Needle Felted Wool Ball Garland How-To

I'm a gal who likes a garland or a bunting and some sparkly lights. What can I say, I'm fancy. 

I have crocheted snowflakes for a garland, made a fun fabric bunting, and I am currently stitching up the hearts from Shiny Happy World  to make a new garland. But today, I decided that I needed something not-so-seasonal for in between times. Hence, the needle felted wool ball garland!

I choose some fun colors from my basket of rovings and pulled out a small amount of each.

I gave to warm water method a try, but didn't have much luck. 

I stuck with the tried and true method using my multi-needle tool and brush base.

I could have wet-felted them afterwards, but I like the fuzzy look.

I made balls in a variety of sizes for my garland.

I used my cool Lion Brand Bon-Bon yarn in bright pink and busted out the sequins.

I threaded to yarn on an embroidery needle and alternated sequins and wool balls.

Love it!

Merry Monday: Crocheted Snowflake Garland

As the days get colder and the nights darker, I find myself snuggling in and just wanting to sip tea and and make things. I have resolved that at least 85% of my gifts shall be hand-crafted. Between embroidering, crocheting and sewing, I decided that my house needed some handmade holiday cheer of its own. 

The crocheted snowflake garland was the perfect solution.

To make the snowflakes:
Ch 5 on hook size 3 mm  and form a ring with 1 sl st in first ch.
Row 1: ch 1, 11 sc in ch-ring, finish with 1 sl st in first ch.Row 2: ch 2, * 1 dc in next sc, ch 6, 1 dc in next sc *, repeat 5 times, 1 dc in next sc, ch 6, finish with 1 sl st in 2nd ch from beg of round = 6 ch spaces.Row 3: ch 1, * 1 sc between the next 2 dc, 4 sc in ch space, ch 3, 4 sc in ch space *, repeat from *-* a total of 5 times, 1 sc between the next 2 dc, 4 sc in ch space, ch 20, 4 sc in ch space, finish with 1 sl st in ch from beg of round. Fasten off.

I made a snowy pile of flakes, some for the garland and some to give as small tokens.

To make the flakes more defined, I used t-pins to stretch out each one on a cardboard copy paper lid covered with wax paper. The lid allowed the pins to do as deep as necessary and the wax paper kept the cardboard from getting soaked with the starch.

I sprayed them all liberally with laundry starch and let them dry overnight.

I tied each snowflake to a string of white lights and finally wrapped a doubled length of strung sequins around the strand. I love how the lights shimmer off the sequins and the silver threads in the snowflakes. Because the garland is not Christmas specific, I plan on leaving it up though the winter for a little glow on those dark winter nights.