We tried some felting yesterday, thanks to some links and tips from my friend Laura. We used the basic instructions found on the Martha Stewart site here. These felt balls sort of remind me of planets and I think it would be fun to make felt planets for a mobile.
But this is not really a project for young kids. The balls in the photo above were pretty much made by me. In addition to having to use very hot water, you are not supposed to squeeze the water out of the felt, but rather toss it from hand to hand gently. My kids just couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze, so we ended up with these felt wormy things (pictured below). But I’m sure my kids will find some creative use for these.
Then I tried some needle felting. I read these basic instructions. Now this is definitely not for kids because it involves super sharp needles. But I only managed to poke myself and draw blood once. My little bird is not quite dense enough and I need to glue his legs in place, but I think he’s alright for a first effort. I’m going to try some little pumpkins for Halloween and some ornaments for Christmas.
I love those little birdy feet !
I love the green and blue ball…my fave colors…Together!
There was a great kid-friendly felting project in an issue of Living Crafts…I’ll see if I can explain it…you put warm (hot) soapy water in a small bowl (not that much) and put a small, simple cookie cutter in it. Pat some (dry) roving into it, and then start poking/patting it with the end of a chopstick or a pencil. The author of that article suggested singing a song or something and pretending this was and instrument you were playing along. Anyway, you just tap and tap and tap until it’s all felted into a little shape. My 4 y.o. could definitely do this, although she didn’t quite have the patience to tap enough to do all the felting–we traded off. My 7 y.o. could manage it entirely on her own. We’ve used these for necklaces or strung them up as little decorations.
What a great idea! I will have to try these with my kids!