Ready for Halloween?

Here's one of my most favourite felt projects. The best bit is that kids of all ages can cut out the felt circles. And because you're stacking them together they can be cut out fairly slap dash and it'll still look amazing!

If you like your Halloween to be more about cute pumpkins and friendly witches and less about dripping blood and severed hands, then this craft project is for you! It uses a lot of felt, so it can be expensive if you don't already have a lot lying around. You could try using any fabric scraps for more texture... or even circles of paper and card.

For more craft projects like this one, both Craft It Up books are available now.

here

and here

Daisy chain bracelet. Happy Birthday Unikko!

As a kid growing up in England, I spent a lot of time on the side of the rounders field making daisy chains. So meditative! Carefully splitting the stem of one daisy with a fingernail, and pushing the stem of another through until we had endless pretty chains of tiny white flowers. 

This sewing project shouldn't take you much longer to do. But if you're really in a hurry, I had a couple of teenagers who used a hot glue gun this morning and the results were just as lovely!

Did you know that Marimekko has just celebrated the 50th anniversary of their iconic design Unikko? So this little daisy is tiny nod to that too! Happy Birthday Unikko! 

'Spring has sprung' felt flower bouquet

Today's project has been influenced by my lovely Mother's Day tulips and by our Netherlands project in the book. But the finishing touches were provided by my 6 year old studio assistant today who was too sick to go to school, but miraculously recovered when I started cutting out the felt. She has designed the flowers and added the genius touches of detail on the leaves. 

These flowers are super easy to make, and because felt never fades, they really are everlasting flowers. If you don't have the book, you can buy it online...

http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Around-World-Traveling-Adventures/dp/1782490388/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399860551&sr=1-1&keywords=craft+it+up

They're really quick to make. We used scraps of felt and a few pipe cleaners. Draw flowers onto paper to use as templates and then cut out the flowers and leaves. A couple of tiny snips in the centre of the shapes, feed the pipe cleaner through and you're done!

Crufts gorgeous golden broach

This week we're in the UK, which is home of the famous Crufts Dog Show! We're missing our golden retriever Scout, so we've made a little golden retriever broach.

We're not sure if she'd win any obedience awards at Crufts but she's certainly the best dog in the world to us!

This broach can be made in any shape and with any pet. Just make 2 copies of the photo or picture and use one for the basic shape and one for the features.

Pronto passport pouch!

If you're anything like us you'll love the thrill of travelling but not the airport bits where you have to produce your documents from the depths of your bags whilst juggling kids, belts, shoes and iPads! If this sounds familiar then this project is going to make things a little easier.

We've used the brightest felt, so you'll always be able to find your passport in your bag...even after a long haul!

You only need a button, thread and felt, so it's super cheap too.

You could even add a ribbon to the top to hang round your neck...or make a larger one to fit the whole family's passports!

Bon voyage!

Readers Pics: Christmas wreath

Full disclosure here...Libby's daughter made this gorgeous wreath using our Halloween tutorial and adapting it using Christmas colours. 

We're including it to show you that our crafts are can be simple and forgiving! She did this craft alone (she's 6!) and cut out every circle and made each hole. Because you thread the circles onto the coat hanger, you can really hack away at the felt and still end up with a gorgeous effect. 

We think her teacher is going to enjoy hanging it in her home this Christmas!

ooooooooooh!...not so spooky Halloween Wreath

If you like your Halloween to be more about cute pumpkins and friendly witches and less about dripping blood and severed hands, then this craft project is for you!

The best bit is that kids of all ages can cut out the felt circles. And because you're stacking them together they can be cut out fairly slap dash and it'll still look amazing!

This project uses a lot of felt, so it can be pricey. You could try using any fabric scraps for more texture, or even circles of paper and card.