Pinterest Challenge Winter Edition.... Felt Balls....

It's time for the Pinterest Winter Edition hosted by Bower Power and Young House Love

I finally made myself a felted ball wreath! This has been on my to do list for years. 

Inspirations from here. LOVE LOVE LOVE the original. 

I can't even begin to tell you how ridiculously long this took me because I continually underestimated the number of balls I would need to finish. I never want to wet felt another thing in my life... I think there is around 350 balls on this 16" wreath... And the first round of 100 balls that I made were way too small so all of those had to be redone... I'm balled out. 

 But isn't it GORGEOUS in my entry?! (whatever I love it! lol) After my 3rd batch of balls proved to be insufficient I was really hoping Uber would tell me he hated it (he had said when I showed him my pinspiration picture that he wasn't a fan) so I was ready to scrap it and use the balls elsewhere. Unfortunately -fortunately?!- he decided that he actually really liked it.... so one more day of felting and I finally was able to complete it... I absolutely have to say that this wasn't a process I enjoyed I just wasn't willing to shell out the cash for this many premade balls.   

To make these I tightly rolled the felt and spent a few seconds needle felting it into the ball shape to make sure everything would stay in place. Then I wet felted using hot water and soap. Generally I worked with each ball twice and when I was done I ran them through the dryer on high heat for two hours. 

 I thought making them would be fun to include Micah in. He did get a kick out of it. However the ball making part was lost on him. He liked squishing the balls and putting too many balls in the water... and playing with soap and generally making a massive mess. 

It was highly entertaining for the both of us. Then I set him up with a hairdryer and let him blow them around... because it made him very happy! When he was bored I threw them all in the dryer. 

If you are looking for a fun kid project this was definitely enjoyable- just don't expect results!

 Totally worth it! (now that it's done!)

Crafting for Uber - Bike Bag

Uber bikes almost every weekend. When we had a garage he had a spot to stash all of the paraphernalia that comes with riding. Now that were in a condo it all seemed to be spread from my parents house through both of our vehicles and in random places around our house. This was super frustrating-not only for me but also for Uber because he constantly didn't have things he thought he did. 

So I made him a present- a Gear Bag.  

of course it had to be pretty- but also masculine. I'd been hoarding this wood grain fabric forever

The bag is fully lined, drawstring closure, squared bottom

I cut the bike out and steam-a-seamed it on. Then stitched around it rather crudely. The spokes still have bits of paper in them since I used paper to guide where I should sew the spokes. 

He really likes it which is a relief. It gets constant use. I think its around 15" x 20" big enough to fit biking shoes, helmet, glasses, camel pack and other various riding gear. And bonus for me I love looking at it and it hangs on the inside of our laundry room door. 

Oh that's right we were having a giveaway...

It's been a week. We'd share, but I'm betting you would rather we not. 

We finally ran our random number/name generator. 

It's very sophisticated, high tech even.

It/he was very excited to be a helper

 He 'Ohhhhed' appropriately as he opened his pick.

So without further ado.... being several days late is enough ado.

Pokey!! Congrats! We hope you love the Holden Shawlette!

&

Scraps

 I used to do a lot of applique. Now... not so much. I still have a massive quantity of small amounts of solid fabrics. So I decided to make myself a crazy out of my normal comfort zone- bright and cheerful quilt. It was more work then I expected all of that cutting and sewing together to get the angles... because of course who makes a pattern or template ahead of time (not me) 

Despite all of that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this thing. Seriously makes me so happy to see it! 

 We photographed it back in December - I have no idea what happened or why it's taken me so long to get it loaded up here

 But look at how small Bella was!

Yummy Baby Bella. Seriously this child might be the end of my sanity. 

But she's worth it! 

Architectural Letters Tutorial

So I didn't plan to do a tutorial but I did snap a few pictures in progress. So hopefully they will give you enough information to get yourself in trouble! 

I used:

Mat Board

Card Stock

Tissue paper

Glue Gun

Tacky Glue

Paint

Sparkly Modge Podge

Pick your font and Blow it up to the size that you want your letters to be. I used Arial Black at around 600pts. Print and use them as a template to cut out two sets of each letter from your mat board

 Next cut a bunch of 1 inch strips out of card stock and accordion them. Using the hot glue gun attach them to one side of the letters.  

 Then attach the top

Now I don't have pictures of this next step. But you take additional one inch strips and using the hot glue sparingly attach the strips around the outside of the letters overlapping the edges. It should look like this when you are done

Now the fun part. Water down your glue and decoupage the tissue paper onto the letter forms. I did about 4 layers. Letting in dry between each layer 

 Paint it to your color preference and then seal it with modge podge 

Of course swap out any of the materials for things you have in your house- cardboard, newspaper, starch... 

Let me know if you try it out I would love to see what your make!

PS Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the beautiful hand knit scarf. 

Valentines

We don't really do Valentines day around here. Usually a fun dessert is all but I love the decorating part, it goes up when I take down Christmas  This year I added the architectural LOVE letters. I decided to save the roughly $20 and make them completely from supplies around the house. It was actually super easy and fun. I did splurge on sparkly Modge Podge (totally worth it!) 

(please pretend I dusted and straightened... or don't lol) 

oh and I found some Red and Pink lights for the Tee Pee- the kids love having lights in there! 

 Last night I made another Hopscotch top for Isabella out of an old GAP tshirt that I had laying around. It took an hour from first cut to finish. I reused the hems to save time. This shirt is so much fun to make and is just so cute! 

