Fun Felt Easter Basket Craft Round-Up

Ok, I realize today is Leap Day and that Easter is still more than a solid month out, but my friend Lauren was asking me about felt goodies for Easter baskets this morning. While I was doing a search, I found some awesome free patterns and tutorials and decided it was time for a felty round-up post. So, let's put winter behind us, look towards the spring and get crafting with some of these fun items!

First, I'll start with my own Easter post from last year. These over-sized felt eggs are perfect for Baby's First Easter. The tutorial for them can be found HERE. 

Next, we need some Peeps for our basket. The tutorial for these bunny peeps can be found courtesy of  Mommy Savers. 

If birdie Peeps are more your style, check out this handy pattern from Dusty Bottom Acres. 

If you would like some felt eggs you can fill with candy and other goodies plus have the added bonus of reusing them year after year, One Inch World has you covered. 

Toddlers LOVE quiet books, and this free pattern from Chez Beeper Bebe is Egg-cellent!

This tutorial from Apine Industries for this super cute bunny is in Italian, but thanks to the wonders of Google Translate, it is still very easy to follow. 

If you need a little chocolate in your life, these delicious bunnies from Playing With Your Food are sure to get your sweet tooth. 

If you are in the market for felted jelly beans in their own box, American Felt and Craft has a lovely tutorial. 

This herd of felt bunny finger puppets from The Purl Bee were too cute not to include. 

And, if you need a basket to fit all your goodies, this pattern from Maya Made takes care of all your spring basket making needs.  

Well, there you have it, plenty of patterns to keep you busy! Time to break out the felt and get your Spring craft on!

Happy Easter Felting!

~Brittany

CLOSED: Anniversary Giveaway--Felt Midwife Play Set from Mama's Felt Cafe and One Month Supply of Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies from Mommy's Milkin Cookies ($83 Value, Cookies US Only)

It's so hard to believe that a whole 12 months has passed since I open my Etsy shop last February. This has been an amazing creative journey that has taken me places I haven't expected. My felt tamales and enchiladas are in a Children's Museum in New Hampshire. My Mama's Milk Carton has been in the presence of  midwifery great Ina May Gaskin. I've shipped items as far as Australia, Spain, Nova Scotia, Sweden and all over the United States and have Facebook fans from 19 countries around the world. 

To celebrate this Etsyversary, I wanted to giveaway my most cherished item, the one closest to my heart. Enter this oatmeal and chocolate colored Midwife Play Set. You can read all about the pieces of this midwife kit HERE. 

This makes the perfect gift for the midwife, doula or birth junkie in your life or a great way to introduce new siblings to the tools of a midwife. I also donate a portion of the sale of this set to Citizens For Midwifery. 

To sweeten the deal (and stay on an oatmeal theme), Katie of Mommy's Milkin Cookies is providing a one month supply (3 dozen) of her scrumptious Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies. These yummy treats contain 6 galactagogues known for boosting milk supply and are delicious even if you aren't lactating. I recently sent a couple dozen as a gift to a girlhood friend who is pumping for her micro preemie NICU twins. If you are interested in ordering some of Katie's cookies, you can contact her on Facebook or at MommysMilkinCookies (at) gmail.com. Thanks, Katie!

You can also save 20% off an order at the Mama's Felt Cafe Etsy Shop with coupon code ANNIVERSARY at check-out in the month of February. 

To enter the giveaway, just use this handy, dandy Rafflecopter entry form. Contest will run from February 8th to midnight, February 15, 2012, EST. Winner will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours or a different winner will be selected.


 NOTE: Due to their perishable nature, the lactation cookies will be shipped in the US only. The Midwife set is available to international entrants. If the winner selected is  a US resident, they will win both prizes. If the winner is outside the United States, they will receive the Midwife set and a small set of FELT "lactation" cookies hand sewn by me. A second winner in the US will then be chosen to receive the Mommy's Milkin Cookies prize. If you have any questions, please email me: Mama(at)mamasfeltcafe.com. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has lent their support to Mama's Felt Cafe. I wouldn't be here without you!


Happy Winning!

