project: christmas unicorn felt ornament

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When I started the Craft a Song of Christmas series, I promised that there would be both new and traditional songs featured, and while this one is a fresh song this year, it's sure to become a traditional. Well, maybe not. But it will be for me. I give you, the Christmas Unicorn.


Did you listen to all 12 minutes and 28 seconds? When I first heard Sufjan Stevens' new song, I knew it would become an ornament here on my blog. There's just so much crazy awesome in the song!

Now, if you've been paying attention and clicking musical links during this series, you may have noticed quite a few are for Sufjan songs...and there will be more. I make no apology for for my obsessive devotion completely healthy, non-creepy admiration for him and his music. A few years back, Christmas made me sad. I can't even say what it was about it, because I still loved the celebration of Jesus' birth, but I felt melancholy and not joyful. Sufjan's Songs for Christmas changed that, and I began to soak up the lyrics of each carol and embrace the crazy things that make each of us the Christmas Unicorn. Thanks, Mr. Stevens for helping me cherish everything about this season!



Now, let's make an ornament! Here's what you need:

Wool Blend Felt (I used BenzieBazaar felt - see note below)
Embroidery Floss (I used DMC 151, 347, 168, B5200, 937 and 310)
Needle
Scissors
Pinking or Scallop Shears (optional)
Christmas Unicorn Pattern PDF

A Note on Wool Blend Felt: This December, all of my felt projects are using felt provided by BenzieBazaar. I am seriously smitten with this felt! It's almost, almost as lovely as 100% wool, but at a fraction of the cost. By purchasing the Glitter and Glass collection, plus a small piece of Purple and Seaside, you'll have all that you need to make all of the small felt projects this month (at least six ornaments and two gift toppers!).



Cut out all of the pieces as shown. I used a scallop scissors on the smaller backing piece for extra unicorn magic, but that's optional.



Embroider the details onto the unicorn head and wreath piece. You can stitch the bow and berries a bit freehand, but I recommend following the pattern for the unicorn's face.



Layout the pieces like you see here, then start stitching the layers down, removing pieces and replacing them as you go. Sometimes it helps to replace everything with each new layer so that you are still making sure that they fit properly.



After all the pieces are stitched down, use red embroidery floss to stitch the striped details onto the horn.




Stitch the smaller backing onto the larger backing using tiny running stitch and floss that matches the back. In areas where the unicorn overlaps the edge, take stitches behind the ornament so that everything in securely attached, doesn't show on the front, but still looks uniform on the back.




Stitch a hanger through the back layer of felt, then tie it with an overhand knot and trim the ends. Your Christmas Unicorn is ready to grace the tree!



PS: The thing I'm most excited about this December? Even more than the Christmas day celebrations? Seeing Sufjan in Chicago, singing along with Christmas Unicorn, and even more so, with traditional songs about Jesus...it's gonna be a good night!

book review: deck the halls

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Deck the Halls! With Boughs of Holly! FaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa!

Back in the fall, I saw Country Living Deck the Halls on Amazon, and I was *this close* to buying it. I really wanted it, but decided to wait, and then forgot about it. Oh boy. I very nearly missed a winner!

Fortunately, the publisher emailed and asked if I would be interested in reviewing the book. Not only was I reminded of the book I wanted, but it showed up at my house a week later! So, thank you Hearst Books for reminding me of this title, sending it to me, and publishing such a great book!

Now, let's dig in to this fun little book that is titled so perfecting for us to Craft a Song of Christmas!




The first section of Deck the Halls is all gifts you can make. 20 gift projects are included, and each one is something that I wouldn't mind receiving. They are simple, classy and very doable (you'd still have time to make most of these before Christmas!). Some have step-by-step instructions, while others are more of an idea that you could run with easily.




Following the gifts is the food chapter. There aren't tons of recipes, but they all look good! I especially like that most are the kind of treats you can gift. How fun is that gingerbread cookie puzzle? My mom loves to bake giant cookies to give our neighbors at Christmas, and I do believe this puzzle will be something our neighbors will soon be enjoying!



The sections on table and home decor are as charming as the rest, with a simple and sophisticated country style. Displays and new variations on traditional holiday decor abound!



To wrap up the book (pun intended), the final chapter is on gift wrap and packaging! Ideas for gift toppers and tags are included, but my favorite grouping was of the packing material substitutes, like the candies shown above. A gift wrapped in a gift!




But that's not all! What makes this book unique is that it comes with 50 pages of pullouts you can use straight from the book! Things like tags, stickers, place cards, labels, gift boxes, ornaments, napkin rings and more. This might be my favorite thing about Deck the Halls, but it's also the thing I'm hesitant about. I'm just not sure I can take this pretty book apart to use these pages!

It's a hang-up I have...destroying a book even when that's what it was made for. So maybe I should look at this as a practice for getting over that little issue I have? I might need to, because look at this:



These are paper decorations you can add to a gingerbread house! And how's this for an idea? My dad suggested that I make a corrugated cardboard house to attach the paper candies to, and then I could keep it for years! Yep, I think I'll be taking some pages out of my book.

If you have no fear of pulling the pages apart, get Country Living Deck the Halls and you'll have lots of lovely ideas and goodies to get you through Christmas. But even if you're like me and can't bear to use the book as intended, there's still a lot to enjoy here (if you order very soon, there will be enough time to make things before the big day!).



