Although it may not seem like it since we still post most weekdays, Michelle and I have been able to direct our attention away from the blog the past few weeks and we've tackled other projects with gusto. Obviously, there has been a decrease in the number of projects we have been sharing, so we are delighted that our online friends still drop by to visit us 🙂 It really is heart warming. Thanks for hanging out with us!
Couple of notes… FIRST… the A Child's Dream giveaway for the Hopscotch Game closes tonight at 9:00 pm EST. If you haven't signed up yet, and would like to, jump over HERE and enter.
Next, we were planning on doing a giveaway every week this summer with small giveaways from Bella Luna Toys and A Child's Dream. We decided, instead of spreading out the giveaway over the summer, we are going to do just 2 giveaways, by combining the toys into 2 larger giveaways. There will be one at the beginning of July and one at the beginning of August, so watch for them.
Finally… I have been crafting with wool for 3 years. I have been saving every scrap with the idea of "doing something" with the scraps. So far I haven't, and the mountain of felt scraps was growing and threatening to take over our house.
Then, this past winter, I got a cold… a really bad cold that lasted 6 weeks. That, my friends, is a whole lot of Kleenex! As I emptied one box and opened the next, I started using the empty box as the receptacle for my used Kleenex. Worked great! After all those years of leaving a disgusting Kleenex trail everywhere I went, I finally came up with a neat way to deal with prolific amounts of mucous!
Anyway… that did give me an idea… and I now keep an empty Kleenex box on my crafting table, and all my felt scraps can be dropped in the box. When full, they can neatly be stacked. And as Tim would say… "But to what end?" I don't have a good come back. I'm not sure what to do with them, but I know someday I am going to be glad I have them! We have made little garlands and wreathes for the gnome house, and I have visions of a woodland scene felt mosaic. But I need some help justifying to Tim why I insist upon squirreling away these precious little scraps. Anyone out there with any good ideas of what to do with felt scraps? I would love a viable justification, and wouldn't mind actually doing something with them all 🙂
Have a lovely weekend everyone 🙂
I love the idea of the tissue boxes!!! I could actually have a few and color code them for easy access !!! Thanks!!!!
http://www.ourbrokenroad.blogspot.com
It would actually make a lot of sense to color code the stashes for easy use. And, I could use the small Kleenex boxes for colors that I don't use often. Plus, the wee ones would love to go through stash and sort. They do this with my large button stash, sorting by colors and putting them into mason jars. Good idea!
I have many scraps around too – what a neat idea, using old kleenex boxes to keep them in!!
So far, I have used the scraps in making garlands, my sons make necklaces with them – and if you let them string up nice christmas colours, and then tie the ends up, they make great Christmastree decorations…. make a whole bunch and send them out with you Christmas cards.
I’ve got this idea bouncing around of making a sort of mosaic with them… like it’s done with tiles. Have not done it yet, so I have no idea what it will look like, but in my head it’s pretty awesome! LOL…
I also use the scraps as decoration in other pieces… and if you have a LOT, I heard somebody once mention using them in making a flycurtain with them, in combination with wooden beads… (I have nowhere near enough for that… but who knows…)
Can’t wait to see what you will end up doing with them!
Even with my stash of felt scraps, I think I would be hard pressed to come up with enough to make a flycurtain, however, that would be so cool! Love the idea for necklaces. Pixie was playing with the scraps the other day and said she wanted to make something. Stringing little scraps would be perfect. Thanks for the ideas 🙂
You have felt scraps, you have a Kleenex box–what about a felt mosaic Kleenex box for keeping your little scraps neat and tidy?
You can even decorate unopened boutique size boxes in your favorite team colors and give them as presents. That would be a great last minute Father’s Day project for the kids.
Clever idea and it suits my sense of crafts with a purpose 🙂 There is also something almost ironic (???) in having the container mimic the purpose. Thanks 🙂
SCRAP + CRAFT = SCRAFT
I have a few go-to skinny patterns for felt: I like the jester in Feltcraft. The 2 color model uses skinny pieces of felt. I’ve also used up many scraps in making the 6-panel balls. With a rainbow ordered collection of tiny pieces, I made a 2 inch tall sandwich (like the garland photo above) and then sewed it onto a ponytail holder. I’ve gotten lots of compliments on that. But my favorite SCRAFT project is flowers. I love scalloping the long skinny pieces and then pull tight a gathering stitch run along the edge. You can also do the same gathering stitch with individual petals (15 makes a nice flower). Sometimes I get fancy with a bead in the center. The flowers make lovely brooches, hair clips, ponytail holders, etc. Of course, if you get hooked on SCRAFT, you might end up with tissue boxes full of flowers!