~Brittany

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine's Day Craft-- Felt Hand Print Owl Stuffed Toy

Oh January, how you have just flown on by! Now that we are several weeks into the New Year, it's time to start thinking about Valentine's Day. Last year, I posted how to make a heart shaped PB&J felt food sandwich and cut-out heart felt cookies to create a lovey lunch for your little one. This year, I was inspired by a pin I saw on the awesomeness that is Pinterest: 

You can check out the hand print paper owl craft over at Meet the Dubiens. I thought these owls would be perfect to make into a  felt stuffed animal and I love that the wings commemorate your kiddo's wee hands. I have dubbed him Owlbert Hootsweet. 

The Ingredients:  

-Front and back red felt owl body piece. This I drew free hand. It's 6 inches wide and 8.5 inches tall from the tip top to the bottom. The dip at the top that forms the owl's ear tufts 2 inches deep at it's deepest. 

-Left and Right felt hand tracing "wings". I used red glitter felt for a little sparkle. Be sure to trace each hand over two layers of felt there is a front and back. These don't have to be perfect or even. I liked the "wing" made with the spread fingers a little better myself, though. 

-Two white felt circles for eyes. These circles are 2 inches wide.

-Two small black felt circles for pupils. Mine are about a quarter inch wide.

-One small yellow felt triangle nose. The short side is three-quarters inch and the long sides are just under an inch long.

-Two pink felt heart cut outs for the belly applique. I used this free heart template and the 4 inch wide heart and the 1 inch wide heart.

-Polyfil stuffing

-Matching Embroidery Thread

The Recipe:

First, sew the eye pieces to the owl front body piece. I positioned the white pieces about 1.25 inches in from the edges of the owl's body. Whip stitch a few stitches to attach the pupils to the white circles then sew the eye circles onto the body with a running stitch.

Next, whip stitch the nose piece so that it is nestled in between the two eyes. 

Then, sew on the hearts to make the owl's belly. The little heart is centered on the big heart and the big heart is positioned about and inch down from the bottom tip of the nose. 

Here is our owl so far. Now it's on to the wings. 

Whip stitch around each each hand, sewing the top and bottom pieces together. 

Next, arrange the hand pieces how you would like them on the owl. Mine were about even with the eyes, though you could angle yours down a bit more than mine were. Pin the front and back body pieces together with the wings in place. 

Before I sewed up the body, I quickly embroidered the year on the back of Owlbert in white floss. That way I would always know how old my son was when I traced those hand prints. 

Now, starting in the upper left side of the owl, whip stitch the front and back pieces together. Pay close attention when you sew the wings and be sure to go through all the layers of felt. Keep sewing until you get to the top of the right ear tuft. 

Add stuffing, 

and finish sewing the top shut. 

Ta-da! Owlbert Hootsweet is complete. 

My son and his new owl lovey 

Happy Valentine's Day Felting!

~Brittany

Easy Felt Poinsettia Christmas Ornaments

I took my car in yesterday to have the alignment done and the battery replaced. Since I knew I would have some kidless time to sit in the auto shop lobby and wait, I packed myself a felt craft to work on. When I was done, I had three poinsettia ornaments I'm going to use as embellishments on my holiday packages. They are super easy yet adorable so you still have time to make some before Christmas. Poinsettias have been associated with Christmas for centuries and I remember my mom keeping the red leafed plant around our house this time of year when I was growing up. 

The Ingredients: 

- Two cream felt circles, 3 inches in diameter

-One red (or cranberry or dark magenta or similar colors) 3 inch felt circle

- One small yellow circle for flower center

- One 7 inch long piece for the hanger. I used pinking shears and cream felt but you could also use ribbon.

-Cream Embroidery Floss

The Recipe:  

The first thing I did was make a template. I traced a 3 inch circle on paper. I also drew a flower petal, about a inch long. I cut a small hole about centered on the circle. Then I traced and cut my flower petal in six places around the center. It doesn't have to be perfect and the petals don't have to all be uniform. 

Once you have your template ready, the easiest way to cut this out is to tape the template on to one of the cream felt circles. It will keep the paper from getting too weak and hold the pattern steady. I folded the petal area and snipped in then cut around.

 Be careful to pull the template off slowly when you are done so that it doesn't tear the felt. 

