Wlydhare's Hollow

Crafty Fridays

I have decided to make an official day each week just for me, just for crafting, what ever tickles my fancy!

There is always a bit of a guilt factor for me when I craft just for fun. The little voice in the back of my head nags me. "Isn't there laundry to do?" "I saw a pile of ironing waiting to be done." "The living room floor really needs a vacuum." "You need to be working on the machine embroidery business!"

So, in order to find a balance, I have decided that I will focus the majority of the week on work and chores, but give myself a day off each week to just play.

One of my on-going projects is finishing the doll house which has been sitting in a corner of the craft room for..well for years. That was my New Year's resolution. I have managed to get the 1st floor done, and I am now working on the second. The silly thing seems like it should just go together in an afternoon but there is SO much painting if it is to be done right. Primer goes down on the wood, then a coat of paint, then sanding, then a coat of paint, then more sanding, then a final coat of paint. I know that seems like a lot, but in small scale, even little bits of roughness in the wood, takes away from the illusion of scale (and I am a bit of a perfectionist! My grandpa always said if you were going to do a job, to take the time and do it right.) Even the walls to be wallpapered should have at least one coat of paint to help the paper stick properly. (This is a trick, so if you want to change the wall paper later, it will actually come off and not be permanently stuck to the wood.)

Yeah! I don't have to paint where the singles will be going!

So the last two Friday's have had time devoted to the many coats of paint, with other crafting between drying and sanding times.

I am trying to also get some older projects finished before I jump into new ones. That is only sorta working, because the new projects call my name in the middle of the night. Do you have that problem?

The kitchen towel I started at the quilting show got finished, and surprisingly only took about an additional hour. After wards I thought, "Well why didn't I do this sooner? It was easy to complete!" I tried out doing machine applique for the first time for the majority of the towel, then did had embroidered blanket stitch around the tongue and fish bowl plant. Then I added little beads as bubbles for Mr. Fish, and embroidered a mouth and nose on Mr. Kitty., and finished things off with a couple eyes.

Then finally, I did a quick new project using a little pattern from Bird Brains which I also picked up at the quilt show. It wouldn't stop calling my name and I needed to make the voices stop. *grin*

How cute is that? See why I couldn't wait!

While I can't share this pattern for a little pin cushion, I can share a similar one from a vintage children's magazine called "Children's Activities." If I recall, this issue was somewhere in the 40s. If I was really diligent, I would go look up the exact issue, but that sounds like way too much hunting at the moment.

I did create a PDF file of this, which you can print and use for yourself. It should be easy enough to add leaves from green felt, if you want it to look a bit more like the one I made.

How do you make times for crafts? Do you have a special day? Do you have a place just for crafting? Please share, I would love to know.
   

Let's Make a Pumpkin Penguin!

Everyone does ghosts, vampires and witches as Halloween decorations, but how about penguins?

Here is a cool and fun tutorial to make a Halloween Penguin out of a foam pumpkin:

Materials Needed:

13” foam pumpkin

black acrylic paint

white acrylic paint

paint brushes (one wide, one smaller for edges)

felt in orange, yellow and black

one pair of 1” wide wiggle eyes

spray on acrylic sealant

straight pins

hot glue gun

pencil

black Sharpie (optional)

scissors

needle and thread in appropriate colors to sew felt

stuffing for felt pieces

templates (attached at the end of these directions)

 

1)   Cut out the body template (the peanut shaped part of the penguin’s body). Using straight pins, secure the template to the pumpkin as shown here. You just need it held in place long enough to trace around the outside.

2)   Trace around the template. Don’t worry if you don’t actually see a lead line, you should at least get an indented line to work from.

3)  If you like, you can go over the pencil line with a black Sharpie so you have a more defined line.

 

4)  Paint the area inside your outline with the white paint (it is a lot easier to paint black over white, than white over black – I learned this the hard way)! Don’t worry if you go a bit over the Sharpie line, you can clean it up when you do the black paint.

5)  Allow to dry. You may need to do a second coat to keep the orange from trying to show through the white paint.

6)   With the smaller paint brush, begin to do the black paint, starting at the border of the white paint. Keep a wet towel nearby. If you accidentally get black paint in an area you don’t want it, you can wipe it up while the paint is wet.

7)   Allow the black paint to dry. Again, you may need to paint a second coat to get nice coverage.

8)   Once you have the pumpkin painted to your satisfaction, take it to a well-ventilated area and spray a coat of acrylic sealant over the entire surface to protect the paint.

 

 

Hint: Wrap a small mixing bowl in a plastic shopping bag, then you will have a stable base to set the pumpkin on while painting. This is especially useful when you are coating the bottom.

9)  Cut out your felt pieces, using the appropriate templates. You will need two pieces in orange for the beak, 4 pieces in black for the wings, and four pieces in yellow for the feet.

 

10) Here is a trick for your starting knot, so the knot won’t just pull through the felt. Tie a knot at the bottom of a double thread, once you have threaded your needle. Then put the needle through the fabric for your first stitch, but before you pull it tight, run your needle through the end near the knot. When you pull it tight, you get a nice slip knot.

 

11) Using a whip stitch, sew the two pieces of the beak together, leaving a 2 inch opening for the stuffing. Fill with stuffing, then whip stitch the opening shut. Do the same for each wing and each foot.

 

 

12) Now attached each felt piece where they belong, using straight pins to hold them in place. See the photo of the finished penguin for guidance. By using straight pins, you can move the wings, feet and beak around till they are just where you want them.

 

13) Once you have the wings, feet and beak where you want them, glue on the wiggle eyes. I sort  of eyeball this part (no pun intended) but you can also use the body template as a guide if you wish.

14) With the pins holding each felt piece in place, gently lift them and use hot glue underneath, where it won’t show, to secure them in place. Allow hot glue to cool and then remove the pins.

 

 

Congratulations! You have a penguin pumpkin!

 

Click this link to Download Pumpkin Penguin instructions and templates.

 

Click this link to only Download Templates for Pete (this is a smaller file, but does not have direction in it).

 

NOTE: Both files are in PDF format and you will need Adobe Reader to open them up. Click here to get a free copy of Adobe Reader.

 

This tutorial is intended for personal use only, not for profit or resale. All rights reserved by Jane Hettich and Wyldhare Studios. Copyright 2009.

  
  
  

 

 

How to Make a Sign for An Office Cubicle

At my office, people often hang a photo copied sign outside their cubicle while they are at lunch or on break, so people will know, if they come looking for them. It is a great idea, but a copy of a copy of a copy just looks so sad. I decided to make a cuter one for mine.

Here is how it turned out, one side says "Lunch"

 

And the other side says "Break"

 

If you are interested in making one for yourself or a friend, I have created a little tutorial with instruction.

Cubicle Sign Tutorial

Enjoy!