Kids' "Primitive" Angel Yarn Doll Ornament

My daughter and I had a great time yesterday spending the afternoon make yarn dolls and yarn doll ornaments (her idea). This is such a great craft project for kids, and can be used as small gifts, ornaments or package decorations. 

I tend to forget that not everyone knows how to make these little people, since I learned as a child too. When we made "witch" yarn dolls (see photo below) for our mother daughter book club, I was reminded that not only kids...but some adults have never learned to make these little treasures. And that both can have such a good time with them because they're "do-able" even for non-crafty types.

So here goes:

Find a small piece of cardboard or plastic (the height you wrap around will determine the height of your doll), and begin loosely wrapping yarn around it. For this particular angel, I wrapped 150 times around. You can do less for a "Biggest Loser" version of an angel...I just like mine "plump."

Slide a short length of yarn underneath one end of the wound strands and tie it to secure. This will be the top of the doll's head.

Gently slide the yarn off of the cardboard.


Hold the "head end" of the lengths, and tie another short piece around where you want the neck to be. Figure this out by how large, visually, you want your "head" to be. (Or rather, the angel's head...)

Separate out a few strands on each side to become the arms, and tie at the wrists. Then trim the loops at the ends of the arms to create the pom poms for the hands.

Next, tie a waist for your little figure, and cut open the bottom loops to form the skirt.

Need hair? You can make a little wig in the same manner. Wrap the yarn around a narrow strip of cardboard, and knot on one end. Slide the loops off and cut open the loops at the opposite end from the tie.

Insert a little yarn underneath the tie at the top of your figure's head, and use it to tie on the wig. Then "style" as desired.







The wings are simply two pipe cleaners bent into wing form and tied on the back.

You can always make her a bit fancier with a ribbon belt, googly or stitched eyes, or dip the bottom edge of her skirt in glue and glitter. We used to add pipe cleaner halos when we were little, too.

As promised, here's the witch version we did for Halloween.

One skein of yarn, a pair of scissors and cardboard can make quite a few of these and keep the little ones crafting for a while.

I'm linking up with the fun at:

Winding Up a Shamrock for St. Patrick's Day

Top of the Mornin' to ya! I finally finished my St. Paddy's Day yarn shamrock. I wanted to make something that looked a little homemade...a little bit rustic...but not messy or overly shabby. And here's what I came up with:

I started with four foam hearts, a couple of clearance-priced

skeins of green yarn (one "regular" and one "nubby" for texture). Then I just started winding...and winding... and winding the yarn around the hearts. It's a great project to work on while you're watching tv or waiting at dance lessons or in carpool line. Think of it an a bit of Zen....ahhhhhh.

Once I had wound the darker yarn around each heart, I used a

single strand of the nubby textured yarn as an accent.

But I needed a stem. I originally thought of taping a couple of paint stir stick together and wrapping them in yarn, but settled on a piece of

cardboard from a box in our recycling bin. That way I could control the shape a bit more. Again: winding, winding, winding.

I just used long straight pins to connect the finished hearts together, and then added the stem with two more. Ta da! Ready to hang. I paired it with this cute cloth banner from Hobby Lobby.

My Fuzzy Valentine

Here is the finished product from the pom pom craziness. I have to admit I rather like it.

It was difficult to stop running my fingers across the soft fringe. It reminds me of the (shudder) shag carpets in the 1960’s when I was little.

It was a fun, quick project, and…yes…there is Valentine-colored fuzz all over the sofa and carpet. My vacuum cleaner may not be too happy with me tomorrow!

Forms Found

We happily found wreath forms for our pom poms at Michael’s. I purchased a smaller one for K4’s room, since I’m predicting that she may get tired of making these little fuzzy wonders before she has too many. :)

She chose a multi-color yarn to use for hers, which will probably be just adorable.

After her friends’ birthday party this morning, and then braving the cold to sell a few more Girl Scout cookies, we retreated back home for hot cocoa and a pom pom making session.

Just in case you were wondering… a quick explanation: The reason we sometimes call my daughter K4 is that she’s the fourth girl in the immediate family to have a name that begins with the letter “K”. My sister is K1, I’m K2, my youngest niece is K3 and my DD is K4.

Pom Pom Madness

Oh, my goodness. This is ridiculously fun! I’ve been making yarn pom poms for the last couple of hours, inspired by a project that I saw on

http://bleubirdvintage.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/diy-pom-pom-wreath.html

If the end product turns out, I’ll post a photo of it for you to see. It’s been so long since I’ve made a pom pom that I forgot what mindless enjoyment it can be. My daughter even got distracted from her computer roaming enough to come over to see what I was doing. (That, in itself was worth it. J ).

After watching me make one, she knew exactly what to do (not brain surgery, after all), and was asking to try it. She would have gladly sat the rest of the night and “pommed” with me, but alas it was time to get ready for bed.

Of course, she wanted to know what project we could do in Girl Scout Brownies with this new discovery. I guess I need to work that into a future meetings’ craft. Luckily, our troop members are all BIG on crafts, so I wouldn’t dare have a meeting without one.

So it was off to Dreamland, with a promise of a trip to Michael’s tomorrow to pick out whatever color yarn she likes. She’ll probably have a bit of trouble getting to sleep with her head filled with project ideas. Takes after her mom that way.

I'm making my poms rather "shaggy", rather than tight and small to see if I can get a softer overall look for the project. Next time I'm sure I'll try to other method.

I’m planning on using mostly red, with a bit of pink and white for my Valentine color scheme. Granted, still a fun, tchochke wreath…but perhaps a bit less girly than all pink. I was originally planning this as a surprise decoration for K4’s bedroom door…but it now seems she has her own plans in mind with her new talent. That’s just fine with me. Mommy is so glad to have a crafting buddy!

So…as long as I was getting carried away tonight, I thought I might as well begin the blog I’ve been thinking about. I admit to being one of those people who always has several “irons in the fire” (and then wonders why I don’t have more time, ha ha).

We’ll see how this goes. Hope that you try making a pom or two yourself. It could be a new addiction!