Now, layer the red and yellow pieces under the top circle. 

Using cream thread, stitch the colored layers to the top layer. When you are done, trim up the red layer so that it won't be visible when you sew on the back cream layer. 

Loop the hanger piece and decide which way you want the flower to hang. Sandwich the looped hanger between the  front and the back layer, then whip stitch around the circle. 

I left my back piece plain but you could easily embroider the date or a gift recipient's name for an extra special touch. 

Now our ornament is complete!

I repeated these steps with a cranberry  

and dark maroon backing. 

They will be the perfect addition to my Christmas wrapping!

In case you are in need of more felt ornament cuteness, be sure to check out these snow flake ornaments by Oh, Happy Day.

Happy Felting!

~Brittany

When Felt Food Meets Hanukkah

Today, I'm guest posting over at The Natural Parents Network. I wanted to share a little about how to make this fun felt Hanukkah play set, as the holiday is quickly approaching. If you are short on time, materials or both, I have a set available in the Mama's Felt Cafe Etsy shop for easy gift giving. Check out the tutorial HERE.  

In case you've missed some of my latest projects ( Facebook holds my day-to-day doings), here is a little round up: 

The holiday season has brought several requests to my shop for custom orders. It's rewarding for me to stretch my creative talents to create something new and  I loved some of the results so much I added them to Mama's Felt Cafe as permanent items. 

 Mama's Milk went interactive with this pourable carton. The top hides a secret spot for a piece of felt "milk" and the spout folds back up to look like a regular carton.  

This toast and honey set is the bee's knees. It includes two pieces of whole wheat toast and a spread of "honey". The bee detail was my favorite part.

To add a little sweetness to my dessert line up, I created this tea and cookies set. There are three different flavors of tea: mandarin orange, peppermint and chamomile. Perfect for pretend tea parties!

Spaghetti and Meatballs arrive at Mama's Felt Cafe by request for a little girl who loves Lady and the Tramp. The bread stick is two-toned, with cream on the underside. Little chefs can pretend "bake" the bread stick for more imaginative fun.  

Amy ordered a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich as a Christmas gift for a special pediatric orthopedic doctor who has cared for her daughter (and loves a good cheese steak). I'm thinking of serving it with felt wedge cut sweet potato fries. 

Lastly, my Mama's Milk and Cookies set got Christmas tree approved make-over. Thanks to Jacqueline for the idea! One Mama's Milk was even made into a special "First Christmas" ornament, with Baby's name embroidered on the back. 

As we come closer to the New Year, this Mama is ready to take a little break in January. Kristy has been kind enough to volunteer to man the Mama's Felt Cafe Facebook page and you may see a guest post or two on the blog. I'll be back to celebrate the one year anniversary of my Etsy Shop with a big giveaway, so stay tuned!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday Season!

~Brittany

Wordless Wednesday--Baby's First Food

Lauren was kind enough to share these photos of her adorable little guy chowing down on his first food--my felt watermelon! You can read more about Eli and his breechy born twin sister Eleanor here. Thanks, Lauren!

Happy Wednesday!

~Brittany

Mama's Milk, Ina May, Birth Matters, Oh My!

This set of a Mama's Milk carton and bottle cozy will soon be in the presence of midwifery greatness. They are heading out to Health Foundations Birth Center, just in time for a special fundraiser to benefit Mama Latte, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes donor breast milk in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest. 

The special guest at this fundraiser is Ina May Gaskin, a world renown midwife and author. Her books include Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding and her most recent, Birth Matters. I still remember the much loved copy of Spiritual Midwifery sitting on my mother's bookshelf for many years, it's hippy-dippy blue cover unmistakable. The stories in Guide to Childbirth helped me prepare for the birth of my own son. Ina May's work is an inspiration and I'm thrilled that my items will even been in the same room with her, displayed at this milky event.  

For further reading about Ina May Gaskin, please visit: http://www.inamay.com/

For tickets to the fundraiser dinner in St Paul, Minnesota November 14, 2011 please see: http://healthfoundations-birthmatters.eventbrite.com/

and for more information about the fabulous Health Foundations Birth Center, please visit: http://www.health-foundations.com/

~Brittany