A Temple, Puddles and Birds.

I had a go at another Christmas make idea, I was looking for something less time consuming than the owls.

I came up with this little birdie. He's a cross between the coloured birds in this post and the quilled bird in this post.

I think I'll make the wings a little less frilly for the next one, then do a few more to sell cheaply at the next fair. They're very simple to do...

1. Cut a piece of card into a bird shape (this particular shape is taken from "Christmas Crafting in No Time")

2. Fold a length of paper into a concertina, round the ends with scissors, insert into a slot cut into the, glue wings together at the top, and attach a thread for hanging.

I am also making more owls for the forthcoming nursery fair. Why? Because... all seven hanging owls and the spicy owl pillow sold at the school fair on Saturday - hurray! I put the price at £4.50 for the hanging owls and £7.50 for the owl pillow. So just for those that's £38 direct to the school which is more than I would have given in a straight donation, plus I did enjoy making them, and of course, taking photos of them, putting them on my blog and receiving some lovely comments about them! Thank you to all who did take the time to comment, all comments are much appreciated. I must admit now that the thrill of making them is starting to fade a little, but I'll manage a few more I'm sure.

Yesterday afternoon we went for another little walk. Anyone who follows my cycling posts will probably have noticed little hilltop folly which frequently appears in my photos. Despite living here for nearly 10 years, I'd never made the little detour up the hill to visit the folly, till now. However, we soon realised we hadn't picked a good day...

... a huge enormous puddle! I waded slowly through it carrying N. It probably stretched for 100yds and for about 50 of those it came up to within 2" of the tops of my wellies.

Hubby and A decided to try skirting round the puddle (you can just make them out on the far right of the above photo)

It initially looked like they'd made the better choice, but they got very muddy.

Still, we made it!

The folly (or temple as it's often called) was bigger than I thought it would be, and although empty there was more inside than I expected - such as the remains of a fireplace and evidence of an upper floor level with the windows. It was built in 1760 so is also older than I expected too. Apparently its original use was thought to be as a religious shrine and later it was used as hunting base, being close to a deer path.

At least it provided shelter from the wind.

The views were pleasant too, though we resolved to come back and appreciate them more on a nicer day.

Sunbeams and the setting sun peeking through a gap in the clouds.

We returned to the car along the cycle path to avoid the puddles. I love returning to a warm cosy home after a cold and blustery late Autumn walk - one of my favourite things!

The Final Tally.

In the end...
...I made...
...seven...
...owl ornaments.

I apologise a little for the glut of owl pictures, but I'm pleased with how they've turned out and they do make rather nice photographs together. Tomorrow they'll be on sale at the school fair so it may be the last time they are altogether.

I'd be interested in knowing what the general opinion is as to how much they'd sell for at a school fair. I have a price in mind which I hope isn't too cheap, but also isn't too pricey bearing in mind it's a school fund raising event and not a craft fair. So please, what do you think Joe Bloggs would pay? (not what they're worth, which to me is far more!). If I make them too expensive and they don't sell then I can always drop the prices a little for the nursery fair next week - I don't actually want to sell them all as I don't really have time to make many more.

As an alternative to the ornament form...

I turned one into a little scented cushion, full of cloves, cinnamon sticks and allspice berries, and gave him a little branch to sit on. I've cut pieces to make another of these which I think I will keep for myself.

I had some luck in a charity shop recently. Some good looking books including the Twilight Trilogy which I've yet to read (or see on film) and a big ball of crochet thread which is perfect for snowflake production.

So, this is my final board of Christmas craft donations for the fair. I seem to have have felt personally responsible for stocking the entire craft stall and have gone a bit daft perhaps.

Actually, there's more...

...in addition to felt decorations and crochet snowflakes...

...I made...

... lots of mulled wine sachets using fresh whole spices - cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger. Our house smells lovely just now!

To finish, as a break from all this crafting, I'll share a few photos from a recent walk. It was at our local country park and was just as daylight was starting to fade. N felt rather cheated as he was expecting swings and slides after hearing we were going to a park. A wasn't keen at first either but really enjoyed the walk up the hill and the views. Both enjoyed Gruffalo hunting the the deep dark woods on the way to the hill.

A Mouse, an Owl, some Snowflakes and a Winner.

Not an owl...
...but a lavender mouse. Made using Tess @ Driftwood's tutorial. I found it a little fiddly to make but everyone who's since seen the mouse has liked it very much so I will have another try. Things are often easier after the first attempt anyway.

There is another owl after all. Green too.

I tried to get a photograph of him outside but his ribbon seemingly proved just too irresistable for the moggie.

I've been blocking my crochet snowflakes following Victoria @ Yarn Round Hook's blocking guide.

It certainly makes a difference. I've just been using acrylic dk to make the snowflakes which seems fine. Oddly the snowflakes I liked best before blocking are the ones I like least after, I'm glad I found out before I made too many.

Now to the giveaway which ended yesterday...

...thank you to everybody who entered for the fantastic response. I've also been receiving a lot of nice comments about the owls which has been very encouraging for me.

Into the hat...

...and the winner is...

... Victoria at Yarn Round Hook. Congratulations! In addition to the book and chocolate I'll include some materials for making your very own owl.

Thank you again to those who entered and to those who have also commented on my feltie attempts. I'd like here to say a little Thank you in particular to Toffee Apple who is always so generous with her comments but with whom I can't find a way to communitcate as I've not been able to get the email pop up doodaa to work. Anyway, it's turning into an Oscars speech so I'll away now and leave you alone. Enjoy the weekend. Actually, tomorrow should be quite an interesting day for me - our orchestra is playing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the morning. I hope I don't make too much of a fool of myself in front of the pros! We'll be playing Sibelius 2nd Symphony, last movement...

Twit Twoo

Five little felt owls all in a row...

...along came the cat...

...and made them a little higgledy piggledy, so there you go.

Purrrrrrrrrrr.

I'm rather enjoying making the felt owls, it's such a lovely design to start off with (from Christmas Crafting in No Time, see here) and I get a lot of pleasure from selecting the different colours of felt and thread.

I've also been making some other felt Christmas ornaments...

... most are new for this year, though the gingerbread man (and snowman and Christmas pudding motif which follow) are old favourite designs (see here (2010) and here (2009)).

I adapted the pudding design and used it for this little scented pillow. It's stuffed full of cloves and cinnamon and smells divine. I'm also pleased with my dala horse motif which is new this year too. I used the colours from my bargain ebay horses (see here) as inspiration.

Mmmmmm. There'll be some more of these to come and I think I'll be keeping one for myself (all the rest are to be donated to the nursery/school Christmas fairs).

Here's the snowman. He wasn't quite ready for the photo shoot as his scarf needs a little stitch to fix it in place.

Not shown is a crochet snowflake attempt. It needs blocked, in the meantime it was being played with and has temporarily disappeared.

And someone else has got the owl bug too!

Other bloggers have posted photos of their Christmas crafting in progress which prompted me to share mine. It's nice to know I'm not alone! The ones which stuck in my mind were Summerfete (here) and Yarn Round Hook (here).