A foxy little woodland mobile

-OR- how I got my crafting mo-jo back

So I finally got a little crafty for these babies and it turned out to be more fun than I had thought. So much fun that I finished my little project in a day.  I thought I would work on it slowly throughout the week!  I'll just have to make sure my next project lasts a little longer.

Like many people I love Etsy!  They have some REALLY cute baby stuff.  Problem is the price that comes with all that adorableness!  I refuse to spend over $100 on a decoration that dangles over my babies' (I had to go double check the possessive plural of that...) bed.  But it's so cute and I really want it.... so a project was born.

It was really nice to do something crafty again.  I've been Pinteresting craze-mo and as much as I loved living in Germany, I stopped crafting because supplies were hard to come by at a price I was willing to pay.  I'm by no means a professional and I don't want to dump a bunch money into something if it not sure it will even turn out presentable.  This $10.02 project was the perfect leap back into crafting!  

I bought several 25¢ sheets of felt in the colors I would need and got some embroidery floss to match. Admittedly, I already owned some of the colors I needed so I only had to get a few, but each skein of floss is around 50¢ or so, so it's still not a motor investment.  I also got a bag of batting.  The smallest bag was HUGE and way more than I needed but even it was still under $4.  I have enough left over to make a stuffed animal or two.

I had found on Etsy some downloadable PDF templates for little woodland felt animals, but my cheap ass still didn't want to pay $5 for something I felt I could maybe do myself.  Out came the paper, pencil, and a big eraser.  I kept the lines simple so that the sewing would be easier.  In fact I re-designed the hedgehog several times because I didn't want to hand sew all those little spikes!  There was one that I shamelessly copied... I mean "was inspired by", but it ended up being the most time consuming to sew and stuff with those four tiny legs.

Once everything was drawn, I didn't use any fancy transfer pencils or tracing paper; I just cut out each piece and traced it onto the felt with a piece of chalk or a pencil.  I used hot glue to attach things like the faces and spots.  In retrospect, it was really hard to push a needle through hardened glue so if anyone attempts this project, be mindful of where you place your glue and keep it well away from, your stitching edge. I used French knots for most of their little eyes and then a basic blanket stitch to sew their fronts to their backs.  If you want the nitty gritty hard core stitch stuff: I used all 6 strands for the French knots and 3 for my blanket stitching, and I love conditioning my floss with thread heaven!  I tried to keep my stitches both a 1/4 inch from the edge and each other, but it's been awhile and lucky for me I like an imperfect look.

I stuffed the little guys full with the help of a chopstick (this was before I realized the batting came with a tool designed for exactly this purpose.) and then finished the blanket stitch to close up the openings.  We are having maternity photos done this weekend at an nature trail and I hope to find a nice branch we can spruce up and dangle the animals from to finish the mobile.  I'm thinking that while we are here in San Antonio I will hang it above their shared crib, and when we move, I'll hang it above the diaper table.

What I thought would take me a week, only took a day, but I really got into it and worked at them nonstop!  Either way this would be a great little project for anyone with basic sewing skills/ Google search skills to take on.  If you work it could be a weekend project or something you work on in the evenings.  They could even be made into cute little Christmas ornaments to give away or tie onto wrapped gifts.

My next endeavor promises to be much more time consuming; I will be making crib skirts, sheets, and a changing pad cover for their nursery corner.  It's ambitious and it's been years since I've sewn but I can do straight lines...I think.  At least this project has boosted my confidence enough to believe I can! But right now it's time for me to go test install one of the car seats.  

Until next time, Adios!