Blogger Bear

After the tremendous response we received from the adorable felt penguin and felt Easter Bunny made by Heather in our Salem store, I asked Heather to create a template for another fun felt project.

The felt PZ carries is made of 100% recycled plastic bottles so in honor of upcoming Earth Day: we bring you Blogger Bear!!

Here is a list of items you will need:

- 2 sheets dark brown felt
- 1 sheet light brown felt
- 1 sheet red felt
- 1 sheet pink felt
- two button eyes of your choosing about half inch diameter
- good sharp scissors
- fine point marker
- Jilly Bean twine or embroidery floss
-book binding needles or other large eyed needle
- enough fluff stuff to fill the 9 inch bear

Step 1:
Using the template provided on the Paper Zone website (click here), trace the shape of the bear onto the dark brown felt and cut. Cut two shapes so that you have a front and back for your Blogger Bear.

Step 2:
Trace and cut the ears, nose, snout and heart using the detailed image from the template.

Step 3:
Test assemble your bear to make sure that the shapes are how you will like your final bear to appear.

Step 4:
Center red felt heart on the bears tummy and baste stitch around the heart using the Jilly Bean twine or embroidery floss. Be sure to start and end your stitches on the inside of the bear so you will not see the knot.

Step 5:
Baste stitch the inner ears, snout and nose. Draw the mouth using the fine tipped marker. Button stitch eyes in place.

Step 6:
Begin to blanket stitch the front and the back of the bear together, hiding your knots and tails inside the bear. Leave an opening so he can be stuffed!

Step 7:
Fill him with fluff (not stuff), finish up the stitching and then give him a hug!

Thank you, Heather, for your fun felt creations and for creating this adorable little template!!

--Kim

Pretty Felt Flower Pins!

These pretty felt flowers feature some new products we are carrying at all of our locations. First, we now carry 9x12 sheets of felt in 20 different colors! It is made from 100% post consumer plastic bottles. It is great for home, school, and everyday craft projects. It's soft, cuts cleanly, sews easily, is machine washable and shrink resistant. So, not only is it multi-functional, but it's 'green', too! The E6000 is a great multi-functional, industrial strength adhesive. It's flexible, paintable, waterproof, non-flammable, and safe for photographs. Unlike most glues, this is nice and thick which makes it easy to work with and great for all types of projects! The pinbacks are also new to PZ. They come in a value pack of 60, have a safety clutch, and are 1 inch long. These are great for changing any craft project into something wearable!

Tools Needed:

Felt, Crop-a-dile, pinbacks, E-6000 adhesive, and brads. It always helps to play some good music while you're crafting, too.

You can cut out flowers free hand from the felt, but I found it easier to punch out a template from cardstock.

Then, using a pen (I used a Sharpie) trace the flower shape onto your felt.

Next, using sharp scissors, cut out the flower, carefully.

Cut out one more the same way in another color.

After that, stack the flowers, and use your Crop-a-dile to punch a hole. I used the Crop-a-dile because the felt is too thick to be punched through with a regular hole punch.

Then, place a brad through the hole. This is an easy way to play around with the look of your flower by using different color brads, jewel brads, pearl brads, fabric brads, etc.

Now it's time to make your pretty flower into a pin! Place a bit of the E-6000 adhesive onto the back of your flower.

Next, place a pinback onto the glue and press firmly. Hold for a minute or so to make sure it adheres properly. Then, set it aside and allow about 30 minutes for it to completely dry.

Voila! You have now made a pretty felt flower pin! Another idea is to forgo the pinback and use the flower as an embellishment on a card or scrapbook page.

For more ideas on making pretty felt flower pins, come to a free make and take instructed by Whitney Henne at our Tukwila Paperzone on Saturday, March 12th, from 12-2pm. An example from her make and take is below.

-Malyse