Winter

When Drew Drew Buns (the inexplicable name I called/call my youngest) was 4 years old, he came in from the season's first snowfall in tears and told me his "wrists were broke". The coat and mittens he wore left a band of young, tender flesh exposed and vulnerable to the frigid temperatures. That evening, I stayed up until I had knitted him a new pair of mitts... ones that nearly reached his elbows when uncuffed! They needed to go on before his coat, so after he donned the mittens, he needed help getting dressed. I suppose we effectively postponed his learning to zip a zipper by a couple of years, but that was a small price to pay. He was now able to romp in the snow without wrist freeze!

He wore those bright red mittens for three years. Amazingly, he never lost one. (Of course, once on, they were nearly impossible to remove :) When he finally outgrew them, I couldn't bear to part with them. Instead of putting them in our community mitten basket, they made their way to our Christmas tree. Over the years, I've tucked those mittens into our family tree, and each time I do, I'm reminded of my little guy.

This Christmas, as two year old Little Lady was busy taking ornaments on and off our Christmas tree, she came upon the pair of her daddy's red woolen mittens. She wanted to put them on. Although they were still too big on her, she ran around, clapping her hands together in glee. I suppose it's only fitting that they should be handed down to Drew Drew Buns' children... circle of life and all, but... I didn't give them away. Oh, I'll make Little Lady her own red woolen mittens that reach her elbows, but I'm hanging on to these, and the memory of my little boy with "broken wrists" :)   

I think most of us have mitten stories (just ask the 3 Little Kittens' Mom :), so I decided to create a Mitten Applique Block. As always, it was designed to fit a 6" x 6" block, but can be enlarge or reduced to meet your needs. I'm thinking it would be kind of cute to cut out backings for the mitts, and add brooch pins to them. Then, you could pin them to a lapel, with a braided cording running between them!

The pattern for the Mitten Applique Block can be found HERE. 

The pattern for the Mittens Applique Block can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Enlarge and Reduce can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Cut Out Felt can be found HERE.

The Stitching Glossary can be found HERE.

DIRECTIONS - Refer to pattern and photo for applique placements and cutting instructions.

Make a copy of the pattern.

Cut out felt using material list above and transfer any embroidery markings.

Using a blanket stitch, sew mittens to block using 3 strands floss.

Using a blanket stitch, sew cuffs to mitts using 3 strands floss.

Using a stem stitch, embroider the 3 crossing lines of the snowflakes using 6 strands floss.

Using a straight stitch, add the snowflake details using 6 strands floss.

Using 6 strands floss, add a French knot to the 6 top ends of each snowflake.

Using 2 strands each of 3 colors of floss, thread a embroidery needle as if the 6 strands were one piece of floss. Chain stitch the line connecting the 2 mittens.
 

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2013. All rights reserved.

PHOTOS: 9-23-09

I've had many requests for photos of our winter gnome house. I still need to get our Starry Night silk draped behind it and add lots of snow... aka... cotton balls! Of course, I can almost guarantee you that somewhere between now and Christmas, I'll make something new for the gnome's holiday celebration... I always do!

The first thing I do whenever I change out the season is to clean and polish the wood. This is one of my favorite things to do!

Many of the gnomes and furnishings shown here are shared as tutorials. Check out our Gnome Home offerings in our Gallery. A few of the items are also shown in our toy section.

BTW... If you have a blog and have featured photos of your holiday gnome home, please feel free to share a link. I'll try to remember to post a photo when our gnome home is all done :)

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.
 

Photos 12-5-12

The other day on Facebook I shared a link to a posting for handmade Christmas cards on Back to the Drawing Board. The designer made a landscape using tissue paper trees, had them reduced and photo coped, then used them to make some awesome Christmas cards. Do check out her project. I thought the inside of her trees was especially clever!

We loved the bright and cheerful trees so much that we used the idea to make pictures of our own to display throughout the winter. We began by taping our water color paper to the table. This stops the paper from moving around and creates a border around your picture when the tape is removed. We used this same technique when we made our Winter Birch Trees last year.

After the paper was taped down, we used water colors to paint the sky blue, fading it into white. 

Next, we chose our tissue paper colors and cut them into squares.

We then smeared glue stick on cardstock paper, and added the squares in random patterns.

