Handcrafted Birdies

While stuck inside during Snowpocalypse 2011, I ran across the cutest little handmade birdies on the blog Living Life Creatively.  They were to die for!


{like I need to add any more birds to my decor}


I flew (too cheesy) hurried over to her Etsy shop and quickly bought the pattern for $3.00!  In less than 2 hours, I had made a practice fabric and paper one - minus the little legs.  I plan on adding the legs once I get to the store, but they are cute without them as well!


Here are some pictures to show you how easy this project is.


{fabric bird}

The pattern at this size works best with the fabric birds,
but I might enlarge it to make my next paper one. 

Just practicing, I traced it out on a piece
of left over fabric from this project.

Sewing.

Stitching.

Leaving some portion open for stuffing.

I stuffed this bird with pulled apart cotton balls since
I didn't have any filling.  Using a pencil or scissors
really helps getting into the tail and beak.

{paper bird}

What am I going to do with these?  I think the possibilities are endless.  Use them as place cards.  Put them on wreaths.  Use as gift tags.  String for garland.  Make tree ornaments.   Use as potted plant ornaments or labels.  Fill with oils or potpourri to make drawers smell good.  Use as a pin cushion.  Hang them from a hand made baby mobile.  Sprinkle them with love around the house!


Look around your house.  Do you see any themes that you use in decorating?  I'm guilty as charged!  I can't keep my hands off the birdies...

What in the Hound?!

I have never been good at documenting anything.  I have six or seven diaries/journals tucked away on shelves and in hope chests that are three-fourths unwritten.  When scrapbooking became the new journaling, I started several and now have moved them three different times - all still incomplete.


So, now I am attempting the blogging world.  Who knows how that will go.  But I think this has some potential to stick.  One thing it is doing is encouraging me to live more.  I am trying new things just to have some good stuff to write about.  Blogging has forced me to slow down and take pictures.  Now I have folders of picture on my computer organized for events in the event that I want to blog about it.  I think it is the best habit I have ever started.


Even though you can't tell, this post is about my dogs.  (You would think an English teacher wouldn't wait until the third paragraph to introduce her topic.)  Rusty and I have had the hounds for about seven years now.  I think I only found about thirty pictures of them on my computer.  Total.  Now I am on a mission to document them more.  I am snapping pictures of them and have even put a new page on our blog called "Our Dogs".  Here is my first post about them.  It involves a little crafting.

Rusty and I found this kit at Bed Bath & Beyond and picked up two of them.  Basset Hounds have very distinctive paws, and we knew this was the perfect way to document their personalities.

 The kit was so simple.  First, we rolled out the putty and made two circular ornaments.

Dagny was the first victim.  She was very cooperative, but her print turned out very...."houndish".  It was dirty and hairy.  While Rusty rerolled out the putty, I cleaned off both of their right paws, and we tried again.  Here's Hank.  Let's just say we was more dramatic participant than Dagny.

After capturing both of their prints, we picked out any stray hairs and shaped them as perfectly round as possible.  We punched a hole in the top of each of them with a straw and set them out to dry.

The kits had enough excess putty for us to make a third print.  We printed Hank's paw and are giving it as a gift a little later this week.  Can you see how dirty they still look even after washing their feet!

After 48 hours of drying, I sprayed them a high gloss white and looped a ribbon through them.


Here are the after pictures of them hanging on their stockings.

Can you tell which one is Hank's and which one is Dagny's?  I just love this idea because it is more novel than a picture.  It was also something fun for Rusty and I to do together.


Anyone else enjoy doing little craft projects as a family?  Or maybe you have quit on journaling or scrapbooking like me.  Do you have a system for making sure you stay on top of capturing those precious moments in life?