 I wanted to get a cute picture of the kids together but instead I got a bunch of them being goofy. But there my kids so I don't know why I would expect anything else. I love these two crazy faces!

 Bella is growing up so fast. 

Who does she think she is?!?

PS Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the beautiful hand knit scarf. I am totally jealous of all of you who are getting a chance to win it! 

From my Garden - A Case of Mistaken Identity

I cleaned out my garden in anticipation of Spring. Under the leaves of a rogue kohlrabi, I found this snail. I have never seen anything like it. It was a little over two inches long. Was..... This is where a little knowledge can make you feel really dumb. 

I did a google search for snails in FL and the first thing to pop up was the dreaded GALS aka giant African land snail. You can read up on them if you'd like. Let's just say, the article made me glad I was wearing gloves. This was the size of a young one. The GALS have been known to get up to 8 inches long, reproduce quickly, can destroy entire gardens and eat concrete (really??). Can I hear an EWWWWWWW?!

You are also asked to immediately report and possible siting of one of these gruesome creatures. Being completely grossed out and kinda scared the civic minded person I am, I contacted the Florida Dept of Agriculture, sent them a picture and told them I had killed it just to be safe. 

Oh how she must have chuckled. 

This is not a giant African land snail.

This is a rosy wolf snail. 

It's carnivorous.

One of the things is eats is....wait for it..... yes, the giant African land snail!!

I just killed a full grown awesome snail that doesn't eat plants but eats the snails that can devastate a garden.

When I saw the pictures of them together, the difference was obvious.

Now I am sorry and sad. I will continue to wear gloves gardening, just in case, but I will try to be more careful about jumping to conclusions. It's hard sometimes, the creatures here can be kind of icky.

Did you see yesterday's post about our giveaway? If you like gorgeous things, you need to take a look!

For more interesting gardens, go to garden Tuesday at Side Walk Shoes!

Welcome spring, how about a giveaway?

Here in Northern California, it is definitely spring weather, it shouldn't be, but it is.  Things are popping out of the ground, blue tulips I cant wait to see, and the trees are getting teeny tiny leaf buds.  It's just a tease but it feels so good.  I asked my sister Corinnea, how 'bout a giveaway on the blog and she said yes! (Corinnea here - I also said I wanted to keep it for myself) So here you go, spring reminds me of purple pansies, and purple tulips, my most favorite flower, and purple iris which remind me of my Mema, and this Holden Shawlette.  Made from Malabrigo sock yarn, the color and feel of it is just so right.

Its just such a "wearable" pretty thing.  Since all of us here at Created Blissfully love all of you out there who follow, we are giving it away to one of you. If you don't follow us yet, would you like to? Either way, just leave a comment on this post about what you love about spring, and my lovely sis will use her magic winner picker generator to see who gets it! Comments will be left open until Saturday morning February 16th and announced on Monday. Please, please make sure you are not a "no reply blogger".

For any knitters out there, you MUST make this, it's the Central Park Hoodie and it is hands down my most fav thing I've made. Such a great pattern, it seriously gets worn all the time.  There is just nothing like a really cool cable sweater....

It has a hood.  Major love.  This one is made from Ella Rae Camelsoft yarn which is super warm and surprisingly soft.  There may be yarn on its way here to make another one for my sis,(Corinnea here - Acck! I can't wait!)(Jess here- AHEM, me too??) and more yarn on my desk for another one for me. My daughter wants one too. She never wants any of my knits, so I know its a keeper.

Now, to wrap up this all yarny post, is this guy, its pretty, but Oh. So. Not. Practical.  Its made from pure alpaca, the center is made of a cria alpaca yarn that I attempted to dye in a range of green, dying yarn is very fun but is also harder than expected, the purple is a pure alpaca that contrasts so well with the green.

It's a crib sized crocheted granny square, and would be so cuddly to wrap a little boo in, you just have to be willing to hand wash and dry flat, which is where the not really practical part comes in. It also reminds me of everything lovely about spring, the colors and the coolness of the air which just begs for a blanket like this.  Now, its time to go see if my tulips leaves have gotten any taller today!

Much Love,

Things to remember..... Comments open until Saturday morning February 16th. One entry per person (any duplicate entry will be removed.) We would love, love, love it if you followed us (click the join this site button on the right side bar) but this is not a requirement. Make sure we have a way to contact you! And PLEASE spread the love and let others know about our giveaway.

Playing Dolls

I was despairing over finding Bella a decent baby doll. Of the non creepy sort. Baby Dolls are incredibly personal so I am sure that some of you might disagree with me on what I find acceptable. I had a cabbage patch doll that unfortunately had a tragic death when Brinkley chewed her face off, I loved her. She was bald and blue eyed. 

Unfortunately those dolls have been redone and are kind of ugly now. Luckily I have an awesome Mum who went on a hunt for Isabella's Christmas present and found this version (and let me just say I was creeped out searching for them because the ones with hair are soooo very not right) and she did a little recon to make sure neither of them had hair and they even have blue eyes. The only down side is that they are mini.... and they were dressed hideously... as in so bad I had naked dolls for a while. So I whipped them up some clothing the other day. 

I used stash fabric left over from previous baby shower gifts and made little diapers. 

And for size reference this was a newborn onesie that I took apart and remade in miniature. Also it just dawned on me that you can see the inch marks behind the doll... duh...

I still need to make at least one more outfit- though why I feel the need to have clothed dolls when my kids are half naked most of the time I will never know.

I'm not planning to go all doll clothes making crazy on you guys- promise! But is this even interesting? Or should I just keep this to myself?