December 8, 2010
Did I mention I'm participating in the Freshly Blended Ornament Swap? Anticipating the packages is fun (and some ornaments are slightly entertaining). This is my second year, and I wanted to share my ornament with you. Follow along below:
Use a glass or round object to trace a circle onto desired paper. Cut them out (I cut out multiples at a time), and then stack about 12 together.
Sew a straight line down the center. I'm not sure another solution if you don't have a machine (besides borrowing like I did).
Now add a smidgen of glue and paper clip two leaves together, alternating one centered and two outside. Continue this all around the ornament until all pages are glued.
To finish, I used a paper hole punch and then tied on a small metal ring for the hook. This step is optional and hardly noticable, but I thought it added a nice polish.
I love the final! You could also spiff it up like this one, or use colored paper to create interest. Any other great ornament tutorials you are using this year? Do share!
Back when I posted my sock monkey tutorial, I was asked if I knew how to make a sock cow.
I didn't, so I made it up!
Look how cute this little guy is.
Supplies:
· pair of womens socks with contrasting toe/heel and (hopefully) cuff.
· small amount of yarn
· stuffing
· buttons for eyes
· sewing supplies
*I strongly suggest you read the whole tutorial first to get a feel for it, especially before cutting up the socks. You can also use felt for the "hoofs" or the nose circles if you want. Also, you can eliminate the horns, but I sure think they are cute!*
For sock 1:
Fold leg portion in half to tip of heal and cut.
Cut off cuff
Lay sock flat with heel facing up, cut down center about 1" from heel.
Cut cuff in half and lay on top of each leg, matching the edge.
Sew along inside edge.
Trim off sock behind the cuff.
Flip inside out, sew along bottom and inner seam to create hind legs. Leave an opening for turning and stuffing.
If you don't have enough room, clip up the center a bit more (like I had to do. . .).
Sock 2:Fold both top and foot portion in half and cut. Cut out heel and cut top and foot portion apart.
Take the inner pieces, fold in half lengthwise and create ears in the foot portion and horns in the top part. Here are the dimensions for them. Ear on the LEFT, horn on the RIGHT. The horn is slightly curved.
Open back up the pieces. Cut a tail and nose circles from the rest of the top part.This is what you should have. The red Xs are throw away.
Next is to sew pieces:
Sew legs across the cuff and long seam. Sew close to edge (1/8" or so).
Sew horns. I suggest starting at bottom, sew along one side; then start at bottom on the other side and sew up to cross the first seam at the tip.
Since the ears were cut on a fold, cut half the folded edge for a place to turn.
Sew the same way as the horns, up one side and then up the other, making sure to meet/cross the first seam.
To make the tail, wrap some yarn 4 times loosely around 2 fingers. Pull your fingers out, leaving yarn looped. Fold into the center of the tail. Sew along yarn end and long side, being careful not to catch the yarn in the long side seam.
Turn all pieces right side out. Here is what you should have:
Time to assemble!!Stuff and sew opening closed of sock 1.
Use 6 strands of embroidery floss to tie a neck about 3 1/2 in from the tip.
Stuff front legs to match up with the hind legs.
Use a running stitch to pull the top of the leg closed.
Sew the legs into place, lining them up with the hind legs.
Stuff the toe portion from sock 2 and pin onto the top of the head. Line up the edge with the side of the toe on sock 1 (body sock). The front will overlap the pink some.
Stitch on. Don't worry about the raw edge, it will look great to do a simple loop stitch.
Fold ears in half, match corners and stitch them together.
Attach at the corner of the toe.
Stuff the horns, stitch just inside the ears. Be aware of which way the horn curves. It's subtle, but will look odd if sew on the wrong way.
Sew on the button eyes and the nose circles.
Lay the tail flat with the seam in the center on the underside. Sew the tail on flat in the center of the contrasting heel of the body sock (sock 1).
And you're done!!Make a herd!!
The contrasting cuff makes better hoofs:
And my shameless exploit of my adorable baby with the cute cows.
Moo.
Browsing through Anthropologie's website is a fun pastime for me. I love looking at the fun hair stuff, as well as the wonderfully beautiful (and pricey) knobs. Anyway, last time I was surfing, I came across this:
Cute, huh? But at $32, I knew it wasn't meant for my little girl's head...So, in comes my cheap make-it-yourself attitude. :)I just gathered some supplies, black beads left over from the spider project, black felt, and hot glue. (I was going to use the headband, but it was brown, and Emma hates headbands, so I switched to a BIG snap clip.)
Cut circles from the black felt the size that you want the circles. I chose to do one smaller than the other...
I had a video for this part, but it seemed too basic to add it. I just strung the beads, stuck the big jeweled black bead in the center, and then glued the beads in a circle. Repeat for the second circle.
As I said before, I decided against the headband, and went for this big snap clip. (They were huge- I forget where I bought them, I think at a grocery store in Washington, but they were at least 2" long.) I started by gluing a bit of the circle edges together, and then glued them to the clip. As you can see, I'm not so neat when it comes to the gluing. :)
Emma had her first piano recital on Saturday, and she picked out this dress all by herself. (and the shoes! She likes her bling!) Right when I saw it, I knew this accessory would be perfect with the dress. I just curled her hair and clipped this in...
Apiossa