Category Archives: Extras

Nov 14 2012

Disney Trip=Felted Toy Tiger!

My newest felted creation is a toy tiger ball.  I just love making simple felted animals like this one.  They are quick and easy to make and have such character!

Needle Felted Ball Shaped Tiger with Tail

This felted toy was inspired by my recent family vacation to DisneyWorld.  We had the opportunity at Animal Kingdom to catch a glympse of this majestic tiger and I decided to reinterpret that majesty into cuteness!  And a little tidbit for those planning a trip to Disney,  Animal Kingdom is one of the best parks there!  I just love the combination of zoo and theme park!

Real Tiger and Toy Felt Tiger

My 5 year old daughter is absolutely in love with anything “Mickey”.  So I had to include her silly grins, smiles, and happy poses.  She insisted on wearing “Minnie Ears”  everyday that we were there.  The cuteness was overwhelming!

My 5 Year Old at DisneyWorld

Now that we’ve returned, I realize that the holidays are right around the corner.  Today I am preparing new colors of wool to complement the holiday theme and I will be purchasing a few ribbons and such;  all so that,  I can begin making some felted Christmas ornaments.  When I was young, I created ornament after ornament for my mother on Christmas break.  She always seemed excited to add a handmade ornament to the tree.  A mother’s love is truly neverending.    And don’t worry, this year, I will share a few ornament tutorials with everyone!

Jul 6 2012

Needle Felting Posts will Return By Late August!

I just wanted to let my loyal followers know that I will be taking a break from needle felting until mid to late August.  At that point, I will be returning with some tutorials and posts per usual!
happy felted apple
Let me explain myself:  I am a mother to five children and I have been homeschooling them for about 7 years.  This year,  4 of my cuties will be entering the world of public school.  So for the past month and the following month I am preparing them for the transition.  I have truly loved having my children around me and I will miss them greatly.  But when your adorable six year old insists she wants to go to SCHOOL, well you easily cave to her wishes!  Well, at least I do. So, I will be working hard with reading, math, and back to school paperwork and shopping until August!  See you then.

Apr 23 2012

Measuring Wool for Wet Felted Balls

I am preparing for a felting project I have planned later in the week and I needed five same sized wet felted balls.  Usually I weigh out my wool using my digital scale in order to achieve this; however, my digital scale broke and I didn’t have the time to run out and purchase a new one.  Therefore, I came up with a cheap and readily available alternative(at least readily available to me).

I homeschool my children and have collected a mass of educational materials and one of these just happened to be a bright green balance scale.  Perfect!  I weighed out my wool by choosing 4 pennies to counter balance the scale.  Turns out a penny is a little less than a tenth of an ounce.  Who knew?  I managed to prepare for my felting project and at the same time squeeze in a little measuring lesson.

I didn’t prepare to document this part of the felting process, but the plastic children’s scale atop the crayon-colored, kid destroyed table made me giggle and I grabbed out my camera!  These balance scales can’t get an exact measurement, but they can roughly weigh out similar amounts.  Which turned out to be a perfect tool for making sure my wet felted balls were all roughly the same size!  During my next post, I will share the finished project that I plan to create with these 5 wet felted balls.

weighing wool roving to create equal sized wet felted balls

Apr 6 2012

Wet Felted Balls for Puppies

My family brought home a Shiba Inu puppy a few weeks ago and she is so adorable(and a little feisty).  Shiba pups are very energetic and love to chew things, like an antique cedar chest and sewing machine.   Yes, my face turned bright red when I saw her chewing items that my family had passed on through the generations; but thankfully my husband remembered that puppies love the smell of wool!

I pulled out a rather large wet felted ball and tossed it at my eager pup.  Instant Success!!!  She goes absolutely nuts for this ball.  Tugging little pieces off of it and chasing it around.
making wet felt ball as a chew toy for a pup
When you give a puppy something acceptable and fun to chew on, believe it or not they usually leave your prized possessions alone!  Little tufts of wool are all over my carpet but I don’t mind.  I would much rather have a daily routine of cleaning my floor than try to repair antique furniture.  The fact that the toy is semi-destructible seems to make it more fun for the pup.  She wants to see the damage that she causes to the ball!
using a wet felted ball as a dog toy
At first I was worried about fur balls, but she basically gnaws at the ball and when she can pull out a tuft of wool she tosses it to the side.  She is not interested in eating the ball, just destroying it!  When the ball becomes loose and tattered looking, I just wet felt it again.  And she gets a fresh toy ready to destroy all over again.  And she hasn’t touched my antique furniture ever since she has received this ball!
wet felted ball as a puppy toy
If you have a pup in the nonstop chew phase, try to make a wet felted ball for it to pounce and destroy.  You will be glad you’ve made such a small effort.  Check out my tutorial on wet felted balls, if you have never done it before.  It is a very easy process and within a few hours your pup with be chewing on something acceptable. Then you can focus on building a bond with your puppy, rather than reprimanding her.  It’s a win win.  Give it a shot!