Thursday, June 30, 2011

Felted Bird Mobil

I am so blessed to be rich in good friends.
The kind of friends who are thoughtful and loving.
The kind of friends who send gifts for new babies that make this mommy's heart melt.
My friend Lisa made this adorable felted bird mobile for Davy.
Isn't it the sweetest thing ever?



In addition to the little birds, there are all these balls of soft, felted wool in bright colors.




Here is a close up of one of the birds.
Lisa created him free hand.
She claims it was easy: "you just shape the wool into a bird."
Oh.  Just.  How easy.
I don't believe her.




She hung the birds and balls from a little embroidery hoop.
Those guys are so handy.




I hung the mobile over Davy's changing table.
It's right next to a window so everything twirls around slowly in the breeze that blows through the window all day long.
This is his view looking up.




And here's a look at the whole thing.
I absolutely love it.
I'm so glad his changing table is in our room so I can enjoy the mobile for a while.



Of course, now I want to learn how to felt.
I can see so many possibilities for fabulous garlands made out of those soft, little balls.
I think I could make the balls.
I can't be sure.  I'm not too crafty at anything related to sewing, knitting or sculpting.
Or drawing.
But I think I could do those balls.
In fact, I think I am going to have to spend an evening at Lisa's house and she is going to have to show me how to felt.   OK Lisa?

I did some investigating on the intranet to find out more about felting.
Here are some sites to check out if you are interested.
Martha: this one involves water and wool
Good Mama: this one involves needle felting and pantyhose
Craft Evolution: this one is needle felting
Crunchy Parent: this one is a you tube video for those of you who need to see it in action in order to figure out how to do it.  (that'd be me)

This is the wool roving that Lisa used for Davy's mobile.
She said you could find wool roving at any good yarn store.
The same site also has these kits which I thought were cool.
Especially the spring flowers kit.  Sooo cute.

So there you go.  Now you can go forth and try wool felting too.
Do any of you already know how and have great tips for me?
Maybe if I start on a garland now, I can have one done in time for our Christmas tree.
Or, maybe not.  But I can dream.
Thank you, Lisa, for crafty inspiration and for one of the cutest mobiles I have ever seen.

Love from,
Greta

8 comments:

Betsi* said...

Oh, how sweet! I love it. Now I totes wanna learn to felt too!

mandi said...

I love felting! Alas, I'm not nearly as good as your friend. That is a beautiful mobile! Maybe a good start would be starting small, just getting a feel for the wool. Get the kids involved and try felting a bar of soap. That is easy (beyond easy) and fun to do with the kids.

Debbie said...

So sweet. I love it.

Laura said...

so sweet! i love the colors - so happy & fun.

Anonymous said...

I want to be friends with Lisa.

Lisa said...

It really is easy, just takes a little time..oh and focus..those needles are ferociously sharp. Anytime you are down here Greta, give me a call and I'll show ya the basics(that's all I know anyhow :) )

Looks awesome hanging above the changing table...so glad you like it.

hennymats said...

So cool! I could never do the birds (but I can't sew a straight line or wrap a present decently or do anything crafty ;)), but I did do felt balls like that before, so they gotta be easy. I used the hot water and soap method and it worked great.

Cheers,
Swenja

grey rose (they/them) said...

oh, it's so darling! loving the bright colors and the texture of felted wool is so cozy!

xo