Uh… you must have picked up on the fact that I become obsessive. Yes, I could indeed wind up with a stash of flowers, but wouldn't that be lovely? Think of all the times it would be handy with you wanted to give someone a little gift? Have a few hair clips and brooches made up, then when the need arises, you're good to go! Thanks for all the wonderful ideas 🙂
I use scraps to create designs on smaller projects and to cut out small pattern pieces, such as ears for little felt animals. Scraps that are too small to even applique or needle-felt onto a larger project can be cut up and used as stuffing for ornaments. I never let wool felt go to waste!
I totally agree with you about not wasting felt scraps… thus the Kleenex boxes full 🙂 Sadly, with all these scraps, I sometimes forget to go through them when I'm crafting. Shame on me! Will need to work harder to make my stash my first stop when crafting small items! Thanks for your ideas 🙂
I have felt scraps too and I can’t bear to waste them! One thing you can do with even the tiniest, tiniest scraps of felt is make fairy shoes. This is my own tutorial http://annabranford.com/ideas/how-to-make-a-pair-of-fairy-shoes
I suspect you could make a whole host of fairy things in this manner with little felt scraps. Lovely tutorial!
Adorable, Anna. I'm going to link to your tutorial on Facebook. I don't want anyone to miss it. Thanks for the link!
Kimara, thank you so much! You’ve made my day 🙂
I’ve been making lots of felt food lately and for Valentines day, I made little felt owl stuffies for my kids, and I use the scraps of felt to fill them up, instead of poly fill sometimes. The only thing I recommend, is that you cut the scraps in tiny little pieces before stuffing them, so you have a uniform filling. It works great for most projects, and I feel good about reusing 🙂
Good tip on cutting the felt into tiny pieces. I stuffed one of Pixie's project with the scraps and didn't cut them into small enough pieces and it just didn't lay write. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I tend to use my cotton material and felt scraps for stuffings if the project warrents a more solid centre.
felt scraps can sometimes be re-felted into solid balls – the mishmash of colours look s great, but it depends on the felt as to whether it will re-felt or not.
Refelting the scraps into balls… brilliant. I doubt my wool blends would refelt, but certainly my 100% scraps would. Thanks for a great idea.
I’m just blown away that you’ve only been crafting with wool felt for three years! You make such incredibly beautiful things!
I don't think it is how many years but how much practice you get! When I first started working with felt I had to find different aids to help me get the feel for it. I'd mark my felt with disappearing marking, use graft paper and tracing wheels for positioning, and took out tons of stitches 🙂 Now, I can do a lot of it free hand, but I still use aids for different projects. But having said all that, thank you so much for the lovely compliment 🙂
As a child, I used to make postcards out of felt, and let the recipient (usually my Grandpa) re-arrange the pieces to send a new picture back! I’d glue a postcard-sized piece of good felt onto card stock for the base. Then, using even the tiniest scraps of felt, I’d cut all sorts of shapes and arrange them into pictures. That allows the recipient to send a totally new postcard back without using any more material! The felt really doesn’t move too much in the mail since the envelope is usually quite cozy.
Love this idea! Not only is it a perfect craft for children, but it would be a lovely idea for a grown up to make and send to a wee one. Can you imagine how delighted and surprised she would be? Thanks!
I save my scraps thru the winter and them put them out in the Spring to be carried off by the birds for their nests. I would love to find a very colorful nest in my trees some day. 🙂
Thanks so much for this idea. I would never have thought of it. I put out yarn scraps every year, and believe it or not, the downy fur from our dogs, and they disappear quickly! I'm going to put some outside for our bird's second nestings 🙂
Here is an idea we use for fabric scraps – probably would work for felt as well!
You can cut cardboard into a fun shape, give the kids some watered down glue and a paintbrush, and let them make a mosaic/collage of sorts! Especially handy for a child learning a letter (cover a giant letter A for A week) or if they want to make their name for a wall decoration. If you like you can cover the whole thing with modge podge when they are finished!
Very clever 🙂 I've wanted to try covering felt with Modge Podge. I have a brooch pattern with little houses https://weefolkart.com/content/little-house-brooches that I've stitched, but I think it might be cute to glue and Modge Podge. Thanks for the idea!