Steiner Baby

I first saw these little dollies on a site called Sooz. They are tiny and simple to stitch together from felt scraps, T-shirt fabric and some cotton thread. They just looked sweet to me and it was easy to imagine them sneaking into a six-year-old’s pocket as she’s on her way to church. I’ll show you my adventure with this fun thing.

I folded a piece of paper and sketched a basic pattern. It wasn’t anything complicated. I’ll post a pattern here by day’s end–but really it’s quite simple. Cut two from felt–wool felt is wonderful, but I had a piece of earthy brown regular felt and I couldn’t resist using it.

This will give you a good idea of the size. Just right for your Goldilocks. Use a blanket stitch to sew the front and back together.

I didn’t have a flesh colored piece of interlock for the head and none of my kids had a T-shirt the right color either or it would have been in great danger. I finally bought a 4″ strip at the fabric store. Fold a 4″x 4″ piece and sew a 2″ wide casing. Gather the top into a bunch. Turn it right side out.

Stuff the head and body with cotton or wool batting.

Sew it onto the body.

I made a brown braid from cotton thread, and cut out a bandana from red sparkle felt.

After tacking on the bandana, sew two simple stitch sleepy eyes.

The End

Gracious Giveaway…

Congratulations to our Gracious Giveaway Weekend Winner…

Tracy Jackson

of Orem, Utah

Tracy is the winner of our Crafty Copies Family Night Four Pack and the sheep!

Wahooo Tracy!

Merry Christmas…

Gingerbread Man and More…In Felt

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It was a frosty 17 degrees today. Even Jif is needing a blanket.

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Gingerbread Man

This little guy was a last minute project for a Christmas party a few years back. A cookie cutter makes a great pattern. Trace it onto paper and cut it from light brown felt. The cheeks were cut with a single hole punch and the heart is just free hand. Sew the heart and cheeks and face on first. Then blanket stitch the back to the front and stuff with batting just before closing him up. It didn’t take too long–and hour and a half/two hours-ish. The hardest part was that the gold thread was really a pain to work with. It’s very tangley.

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Christmas Tree Cookie

Cookie cutter works here too. Cut a smaller one for the colored “frosting.” Sew the bead “sprinkles” or french knot “decos” on the frosting before blanket stitching them together with embroidery thread. Sew cookie pieces together and stuff with batting just before closing.

felt-001Christmas Star Cookie

The directions are the same as for the Tree…except that it’s…a star.

Clear Glass Ornaments Re-visited

Mary and Baby Jesus–on Velum

We have had so many suggestions of other ways to decorate or fill the glass ornaments that it has really inspired us. So, we’ve gathered pictures of some of the ideas and will show you how to do a couple others.

So brace yourself–

Marbleized Glass Ornaments

Rinse inside of ornament with a solution of 1 part water and 3 parts vinegar. Let dry.

Squeeze a quarter sized dollop of acrylic paint into ornament. Roll it around until paint begins to cover the inside.

Add a second color if you want to and roll it some more. Turn ornament upside-down in a paper cup or–onto a paper towel to drain excess paint. Allow to dry for a day or two.

The paint marbleizes as it dries. Now you can put the hanger back on.

Three More Filled Glass Ornaments

#1 Sea of Galilee Glass Ornament

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This one is filled with decorator sand and tiny shells…

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…and topped with this sweet inscription on a small piece of parchment.

#2 Scented Glass Ornament

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This one is filled with potpourri. As the room warms up the scent fills the air. Each year, refresh the fragrance with scented oil–anything from roses to evergreen trees.

#3 Popping Fresh Glass Ornament

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This one is my personal favorite…made by Sue Brandon or Orem. She took off the hanger and put 6 or 7 popcorn kernals in the small sized ornament…and then…she put it in the MICROWAVE! Can you believe it? She said she waited until she heard 2 or 3 pops and took it out. But you don’t have to tell the secret—let everyone wonder how you got that popcorn in there!