Still slaving away, trying to crank out handmade gifts, though I came to my senses yesterday and decided to purchase a few gifts rather than trying to make everything. My mantra is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy-and-don’t-keel-over-from-stress, and I’m choosing the path of least resistance. I need to add in at least one more cliche there…
I don’t want to reveal all my gifts in case any of the recipients are passing through here (unlikely, but you never know), but I’m pretty excited about this new-to-me felting goodness.
I got a bunch of these wool felt packs from Daiso, which is a Japanese dollar store here in Seattle. Each pack comes with three tufts of wool felt in different colors and only costs $1.50! I got the needles separately here (a great toy store with high quality art supplies for kids and kids-at-hearts), but I later discovered that Daiso actually carries the needles as well. Oh well.
I am thoroughly enamored with felt garlands, and wanted to make a mini-version. Above you can see my attempts at minuscule pom poms. They’re really easy to make – I didn’t even bother with the needles (they’re just there for show – I like how they look) and just dipped them in hot water and rolled, rolled, rolled with my hands into hardened felt balls. I doused them in hot water after every few rolls, and I think they look great. Look, a snowman!
I’m also thinking of doing some fancier shapes with the felt and making them into hair accessories. This one below I made last year and it’s held up amazingly well. Hair clips are so charming, no?
I will show you my handiwork once I’ve finished them!
So, given my frenetic elvish workshop-mode, I may or may not be posting an outfit tomorrow. Look for an update some time in the afternoon-ish tomorrow…
Our school had a junk sale as part of our autumn Harvest Festival. At the sale, I saw a cute purse made of felted balls of different colored wool (oh my, just Googled “felt ball purse” and saw millions of images!). I was so sad when it sold before I had a chance to buy it myself! I’ve totally wanted to try felting and am of course in love with Daiso 🙂
Yet another thing to try! I’m sure your endeavors will be beautiful.
Thanks Alana! You had me googling felt ball purses too 🙂 we’ll see how my felting venture goes…trying to graduate beyond Pom Pom balls is turning out to be tricky.
Ahh… good old Daiso. I love the variety, quality and the price! In Melbourne, the unit price is more, at $2.80. Well… that to be expected from Australian retails, they charge more for the same stuffs you get in US. Maybe the labour costs more?? Anyhoo, I always want to try felting, but don’t really know what to do or make. I should check out the local Daiso store and give it a go! Thanks for the inspiration.
I didn’t know that there’s a Daiso in Melbourne, but of course that makes sense! The possibilities are endless with felting — animals, nature-inspired objects, abstract shapes…so fun!
No fair! First, you have the best luck with Seattle thrift stores, and now you’re telling us about Japanese dollar stores?! Yet another reason why Seattle is such a cool city:) I tried needle felting for awhile and loved it too . . . just didn’t love what it did to my fingers every time I missed the foam and stabbed my finger instead. Have you tried making the felt balls in the washing machine? I never tried it, but read that if you put a bit of roving in a pair of pantyhose, tie it off around the roving, and move down the leg like a sausage link you can wash it in the machine and it will felt into a ball. Fun possibilities!
Ooh, I want to try the washing machine method, though the thought of using pantyhose to felt balls is giving me a weird visual for some reason…but I’m always up for experimentation!
Oh such cuteness! Love the barette!
Thanks Adri! I made several more, but of course, they’re floating out in some gutter somewhere, I’m sure.
Ah, Daiso is in Singapore too, and it’s definitely one of my favorite places to roam around in. A couple of years back, when my eldest first started having an allowance and had saved up enough, I brought him to Daiso where he managed to get Christmas presents for everyone in the family! He was so proud of himself! Oh, and I love the look of a felt ball garland, but when I saw the wool roving at Daiso, I talked myself out of getting it because, well, I just don’t have time for another hobby!
I always discover amazing things at Daiso, though I shudder to think how they’re managing to keep prices so low…I love that your son was able to buy all his gifts there! Such a good idea.