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!)

Toadstool Terrarium part 2

I made my first one back in January... who knew it would take this long to make another! This could seriously be addictive if only I had the time to be addicted! 

 The photo above was taken with a light box- which mum and I finally ordered and is really awesome (though this is my first time using it and I only had one light ... and really no idea what I was doing)

 This one is not in a light box... because I was to lazy to get it out at this point... and below on the shelf above our dinning room table where it will live. It still need to do something with the three jars on the bottom shelf ... it will probably include felt but I don't think it will be a terrarium...

 And here's a shot of Micah (totally unedited as far as I know) a friend took this picture at the wedding. Look at those eyes! This little booger is almost 6 months old and he is all sort of mischievous already!

I have something fun to show you tomorrow... though I will probably post a little later in the day then normal...

Toadstool Terrarium

The lack of sunlight makes having plants in our house impossible. So I decided to make myself a little terrarium.... out of felt! I am really thinking the world could be made out of felt!

This is TOTALLY someone else's idea check out Lisa Jordan's blog lil fish studios mine looks like a 5 year old made it compared to the beautiful work she does - I wish I could afford it! If you haven't seen her before you must check out all of her amazing creations!
I just made a simplified copy of hers though I realized later mine is about 4 times the size of hers... which is actually harder (I think) Anyway I have plans for another one that will be my own design...as much as it can be.... lol by no means will it really be mine.
Anyway I LOVE it and it is now on a shelf in my dinning room.... should have taken a picture of that! It's a nice pop of color!
And here is the boy who is growing up so fast! He was actually laughing at me tonight. Got to love it!

Also I am going to be having a giveaway (hopefully friday) so check back for all of the details!!

Micah's Mobile

I'm FINALLY done with the last piece -for now- of Micah's room. I wanted to do a mobile over his crib but I wasn't big on anything I saw out there ... so of course I made my own! Thank goodness Uber likes it because apparently he hates mobiles....he was nice enough to wait until I was done with it to tell me!

I went ahead and repeated the sea theme from his sea turtle quilt. All the creatures are needle felted from beautiful wool roving. We've got a beluga whale
an octopus
a manatee
a pelican
a sea turtle
a sea horse and a pacific blue tang... more commonly known as Dora
and here's what it looks like from Micah's perspective. He likes having something to look at! Alright and just to make everyone happy here is a Micah shot!
His great grandparents sent him this awesome rocking horse! He loves it!

Next up pictures of the completed nursery!!