felted acorns

This is a cute decoration for fall and would be a good gift for anyone. What you will need...

as many acorn caps you can find. The tiny ones are the cutest and take the least amount of time to make!

The felting tools can be found at Hobby Lobby. A felting needle tool-the green and yellow one shown in picture, wool roving-felt that comes in what looks like clumps of hair :), a single needle tool-you will want this! It's what will keep your fingers from getting stabbed by the felting tool. Also, a felting mat and fabric glue or any other heavy duty adhesive. 

These things can add up. I'd recommend signing up for the coupons and print double off then you can make someone go with you to use 2 in 1 visit. I would not pay full price for these items...

Sorry, I don't have pictures of the step by step process but I figured out what worked best the more I worked with the roving. Just start with a small amount of roving, roll it up to form a loose ball, use your single needle tool to hold the roving on the mat, begin punching it repeatedly with the felting needle tool. As you are felting the roving turn the ball as you go. You want it to be compacted all the way around to form a ball or egg shape. If it's too small rap smaller clumps of roving around the ball and continue punching until it's the size you want. Then put some glue in the acorn cap and push the felted ball in. You may need to trim up the acorn's hair to finish.

Don't let my directions keep you from trying this...they take no time to make once you master how to use the tools. 

p.s. I will also be selling these at the craft fair in Mariemont, Ohio September 11th.

My business card alternative! 

gift tags and a craft fair

Although it seems like the summer has flown by I am proud to say we have accomplished nearly everything on the "to do" list. After 5 years and several coats of paint our house is finally looking the way we want it to. I can't wait to share the changes we've made but for now here are some crafts I've been working on for an upcoming craft fair I'm going to be in...

Gift Tags

To begin I traced tags I already had to get the shape I wanted. To make my own hole protectors I used a slightly bigger solid round punch for the bigger circle then used my regular hole punch to make the smaller circles. I also doubled up on my paper and used mod podge to glue them together. Since I hope to sell them I wanted them to be a little sturdier. Then stamp whatever you want on the front...

 I decided after making a thousand of these that I wanted to try something different. I looked through my cookie cutters and stencils for shapes that would make for a cute tag. This is what I came up with...

Yoyos are all the rage so I also made some for Christmas to throw in the mix...

A smaller tag shape I traced and a bird-birthday tag idea...

If you are still not feeling inspired and would rather just buy them...

you should come see me and my friend Bethany in Mariemont, Ohio September 11th! This week I will be sharing more things I will be selling at the fair. I hope you are having a great Tuesday!