or make your own letters using your word processor. (Mine is Microsoft's Word) I used the font Arial Rounded MT Bold, set the size at 200, and after typing the letters, highlight them, and made them Bold. It gave me letters that were 2" tall.

If using a stencil, center the letters on your blocks. If using a printed font, cut out each letter, and trace them unto the blocks. Because the pine is soft, if you press hard, you will leave an impression on the wood.

You can now stencil or hand paint the letters on the blocks.

If you want, you can leave the blocks with simply the letters. Check out some Christmas blocks I made several years ago. They can be found HERE. I wanted a more whimsical look, so I painted designs on each block. To make the flowers I simply dipped the back of my paintbrush in paint and dabbed the paint on the blocks. You can get a better idea of this process by checking out the flowers on our City Gnome Beds found HERE. To make the round circles, I dipped the back of a pencil (without an eraser) in paint and dabbed it on the block. All the designs are random... just have fun :)

When the paint was thoroughly dry, I went over all the blocks with our wood finisher.

Although this stage is optional, it does give the letters a lovely sheen, will stop the wood from drying out and will help them last for years :)

Now, display your blocks. I plan to make a couple more sets for other places in the house. You can get as creative as you'd like in your wording. This is a lovely and inexpensive way to herald in any season :)

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.
 

After being home for a couple of weeks, I finally feel like I'm caught up enough to start tackling some projects. My list is long and mighty of things I want and need to do, so you can expect to see many new projects shared over the next couple of months. Plus, we are working on getting our kits together for our Knights and Squires. All mighty exciting stuff for us :)

Here's a quick peek on what I'm working on at this minute. A couple of weeks ago I saw a neat idea that I shared on Facebook from Hello Bee. Using some 2" x 4"s and black chalkboard paint, she made a street of houses. Awesome thing about it... using chalk, you could draw in windows and doors. I thought the wee ones would love this.

After grabbing inspiration from Hello Bee, I had Tim buy pine 2" x 4"s, 2" x 6"s and 2" x 8"s and cut them into random houses.

Then, I decided my houses needed a little color, so I bought an assortment of colorful chalkboard paint from Hudson Paint. Who knew you could get chalkboard paint in so many awesome colors? I want to use them in an autumn setting, so I picked some lovely fall colors.

Finally, I've started painting them. I am using 3 coats of paint, and I'm nearly done with my first set. The biggest drawback... you have to wait 48 hours before you can start drawing on them! I'm not the most patient person, so I'll be pacing until we can start using them on Wednesday. I'll share photos when we are all done!

What projects are you working on right now???