Valentine Owls

I'll owl-ways be yours, say you'll owl-ways be mine... so many fun Owlentine puns.  What's your favorite?

Hoot hoot!

My goal was to get 5 Valentine owls in my shop  by January 2nd, and I almost did it.  I tried to get away from the classic pink and red thing I usually do for Valentine's Day.  This guy is my favorite.  I have a few others in my shop right now, and I'm going to try to sew up a few more - if I have time!

"Whooo cooks for you?"

Fabric Acorn Tutorial

I thought it would be fun to create some fabric acorns made with real acorn hats.  So, we headed out on a family hike to gather some nuts like little squirrels.  After we got home, we carefully pulled the tops off the acorns and I played around with some fabrics until I got the acorn-look I wanted.   Here's a quick little nature-inspired craft tutorial on how to make fabric acorns.  I had fun making these, and I couldn't make just one,  my kids had fun helping  me collect and choose fabrics, and my husband just thinks I'm nuts!  

colorful fabric acorns 

supplies needed

 cut out a circle with 2.25 inch diameter
 snip the circle 4 times just up to the center

fold the circle in half and sew a seam for each section you just cut - be sure to back stitch

(you will sew 4 seams)

when you are done sewing the 4 seams it will look like a cone - this is the bottom of the acorn

sew a running stitch about a quarter inch from the top of the bottom of the acorn

leave a little bit of a tail at the start of the running stitch

(i usually use a matching thread, i used black here to illustrate this step)

after you sewed all the way around the cone you should have two tails, the start and the end of the thread

pull the ends of the thread together so the cone closes up a little bit

stuff the acorn bottom with a little bit of stuff 'n fluff

(do not entirely close the cone once it is stuffed- it will fill the acorn hat better if it is not pulled all the way)

 put hot glue into an acorn hat

quickly press your acorn bottom to the hat and squeeze the two together

and there you have it - a quick, fun, and festive craft

Right now my acorns are being used as Nutkin's snack.  But I think they would make a very cute brooch or look fun in a bowl as a decoration for Autumn.  I am thinking of stringing a few and making an acorn garland.  I would love to see your nutty creations!