Handmade Holidays: Felt Stockings

I cross-stitched stockings for my husband and I the year we got engaged. Then I made a very detailed cross-stitch and beaded stocking for my first daughter. I started one for my second daughter, but unfortunately never found the time to finish it. I also made stitched stockings for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law when they became engaged and told them I would make stockings for their children whenever they had them. Wellllll, they have two kids now. I knew if I didn't have time to make a stocking for my own daughter, I wouldn't have time to stitch one for my niece. So I decided to make some fleece/felt stockings for them instead. I talked with my sister-in-law and got an idea of what she would like. And here is what we came up with:

I actually made Lily's stocking first to try out some different techniques. She loves ladybugs so I wanted to incorporate that to make it personal to her. I also didn't want to use traditional Christmas colors. Plus pink and purple are her favorite colors. :-)

Handmade Holidays 2011: Felt & Fleece Pillows

Years ago I came across a random blog post about giving your children Christmas gifts. I tried googling it to find the post again because I never did bookmark it. Silly me. But I couldn't find it again. 2007 or 2008 is eons ago in internet time. In this post, a mom talked about the 5 gifts she gave her children each year: clothing, books, toys, art projects, and something handmade. She had a very nice reason for each...clothes to keep them warm, books to give them knowledge, toys to foster imaginative play, art to bring out their creative side, and something handmade to show how much they were loved. This post really struck me (obviously, since I remember it four years later) and I tend to follow a similar pattern with the gifts we give our children. In the past, I've knitted sweaters for their Build-a-Bears and scarves and mittens for their American Girl dolls. Also, knitted scarves and matching hats for the girls. This year, I wondered what I was going to make them until I came across these adorable owl pillows. The girls LOVE stuffed animals so I thought this would be perfect for them and I could customize each one in their favorite colors.

You MUST click over to that link and check out the fabulous owl birthday party on the Snowy Bliss blog. You can buy her owl pattern on Etsy for only $6 and it's definitely worth it. Though, I'm sure you could spend the time to try and draw your own pattern. For me $6 was totally worth saving the time. I'm making five of these pillows for many of the girls we give gifts too. And I made a matching ornament to go with each one. You can find the ornament tutorial here.
These are all five pillows cut out before any stitching:
Here are two of my finished owl pillows enjoying an unseasonably warm December day:
This one below is for my younger daughter. Her favorite colors are pink and purple.
And with the matching ornament:
This set I made for a friends' daughter for her birthday:
My happy girls on Christmas Eve morning:
I also have a son and even though I'm not sure he will be very into it (he's only 23 months old), I felt like I should make him something as well. So I turned the owl pattern into a monster!
And here is the little guy cut out, ready to be stitched:
My son wasn't super into his when he opened it, but my daughter liked his as well as hers.

For each pillow, I used fleece for the main body of the pillow and felt for the appliqued pieces. I picked fleece because I thought it would be softer and cuddlier than felt. :-)

Handmade Holidays 2011: Owls, Tutus, Birthdays, oh my!

I'm posting this under handmade holidays because they are easily something you could do for Christmas presents. I just happen to have a very sweet niece who will be turning one this week and I made these for her birthday.

I plan to take photos of her in a couple weeks and she'll be wearing a custom-made cupcake hat made by Courtney from Tizzy Dee on Etsy and this tulle tutu I made for her. All you need is ribbon and a bit of tulle.
I figure the finished length to be 9inches for 6-12 months and 12 inches for 12-18months. In order to make the tutu this length, you actually have to double the length. So I bought a 1/2 yard (18 inches) of tulle in three colors. And cut them into strips about four inches wide. This is super easy to do with a rotary cutter and cutting mat.
Once you have the strips cut, you just double the strip up and loop it around a piece of ribbon. Continue until the tutu reaches the width you like or the fluffiness you like. By using a piece of ribbon and leaving the ends longer, you can make the waist of the tutu adjustable.
Here's a photo of the finished tutu and ADORABLE cupcake hat from Tizzy Dee. SOOOO STINKING CUTE!

And the birthday girl opening up her present:
I also threw together this cute little felt guy to hang on the bow outside of the wrapped birthday gift. It matches the colors of my niece's bedroom and it also matches one of the Christmas gifts I'm making for her. For now, the ornament will be sneak peek of her other gift. :-)
I found this owl on Pinterest of course. But you can find the template right here from Jessica at Juicy Bits.