christmas

Alice surprised us by bringing home two guinea pigs from university. The furry pair belong to the shared student house in Brighton.

I mentioned this website in a previous post  but thought it was relevant to mention it again at this festive time of year. They have a free download of a Christmas room set  This print-and-build model stands 23cm in height. Previously I made a shop from this Japanese website it was very precise and fitted together beautifully.

This fairy I designed is based on an old fashioned clothes peg and a pom pom. First paint your peg like the photos below. I used acrylic paints, indelible pens, metallic marker pen (for laces on the ballet pumps) and glitter. Allow the peg to dry. Now make a pom pom following the instructions here Follow the tutorial to the point were the two cardboard rings are covered with wool. Take your peg and insert it into the centre of the wool covered circle.

I have designed this Russian doll as a tree decoration. The pattern for the doll is included on the felt bird Christmas decoration pattern. Just click on pdf attachment . I also made some dolls with a patterned cotton fabric and felt. Because I used a patterned material I had to make the face from a circle of flesh coloured felt.

I found a really nice soft tree pattern on Little birds she has kindly made a pattern to download. For inspiration go here and see the variety and variation that can be achieved with this simple pattern. I had to add face and legs to some of mine! 

These felt birds are easy to make and only need a minimum amount of sewing. I have made one in white, like a dove. The instructions are for a coloured bird to make the parts easier to identify and assemble. This is a fiesta of a bird! To make the bird you will need

• felt
• small amount of wadding
• two small glass beads for eyes
• ribbon to hang the bird from
• beads and bell for embellishment

I have included a free pattern for you to download.

When I was at the Knit and Stitch Show I couldn't resist buying a very delicate sheet of Japanese lace paper. This weekend I made lanterns with it. To get the cool effect I layered two blue bands of torn mulberry paper on to the glass. I put a finishing layer of the lace paper on top. I incorporated into one of the designs some snowflake tissue paper.

I found this amazing Japanese website. It has the most adorable print-and-build models. It's called the Paper Museum and the downloads are free. The website is full of cute shops, vehicles, food, decorations, packaging, cards and lots more. All are ingeniously made from card. After some indecision because of the choice, I plumped for the toy shop it was easy to make. Its construction was very precise. When it's completed it stands 23cm in height.