When the pages were dried, we turned them over and drew very geometrical triangles on the back, and cut out our trees. This was a joint project. We only made 2 pictures, one for Michelle's and one for my house. Usually the wee ones make their own projects, but it was fun working cooperatively on this project :) Together we decided on the placement of the trees and glued them down.

Funny, as it turns out, their favorite part of this whole project was using the hole punch to "make snow". Even though their hands got tired, they were delighted they could make these perfect little circles. Pixie, btw, preferred to make crescent moon shapes by punching overlapping holes :) (BTW... As soon as we were done, Fairy went to a 5 hour final dress rehearsal for the production The Nutcracker that she will be dancing in, as a cute mouse, this weekend. She needed her hair braided and pinned close to her head so all of her hair would fit under her costumes hood! Doesn't she look like she fell out of the pages of Heidi :)

Finally, we added dots of glue to our trees, and glued down the snow. All done! (Note: the artist at Back to the Drawing Board added detail using a thin tipped marker. We opted not to add this detail.

Then, wah lah! Our Winter Tissue Paper Trees were done! They will add a cheerful addition to our homes throughout the winter months. They remind me of Eric Carle illustrations. Fun!

PS... Thank you, Pam, for the inspiration your project gave us!

Photo 12-6-12
 

A few years ago I shared a tutorial for making snowflakes out of dollies. You can find that tutorial HERE. Originally, I had made them to hang in my preschool, so I had laminated them. Here it is, some 20 years later, and they look as fresh as the day I made them :)

(Our 20 year old snowflakes)

I made our new snowflakes out of computer paper, ironed them, and hung them up with transparent thread. Not only are they fun to do (it's always such a surprise to open a snowflake and see what it looks like), but they are a beautiful addition to our indoor winterscape.

This year, faced with a problem, snowflakes have seemed to save the day! We have a huge picture window in our dining room. It looks out on the back of our house. Here's the view from that window:

Each morning (and sometimes later in the day if the weather is particularly nasty) we put out food for our backyard birds. (And squirrels, and chipmunks, and deer, and raccoons, and whatever animal is in need of nourishment!) We all like to sit around the table, with our favorite morning beverage, and watch the birds. All lovely. But here's the problem.

Until recently, there was a cherry tree growing right outside the window. This offered protection for the birds, and most importantly, a barrier between the sky and the window. Without the tree there, that big window can look like open sky, and we have many birds bop into it. In most cases, the bird is simply rattled a bit, and they fly off. But sometimes, the results can be deadly. Last week, a female cardinal hit the window and died. We were devastated, especially since cardinals mate for life. I decided I needed to do something to alert the birds to the window.

My first thought was to put stickers on the windows. The only problem with that, is they really obscured the view. Finally, I decided to make some snowflakes, and hang them up. Not only do they provide a visual warning to the birds, but, with a heating vent right under the window, they move slightly, making it feel like it's snowing in the house : )

Collisions with the house were almost a daily occurrence. Since putting up the snowflakes, there hasn't been a single incident. YAY! I can leave up our snowflakes through February. In march, I'll come up with something "springy" to dance in our windows. Okay, birdies, enjoy the meal, and stay safe.

If you'd like to make a curtain of snowflakes... or just one... check out our Traditional Snowflake Tutorial. Also, if you Google "paper snowflakes" you'll find a ton of tutorials, many with cutting patterns. So, if you're ready for a little winter inspiration, start with a snowflake :)

Have you ever been to Art Projects for Kids? If not, run there, right now, but be prepared to stay for a long, long time. Kathy Barbro is an experienced and gifted art teacher, and she shares over 600 projects on her blog. Whenever I need inspiration for kid crafts, she's one of the first places I turn.

She shared a wonderful watercolor project for Winter Birch Trees. I'm going to let Kathy give you the actual directions, but I'll share our enjoyable experience making our own trees. Michelle and I enjoyed the experience as much as the wee ones. The kids were able to do everything themselves except I cut numerous long strips of tape for Pixie, but she decided on the placement and did the rest herself. Oh, I also taped the paper to the table, both to hold it in place and to create the matted look border. I have plans for a number of other projects using this technique.

Taping to table, cutting strips, and making tape trees on watercolor paper.

Watercoloring the whole thing.

Sprinkling with Kosher salt.

Drying. If you are the impatient type... like one little Pixie we know... you can speed the drying with a blow drier!

Removing the tape.

Adding lines on tree, shadows and snow.

Gammy's 

Mommy's

Bug's

Fairy's

Pixie's

It's your turn now :)