DIY Wrapping Paper

Easy DIY felt pumpkins

Seeing as how it in finally October and the holidays are quickly approaching, I thought it was time to change my mantle decorations to suit the festiveness that I feel inside. Since Halloween is first up on the holiday list I decided on pumpkins! What is better than making some of your own decorations?! #keepitcheap

Supplies:

- Sheets of felt (any kind is fine)

- Embroidery needle

- Different colors of embroidery thread

- Some kind of felt glue ( I used Beacon felt glue)

- Polyester stuffing

- Scissors

The first thing that you are going to do is to cut out a circle in felt roughly the size of a basketball. I am not one for precision  on certain things and I eye balled the circle. Feel free to to trace and cut out a perfect circle in paper to use as a template. Next, you will need about an arms length of embroidery thread. Pull it through a few inches and tie a knot on the opposite end. 

Begin to weave in and out of the circle along the outer corners. Once finished pull the remanding thread so it forms a little purse like pocket.

Fill with stuffing, make sure that it is not so full that you can't pull the draw string closed. Once you are content, pull it shut and tie a knot. ( I tie the knot and then place the needle inside so that I can get the knot as close to the felt as possible. Think tying a christmas ribbon bow... if that makes any sense hahaha)

Once the knot is tied, you will be left with the beginning to your pumpkin. Double the amount of thread this time ( I usually use a close color to the felt, but this time I wanted to spice it up a little.) Pull through again a few inches and then tie a knot on the end. Push the needle through the opening and bring back to the top again. It can be kind of tricky to keep pulling the thread through and getting it in the same area as the one before. I like to say mess ups give things character so don't worry too much. You can add as many or as few as you'd like. 

For the stem of the pumpkin you will need to cut out a square of felt roughly 5x5 in. For this pumpkin I used a brownish orange color. Get your glue and put a line of glue on one of the ends and fold over. Keep folding until you reach the end and add another line of glue to  the inside to hold it together. I place this under something heavy for a little bit. If its not completely dry its okay. Cut it to the size of the stem that you would like for your pumpkin at an angle. I cut mine in half or a little more than half.

I made the stem two different ways, one with glue and one using a blanket stitch. Which ever one you choose is up to you! :)

The final step to these cute felt pumpkins is super easy. Using the felt glue fill up the inside of the pumpkin hole enough so that the stem will stay in place. Pop the stem in and let dry overnight. 

Enjoy!

I added this pumpkin to my crystal shelf to make it more festive. 

Quick 15 minute drawing/watercolor exercise

Hello friends! Happy Fall :) I can't tell you how excited I am that it is finally fall time, I'm imaging warm drinks soft new sweatshirts and homemade soup. Besides the fact that I live in northern California and this weekend will be around 93 degrees, I'm not going to let that burst my bubble. Lately I have been working ALOT going in between two jobs leaves me little time to paint/create. Creating for me is such an outlet, it helps to calm my nerves and lets me express things in my head without having to say them aloud. I decided that I need to start doing some super quick painting exercises to help me keep practicing while also getting that little creating "high" that comes with. I noticed these beautiful colored leaves while walking into work and decided to grab them and use them for this exercise. 

You don't need to use any specific medium for these exercises, I have been wanting to practice using watercolor more since I am use to acrylic. You could use any mediums that you would like, paint, pens, charcoal, pencil, gouache. Anything that your little heart desires will work. These exercises are not about the finished product. They are about giving your self a set time to really just stay focused and practice. Often times I get stuck in this " I suck at using ______" rut and totally talk myself out of even trying.  I grabbed my leaves, my watercolor sets, journal and set my timer to 15 minutes. Ready...set....GO!

 I never claim to be Michelangelo, hahahah the thought actually makes me laugh a little. I just love to create and paint, for me this is enough. I thought that 15 minutes would be such a long time until I heard that bell. "Damn that was quick". This is the result of my quick 15 minute exercise. I have to say I really enjoyed myself while doing this. I felt free, I wasn't worrying about if everything was proportioned correctly. I was just there in that bubble of time painting. That is good enough for me. Now its your turn, don't let yourself talk you out of it, its only 15 minutes what do you have to lose? :)