The publisher also sent me another Country Living title, and I've been enjoying it also. Even after all the decorations are done for this year, flipping through The Farm Chicks Christmas gets you inspired to start planning for the next. It's a little less DIY (although there are still plenty of ideas and some explanations) and I think it would make a really great gift!




Do you have any favorite Christmas books?

pattern: carol of the bells

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Are you able to sing along with Carol of the Bells? Neither can I. But I sure can hum and ding-a-ling the tune! In fact, the only lyric that I can really remember at this moment is the one in today's pattern. Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas! Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

Yep. That works.

Download the Carol of the Bells "Merry Christmas" Pattern PDF


Thanks to Wendy for stitching this pattern for the post! She even made it into a pillow, which is a really nice idea that would make a really nice gift, don't you think? Yes, I do. Christmas is getting close, but there's still plenty of time for making.

And just as a reminder, most of the patterns this month are free for you to use on handmade commercial items, so long as you credit me for the pattern. (See each PDF for details.) Merry Christmas crafty sellers!

project: winter wonderland felt ornament

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Christmas is now over, and yet here I am sharing another ornament project with you. What? There really is a plan to all of this. You see, while some folks like to get their Christmas decorations taken down right away, I prefer keeping some things up for a while. Especially the lights and maybe some garland. January can feel so dark, so those items are very welcome to me.

January is also a month where the song Winter Wonderland makes the most sense to me. It's rare to have lots of snow in December, but you meet up with plenty of snowmen in January! So, I thought that saving this wintery snowflake until after Christmas would be just fine. Besides...who says you can only have ornaments hanging on a tree?




Here's what you need:

Wool Blend Felt (I used BenzieBazaar felt - see note below)
Embroidery Floss (I used DMC 598, 151, B5200 and 310)
Needle
Scissors
Pinking or Scallop Shears (optional)
Winter Wonderland Pattern PDF

A Note on Wool Blend Felt: This December, all of my felt projects are using felt provided by BenzieBazaar. I am seriously smitten with this felt! It's almost, almost as lovely as 100% wool, but at a fraction of the cost. By purchasing the Glitter and Glass collection, plus a small piece of Purple and Seaside, you'll have all that you need to make all of the small felt projects this month (six ornaments and three gift toppers!).



Cut out the snowflake shape, plus the two backing pieces, using pinking shears on the smaller piece if you want. When cutting the snowflake, don't worry about getting it too precise.



Embroider the details onto the snowflake using two strands of embroidery floss.



Stitch the snowflake onto the smaller backing piece with tiny stitches along the edge. They should be nearly invisible!




Stitch the front onto the larger backing. Use thread that matches the back so that the stitches don't stand out. For this one, I used colonial knots to hold this together. Although they are usually more decorative, they work in a functional manner too!



Take a stitch through the back layer only, and then tie the thread ends together to form a hanger.



Hang your snowflake on some garland, a ceiling fan, curtain ties...or even a tree that's still welcome in winter!

a new year is almost here

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I feel as though I have two thousand and thirteen things to say, but not enough time or energy to sort it all out and share. (My head is cloudy with snuffly congestion and holiday residue.)

Tomorrow brings a new year.
I'm excited about this one. Good things are planned. Good things are happening. I'm ready. And yet, this Peanuts strip that I recently saw on a trip to the museum really resonates with me:



So yeah. I'm not finished with last year...but I'm ready for the new year too. With that in mind, I may just ease my way back into the full blogging schedule. Or I may jump in with two feet. We'll see.

Either way, thanks for a great 2012 and I'll see you next year! (hehe...it never gets old...or does it? no matter...I'm perfectly fine with cheesy...)

project: silver and gold felt ornament

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In Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives (as the snowman) sang Silver and Gold, a song about Christmas decorations. Sufjan created a new version that is much more reflective and much less Christmas. I like them both, so a Silver and Gold ornament was needed!

It's true that this is more gray and yellow, but let's go with it, okay? If you want to get extra fancy, use metallic thread to enhance your ornament and give it real glitz!



Here's what you need:

Wool Blend Felt (I used BenzieBazaar felt - see note below)
Embroidery Floss (I used DMC 3821, 604, 168, and 310)
Needle
Scissors
Pinking or Scallop Shears (optional)
Silver and Gold Pattern PDF

A Note on Wool Blend Felt: This December, all of my felt projects are using felt provided by BenzieBazaar. I am seriously smitten with this felt! It's almost, almost as lovely as 100% wool, but at a fraction of the cost. By purchasing the Glitter and Glass collection, plus a small piece of Purple and Seaside, you'll have all that you need to make all of the small felt projects this month (at least six ornaments and two gift toppers!).



Cut out all of the pieces from felt. Pinking shears are fun for the smaller backing piece!



Embroider the details onto the ornament pieces. I used two strands of floss.



Layout the design to see how to layer the pieces. This one is pretty simple.



Stitch the pieces onto the purple backing with tiny stitches along the edge of the applique. After they are in place, embroider the ornament hangers onto the purple felt.

When you're all done with the decoration, stitch the purple backing onto the pink. Use pink running stitch so the stitches are more subtle on the back.



Stitch a length of embroidery floss through the back, then tie with a knot for a hanger.



Now you can add some silver and gold to your Christmas tree! (apparently...everyone wishes for it...)