DIY Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes

One of Gabby's favorite gifts she received this past Christmas was this Step2 Neat and Tidy Cottage. Every morning she comes downstairs and says, "Hi, House!" At night before bed, she says, "Goodnight, House!" It's her little hiding place where she throws tea parties for her stuffed animals. As small as this house looks, my husband, Gabby and me can actually all fit in this house just fine. Sometimes she'll even hold us as a prisoner inside and not let us leave.

There is a little mail slot built into the house so we would stick random paper and junk mail through it for fun. I thought it would be cute to have something Gabby wouldn't crumple so easily and that she could reuse. Since Valentine's Day is next week, I figure it'll double as a Valentine for her as well.

DIY Felt Valentine's Day Envelopes: 


You've Got Mail:

Small Envelopes for Small Hands:

I'm working on a few more Valentine's Day crafts this week and can't wait to share it with you.

DIY Felt Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

Finally done! I spent the last three to four days covered in felt pieces and random thread tidbits. I blame it all on Pinterest. I started out wanting to make Gabby this simple felt Christmas tree that she could play with. Seemed easy enough. Then, I came across this post and had to try it. After many late nights being poked by needles, here is what I came up with. It's a week late for a Christmas advent calendar but Gabby is none the wiser.

DIY Hand Sewn Felt Christmas Tree Ornaments:

DIY Hand Sewn Felt Christmas Tree Advent Calendar: 

Felt is such an easy medium to work with. You can cut it into virtually anything you want. It helps to have a sharp pair of scissors though. I can't seem to find the ones I used but it's made by J.A. Henckels. Here's something similar but mine are a little longer.

The above picture was taken yesterday on the 7th. I miscalculated and ended up making 25 spots on the tree and 25 ornaments but made only 24 pockets. I didn't realize there were two different sides to felt and used the wrong side of the red felt so it's pilling up in some spots. As for the numbers, I looked at using stickers, iron ons, and even paint. I ended up finding a tub of adhesive foam letters on sale for 40% off (about $3-4) at Michael's. The foam letters stuck on the felt just fine but I dabbed on a little hot glue for a stronger hold and it worked like a charm.

The pockets are 3"x3" so I made the ornaments around 2". Sometimes it was a little tricky working the little details but you just need to have patience and good lighting. I'm glad I got a chance to use up some of the felt sheets I stocked up on last month when it was on sale.

Here are close-ups of the ornaments I spent so much time on.


Felt Candy Cane, Reindeer, Holly Berry, Christmas Tree and Poinsettia (Set 1 out of 5):

Felt Stockings (Daddy, Gabby & Mama), Bird and Star (Set 2 out of 5): The stockings open at the top so that you could insert a little treat or rolled up dollar bill.

Felt Snowflake, Heart, Ornament, Gingerbread House, and Blingy Ornament (Set 3 out of 5):

Felt Gingerbread Man, Music Note and Christmas Present Boxes (Set 4 out of 5):

Felt Penguin, Santa Claus, Snowman, Hello Kitty and Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba (Set 5 out of 5):

At the age of two, Gabby doesn't really understand what Christmas is let alone the idea of counting down the days until Christmas. All she knows is that Santa is nice and not scary, trees decorated with lights and ornaments is "Christmas" and gingerbread man cookies are good. I have to put the calendar away each morning or else Brobee will end up under the table or Santa will be lost between the couch. My goal is to keep this intact and last until she goes off to college at least. I bet I'll have to replace missing ornaments along the way but it will give me an excuse to make some more.

DIY Felt Tater Head Tutorial

I've been thinking about making Gabby something out of felt so she can do some quiet imaginative play. She loves playing with her Mr. Potato Head just about every single day so I decided to use some of the felt I bought over the weekend (see previous post) and make her a two dimensional version that I can toss in my bag on the go.

Materials Needed:

• Nine pieces of felt in black, brown, tan, red, white, yellow, baby pink, hot pink, blue. Usually sold in single 9x12 sheets. 
• 2-3 Sheets of Scrap Paper
• Pen or Pencil
• Scissors

Total Cost of Project: Under $2-3. 

First I took scrap paper to draw a rough outline. As you can see, the template wasn't very pretty.

I made the tater's body, eyes, two noses, two smiles, a mustache, two arms, shoes, a bowler hat, a crown, a purse and eyebrows. My cousin, Q, helped me punch of some dots and flowers using her Cuttlebug which can be used as eyes, earrings or embellishments for the crown or purse. At $0.20/sheet of felt with a coupon, the total cost of this project was under $2 and I have still have tons of scraps leftover. (Without a coupon is $0.34/sheet so approximately $3.) I am thinking of making some high heels, hair, maybe a diaper, bottle and pacifier. What other accessories should I make?

Completed Tater Head.

Originally I was going to sew the tan tater head piece right on the brown felt backing and sew a pouch on the backside to store all the pieces. Gabby seemed to enjoy moving the tater around herself so I decided to just stash everything neatly in a quart sized ziploc bag. It will keep all the pieces clean and dry as well. So you can totally do this at home with just some felt and a pair of scissors. No sewing required.

With Christmas around the corner, I may do a Christmas tree or snowman version as well. It's so simple and fast to make.

The Loot

It rained here over the weekend but I decided to venture out to Joann's anyway to use my 25% off everything coupon. This is the first time I've ever really purchased fabric so I had to load up. Most of the patterned items were originally $6.99/yard, but I got it for $2.24/yard. The plain ones to be used as liners were originally $5.99, but ended up being $1.49/yard. Since I'm new to the world of fabric, I really hope I got a decent deal.

I picked up a pair of Fiskars Pinking Shears and they work fantastic for preventing fraying.

Here is my stash:

I also got a bunch of felt. Michael's had it on sale for five for $1 but Joann's price matched to save me a trip. I got at least one of each color.

If you ask my husband, he would say I'm a bit of a hoarder of crafting supplies. I really can't help myself. I had to pick up two more paper packs to add to my growing pile of paper. The original price was $19.99/pack but I got it for $7.49/pack.

I can't wait to do something with all this material!