Marshmallow Snowmen

My husband and I went to a concert last night so a friend came over to babysit. He gets the prize for best babysitter, because he came prepared to do a fun food project! He had a bag of marshmallows, a tube of black icing, Jelly Bellys, Airheads, and pretzel sticks Add in one excited 6 year old and you get these adorable snowmen!

The pretzels are used to hold the marshmallows together and also for the arms. A Jelly Belly is used for the nose, and you can cut them in half to make eyes or buttons. A strip of airhead makes a delicious scarf. The final touch is putting on buttons with just a drop of black icing. I can’t wait to make these myself. Thanks for the idea Jim.

Keep it thimble!

Wool Duck Ornament by Jen

My friend Jen just sent me photos of this adorable duck ornament she made for her child’s teacher.

I asked Jen to tell me about her process:

“Sure! I made it from this pattern http://noseynest.blogspot.com/2008/06/lucky-ducky-freebie.html but I turned it inside out to hide the seams. I like the look of hidden seams better, but it made his head so small! Wasn’t thinking about that when I changed it though. It’s just on regular wool felt, and before sewing it together I used embroidery thread to stitch on the decorative stitches.

I used a straight stitch for the downy body, fly stitches for the feathers on the wings, buttonhole stiches to outline the wings and french knots, outline stich and backstitch for the beak. Oh and fly stitch, laisy daisy and outline and french knot for the heart patch.

Then I turned it inside out, stitched it, and stuffed it. It turned out a little wonky, to be honest, but I like the stitching effect and the cute little heart with holly berries. ”

Thanks for sharing, Jen! Keep it Thimble!

Chilly the Snowman

Remember the snowman makedo’s I posted about? Well, here is a full snowman! I had all the stuffed white balls sitting on my craft table and my son took three of them, stacked them on top of each other, and said he would like me to make him a snowman. Why didn’t I think of that?

Chilly the Snowman lives in warm weather, and the only thing cold about him is his name. He wears the scarf to make a fashion statement.

To turn this into a full snowman, I hot glued the head and body segments together. I hot glued the buttons (really to save time since it dries to so fast), used a strip of flannel for the scarf, and got two twigs from the yard for the arms. He has some balancing issues, but I found a small wooden ring to use as a stand and now he won’t tip over.

Keep it Thimble!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

I had a class with Liberty Rose yesterday and we made this Santa Claus pillow. The face is embroidered with one strand of floss and a silver floss was used to get the twinkles in his eye. When the face and other parts were stitched down, a bit of stuffing was added to make him “pop” off the background. I added the “ho, ho, ho” on the side since he wasn’t quite centered by himself.

What Christmas projects are you trying to finish up before the holidays?

Keep it thimble!

Christmas Decorations – Elf Hat and Shoes

This is a cute little project of an Elf Hat and Shoes. The shoe pattern is from Country Whims and the Hat pattern is courtesy of a class with Liberty Rose. They turned out pretty cute and look great in the hallway, almost like the Elf stopped for a visit and took off his shoes and hat off at the front door.

Keep it Thimble!

Tis the Season – Frosty the Snowman

Now that it’s finally December, I can start posting Christmas things! I had a crazy idea about posting something everyday in December as a sort of holiday countdown, but the reality of doing that is a different story.

Last year I planned to make a bunch of these cute little Frosty make-dos; they were all cut out, the heads were sewn, the candlesticks were prepped, but I just didn’t manage to finish them. This year I completed 12 of them and they are being sold at a local shop. I think they turned out pretty cute!

My favorite part is the carrot nose that sticks out. Some of the carrots turned out a bit crooked, which give the face a lot of character. I made one snow woman because a customer requested both a man and woman. She has on ear muffs and a different face. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of her before she went to her new home!

Keep it thimble!