Kleas

Glove reindeer

 
Peanut was my test crafter to see if I could bring this project to the preschool for the kids to make.  At five-and-a-half he did very well, but he's grown up imitating my stitching hands and probably does better at this kind of activity than most kids his age.  While I think this is such a sweet reindeer, I'd like to say I've learned my lesson, and won't be asking my three and four-years-olds to try this.  So I thought I'd share it here.  It would be fairly easy for older kids. 

I read about this project in an old craft magazine.  There was no author and no pictures so I have no idea if this craft has a copy-right or not.  I did a google search which led me to this glove reindeer, but I think it's safe to say mine is quite different.  

Here's what we did:

Gather supplies:  stretchy glove, fake fur, holiday craft berries, black beads, brown scrap felt for ears, white for eyes, matching thread, wool for stuffing and a bit of fabric for a scarf (or maybe knit one).

Start by stuffing the four fingers with wool.  These will become the antlers.  Once they are somewhat firm, tie the index and middle fingers together at the base with your matching thread.  Repeat with the other two fingers. 

Next stuff the hand portion of the glove which will become the head and tie that off at the wrist of the glove.  The thumb should have no stuffing at all.

Trim all the loose threads.  Next, wrap the thumb around to what will be the back of the head.  Secure in place with needle and thread passing completely to the front-or face-of the reindeer. 

 
When you pull the needle to the front, stitch through one of your small circles of white felt (the white of the eye) and stitch on one of the black beads for the eye.  Repeat for other side.

Cut the brown felt into two, one-and-a-half inch long tear drops with a flat end.  Fold the narrow end in half and stitch together.

Then attach to glove directly below the antlers on either side.

Cut a one-inch square piece of the fake fur and stitch into place between the antlers.

 
Guess I forgot to photograph the last two steps...next add the nose.  Pull one of the holiday berries from the batch leaving the wire stem in place.  Poke the stem of the berry through the front of the face and once it reaches the back, crimp it and secure the wire by bending it back into the reindeer.

Add scarf and you're done! 

 

(With the mosaic maker I can make it look like we made more than one)
 

little angels

No Black Friday shopping for us.  We are all still in our pajamas enjoying eachothers company and working on projects.  'Tis the season for ornament making and I've been busy cutting and stitching and stuffing.  I think I will dedicate next weeks posts to all the ornaments I've put together.  First in line though are these sweet little angels I made for Sarah's First Annual Ornament Swap. 

Seems like I have a tradition of making dolls for at least one swap of ornaments.  First there were Pixies then my red-haired angels and now these.  I didn't come up with this design, Julie Collings did.

I remember when she first blogged about her book, Pretty Little Felts, but it wasn't until I picked it up at Joanns and flipped through it that I knew I had to have it.  I wanted to buy directly from her, and that's exactly what I did.  Here. 

It came signed and so prettily packaged and she included such fun kits of felt and trims to play with.  Such an inspiring treat to get in the mail.

 
It was the angels in Julie's book that first drew me in (although ALL of her projects are WONDERFUL!).  It was something about the glittery heads...I just loved them!!  And they made me think of vintage swim caps. 

 
I needed to make ten of these girls and decided production line style was the way to go.

They were fun to make, and I'm sure my house will have glitter floating about for some time.

 
 
Getting ready for their trip South. 

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Nature walk pouches

Here's what we've been making at the preschool. 

These are our pouches that the children carry with them when we go on our daily nature walks.  Last year the children would gather so much in their small hands and had no place to put their treasures.  I wanted them to have somewhere to put all their findings so they would be safe, so at the start of this school year I helped each of the kids stitch up their own bag.  

I didn't photograph the process, but they really are quite simple to make.  I cut a rectangle out of an old felted sweater and folded the bottom portion up about three-quarters to create the pouch.  The top part folds over to create the flap, or closure.  Next I would help each child blanket stitch the edge up one side from the bottom until the middle part of the flap.  Repeat on the other side.  We tied a knot, or made a tassle where the two ends met.  There are many ways to make a strap, but we either braided or crocheted them and stitched them on.  Later, I embroidered each childs name on it. 

 
The kids are really happy with them and never leave the school without them.

It makes it so much easier to walk when little hands aren't so full.

 

And yesterday we emptied all their pouches and found they had gathered pinecones and moss and acorns and leaves and stones and we added all those things to our supply of dried beans and seashells and corn.

And we used all these things to decorate our birch tree candle holders for the children to share with their families for Thanksgiving.

 
They've had one busy week.

I just love...

 ...how nice my new thrifted one dollar mugs look with the fresh paint in the kitchen.

 ...knitting these darling gnomes that one of the mom's at the preschool taught us how to make

...this 32 second stop motion film project my niece made of Peanut for her photography class.

(Edited to add:  Thank you for all the well wishes at the bazaar!  While very little sold we had lots of interest in the preschool...hooray!)

nothing new to see here

I've been busy cutting up my stash of wool sweaters.

My preschool partner and I bought a table at her church's bazaar for tomorrow with the idea of advertising the upcoming January registration for our school.  Somewhere along the way we decided we might as well make something to sell since we have a full eight foot table for a display.  I didn't really need to add to my to do list, but started stitching anyway.  It's all stuff I've made in the past.

More wool balls

More felt brooches

More birds

I've got dolls and pincushions and christmas ornaments on the cutting table and I'm sure to never get them finished in time.  Such pressure!  I've never sold anything I've made before and I can see it's really stressing me out.

Peanut has caught the stitching fever and made this cute little guy.

With a little help cutting out the pieces he managed to stitch it all together.  It's a little owl based on his drawing here.

 

Well, it's back to the wool for me.  Wish me luck tomorrow!  
 

Kids craft box

"Best gift ever!" declared my five-year-old.  We put a kids craft box together for our friend's eighth birthday.  According to his mother, he began creating with it immediately.  I love that it inspired him in this way.  Most kids we know have plenty of crayons, markers and paints, so we thought it would be fun to provide embellishments to add to artwork.

With another birthday coming-this time for a seven-year-old girl-we decided to put together a craft box for her as well.

With a one dollar plastic floss box from Joann's, we filled each section with things we know she would like.  For the boy we used more items from nature...small stones, acorns, maple tree "helicopter" seeds, and dried beans.  Our girlfriend tends to be more on the sparkly side so she's getting glitter and stick on rhinestones and sequins.  We added a tube of glue and a package of card stock and voilà, the perfect birthday present.