Ring those Christmas bells...

So the kids have decorated the tree, and I was getting a bit stressed about it, and then suddenly just gave up. It's Christmas, which is truly magical when you are a child, so the tree has been surrendered to them. It looks like a Christmas elf threw up on it. Ah well, it matches the messiness and chaos of the rest of the lounge. But, I had to do something pretty, so I made a Merry Christmas garland. Super easy, unless, like myself, you packed all your sewing things up in a hurry a few months ago, and now can't find your pins. Where are they?? No seriously, where are my pins? Anyways, here is the finished product:

* I drew the letters free-hand on white polar-fleece(an absolute pain, you should use something stiffer like felt), and cut them out. I realised mid-cutting that I should have drawn them on BACKWARDS, or drawn the letters on card first, cut out the card, flipped them over and traced them onto the fabric. Sigh. Obvious to everyone but me! So mine have orange felt-tip edging. I totally wanted THAT to happen.

* Then I cut(freehand again, because I am a LAZY crafter) triangles out of felt, all roughly the same size, and glued the letters on using PVA. Again, this would have been way easier if the letters had been felt, but as it was they flopped around all over my hands and the whole exercise was truly messy. All of this took about two hours. I know, right? But you will be quicker, you will learn from my mistakes. I am here to help. Also, to be fair, I was simultaneously watching Die Hard 2. The airplane one. It's the best, IMHO.

*When the letters were completely dry(or, the next day, whichever comes first), I arranged them under some ribbon, slightly overlapping, and pegged them into place. Yes, you read that right, pegged them. Where are those freaking pins?! I chose a wide heavy ribbon, to support the weight of the felt triangles, I think a satin or cotton ribbon would have flopped out a bit when hung on the wall. This ribbon is embroidered, isn't it rather lovely? And then I sewed those babies on. Using whatever colour thread was in the Husky, thankfully it turned out to be white.

I sewed the 'Merry' and the 'Christmas' on two different pieces of ribbon, I thought one long arrangement would be too long and heavy, and also it gives more flexibility to hang in different places. My lettering turned out quite nice(if only it didn't have orange colouring-in round the edges!!), the 'm's and the 'h' were a little big, but I glued them to fit inside the triangle, and it ended up looking like a Dr Seuss font. Accidental coolness!
This wee project didn't take long, I'd love to do a 'Happy Birthday' garland as well, along with a garland of each person in the family's name. Then their names can hang over their beds during the year and then be whipped out when it's birthday time! Celebration!

What crafty things have you been up to? I'd love to hear your ideas. xx