Christmas Tree Pin Cushion

I wanted to make a simple cute pin cushion to go with my Christmas Needle felt case. It had to be christmassy (naturally), so check out this Christmas tree pin cushion.  Only a few bits of felt and some stuffing needed for this simple project as the pearl headed pins are themselves the decorations on the tree! I just added a bit of ribbon on the top for a final touch.

To make this cut out a circle for the base and a larger semi circle to make a cone. Stitch the two ends of the cone together and attach the circle to the bottom of cone, leaving about a 3cm opening. Turn your cone right side out, stuff with soft toy filling and over stitch the opening. Add pins and any other decoration you like!

Christmas Fayre Successes?

After visiting the Crafts for Christmas exhibition at the Birmingham NEC this year and stocking up with supplies, I was really excited to have a stall all of my own at a few Christmas Fayres on the run up to the festive season.  I’ve done two so far and have some pics below of my stall.

There are quite a few learns I took away with me after doing just these two but am really interested in your Christmas Fayre experiences, tips, pitfalls etc. I found that:

– Anything edible seems to go well – chocolate christmas pudding cupcakes sold out within about 20 mins

– People do not take huge amounts of money to Christmas Fayres (especially school ones) so have lots of cheaper items

– It is a good way to network and get possible future orders

– Make sure you have a good float with lots of change

– Oh and make sure you take sticky tape, blue tack, a pen, some bags for peoples purchases

– You can negotiate on stall prices (sometimes)

Would love to hear from others who have braved the Christmas Fayres this year and how you found it…… get in touch

 

Felt Christmas Decorations – Gingerbread Man, Robin, Christmas Pudding

More felt Christmas fun! I needed something to refresh my Christmas decorations this year but had no budget to buy any. Out comes the felt again! I got so addicted to making these I did a loads to put on my Christmas Fayre stalls.

I don’t have an patterns I’m afraid as I used a cookie cutter for the gingerbread man, draw round a mug for the christmas pudding and used the bird pattern from my Cath Kidston Sew! Book. Hope they inspire you to give them a go yourself though – It’s a great way to experiment with new stitches. Try incorporating blanket stitch, running stitch, french knots, cross stitch and get out your bag of material scraps & buttons to add interest like the gingerbread man’s bow tie and the button for the robins eye.