~Pamela Susan~: Needle-Felted Easter Eggs

I'll cut straight to the chase. I love acorns. The first time I realized my unique adoration for this nut was when my Mom began sculpting them and selling them at her shows years ago. They were a hit. A BIG hit. I think it is safe to say she was an acorn lover before it became trendy to love acorns. Yep, my Mom was cool that way.

In fact, I am pretty sure I love acorns because they remind me of my Mom. In fact, I happened to stumble upon a treasured gift a couple months ago while helping clean out some boxes at my parents' place... a bag full of acorns she had collected herself from years ago! I found the perfect home for them: a handsculpted/carved bowl that Mom made herself.

Behold the pot o' acorns!

Speaking of acorns, one of my girls' favorite past times is collecting acorn tops. After countless times of stashing these little tops in my purse, stroller, and pockets I figured we should have a dedicated bag for our acorn-collecting adventures. So why should I use new fabric to make a bag when I can upcycle an old, worn-out mens jacket? All I had to do was cut the sleeves off, turn the leather elbow patch into an acorn, add a strap and voila! We had ourselves two stylin' acorn bags!

I think I'll put a couple of these bags in my shop next time it opens. Yipee!

(The fabric for the acorn tops come from Hawthorne Threads, which is only the coolest online fabric shop around!)

So, as I mentioned in the title, it's my birthday. Well, not today, but on Friday. And since I'll be turning 31 I thought it would be fun to give away 3 gifts, plus a bonus one! Get it? 3-1? Oh, good. I'm glad you got it.

Since I'm a jewelry designer I think it is only appropriate for one of the three gifts to be the acorn necklace!

And since we recently collected a bag fully of acorns, I couldn't resist pulling out the felting needles to make an acorn bookmark.

For the third gift I'll throw in a bar of either chocolate or licorice soap--your choice.

The bonus gift will be a little handsculpted acorn made of the chocolate soap!

So who wants an acorn necklace, bookmark, and soap?? One winner will be randomly chosen.

To enter this giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me which flavor of cake I should request for my big day!

2. For a second entry, like my facebook fan page and come back and tell me you did.

(If you're already a fan, post this giveaway on your facebook page and come back and tell me you did.)

3. For a third entry, do something nice for someone this week and come back and tell me what you did!

The winner will be announced on my birthday, November 19.

Good luck!!

xo,

Pamela, a soon to be 31 year old

p.s. For those of you who have inquired whether or not I'll reopen my shop before Christmas, I'm happy to announce that I will be! :) I'll most likely open it the last week of November for a couple days.

Okay, listen up everyone!

If you haven't bought yourself a needle-felting kit since my Felted Acorn tutorial, do so now! You MUST make the following craft...it is too fun to pass up!

I'll be using these felted festive eggs as place card holders in a couple weeks for our Easter dinner. I have a few more to make...I can't wait to finish them.

Felt the wool into an egg shape and decorate...it's that easy!

(The green egg on the left needs to be felted a bit more so it's the same size as the pink one--by doing so, the wool fibers will become tighter/firmer--this is what you want)

To purchase needle-felting supplies and wool roving, visit your local yarn shop. If you do not have one nearby you can shop online for needles, foam and wool.

I would love to see a picture of your felted Easter eggs! Have fun!

xo,

Pamela