Owl Post

A collection of 18 Owl themed craft ideas and projects.

Owls were everywhere a little while ago, it seemed they were on everything! Never one to be a strict follower of fashion and trends I'm proud to say I still love owls.
So when I was trawling through some old photos the other day and found quite a few handmade owl based things I thought I could collect them up with some other lovely Owl crafts from 'tinternet into an "Owl post" (Awh, see what I did there Harry Potter fans!)

Picture from Pottermore

Let's start with a bit of a long story, I'll try to keep it brief. Long before my own blogging days I read lots of lovely blogs, one of which, You Go Girl I'd come across one day when looking for doodle embroidery ideas. Now it was there that I saw these super cute felt creatures, included an Owl. There was a link to another blog Juicy Bits where you can get a free pattern for a similar felt owl - are you still with me?!
I combined the pattern from Juicy Bits with the embroidery ideas from You go Girl and made a few felt Owls.

Then using the same pattern shapes I made a paper pieced card to match.

I love how this came out, I need to make this one again soon!

Paperchase had a lovely owl wrapping paper at the height of the owl fashion mania and I used it for more card making.

I just stuck one owl to card, cut it out and fixed it with foam pads over another Owl. Then just added googly eyes to finish it off - love googly eyes! The letters are from old coloured envelopes and are punched using my lovely Quickcuts Squeeze die cutter.

Here I've just added another "wrapping paper on card" owl on a really simple gatefold card.

I found this (at least) 10 year old toilet paper tube owl our daughter has kept because her cousin made it for her. It is a little bit faded!

You can find tutorials to make similar ones here and here.

This lovely felt needlecase is something I have inherited from my Mum. Now I didn't actually know if she made it or was given it but I do know she loved it and so do I.

I remember seeing her using it when I was little and I still use it all the time.

I might try to take a pattern from it sometime and see if I can recreate it.

A couple of years ago I made our daughter this cushion using this brilliant granny square tutorial from Repeat Crafter Me.

I'd also used the same basic owl pattern from the granny square but used a much smaller hook and made this little brooch.

Now here is a parliament* of lovely Owl based crafts I've found to inspire you a little more!

These cute pinecone and felt owls from Lia Griffith are a kids craft really but I think it would be perfectly acceptable for grown ups to make them too, don't you?

If you have a friend who sews wouldn't they love an owl sewing buddy? Or maybe you just need to make one for yourself. The pattern is free and there is a step by step photo tutorial too from The Modern Tomato.

Monroe from Sew Crafty Crochet adapted her favourite owl cushion pattern and made this lovely Owl from old denim jeans this Earth day.

Something for you knitters now, how cute are these owl gloves? It's from Julie is Coco and Cocoa and she has patterns for a matching hat and scarf too.

How about getting your upcycling on and making this wood slice owl from House of Hawthornes? Because they are made from mostly recycled bits and pieces I imagine every one would have it's own unique look and personality.

These free printable chocolate bar wrappers from Lisa Storms are so sweet! They designed for Mini Hershey bars but I'm sure it would be easy enough to find a chocolate bar that would fit wherever you live in the world, or just tweak the printing size to make them fit your favourite treat.

The idea of making owl pancakes seems like a holiday thing to me, I can't imagine ever having had time on a school morning! But a chilled out weekend or holiday morning ... so much fun to make and eat!

The recipe, tips and even a short video on how to put it all together are on Simple as That.

Have you ever tried loom knitting? I have to confess I haven't other than using what we used to call a French knitting dolly to make necklaces, bracelets and spiral placemats when I was a kid. I believe it's the same sort of method but it's possible to get much more impressive results. Just take this Owl for example from Loom Lore.

They have loads of useful information to help you get started with loom knitting too if you fancy having a go.

These button owls from Learn Create Love have been made into magnets, what a lovely kids holiday project.

This is fun little fella to make! There is a pattern and full instructions on Rustic Honey

I'm thinking how lovely he would be part stuffed with gravel or rice and used as a door stop.

Amigurumi crochet is often just so darn cute and it doesn't get much cuter than this sweet little owl from Kristi Tullus

A free pattern and super clear step by step photos, my favourite kind of tutorial!

Have you become hooked on the colouring in craze or fancy having a go? Or maybe you are looking for the kids to do on a rainy afternoon, check out these lovely free owl printable pages from Dabbles and Babbles.

So there you have it, an owl post! Are you a fan of these wise old birds? 

* a whole load of owls together is a parliament apparently, I looked it up and that's what Mr Google said so it must be true...

You might also be interested in:

Rainbow Heart Garland

12 ideas for novelty yarns

Recycled gift wrap ideas

Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers

I'll be linking up at these great link parties

Simple Felt Needle Case

This is a tutorial for my Simple Felt Needle Case that first appeared in February as a guest post at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating. 

One of my work friends confessed a little while ago that she only had one needle in her house. One needle, how is that possible? I must have hundreds! What if she looses it? I was very worried for her so I made her a quick little felt needle case with a few extra's in it. I feel better knowing she will be ok now!

It was pretty easy and cute. Would you like to have a go? Here's how:

You will need:

Felt (I used 3 different colours but you can use whatever you like)
embroidery thread, 2 little buttons, this pattern and a sharp needle!

Cut out your felt pieces.

I chose for the darker orange to be the outside so attached the flower and one button as marked on the pattern.

The other side looked like this (but it won't be seen so it doesn't matter):

Now layer the other main piece on the wrong side, lining up carefully and pin in place.

Using 3 of the 6 strands of the embroidery thread, blanket stitch around these two layers.

When I get back to the beginning I just do a little oversew stitch to join. I did take lots of pictures of how to blanket stitch but they didn't come out! There is a good tutorial from futuregirl here if you need a bit of help.

Now fold your middle section in half and pin in position where marked on the pattern.

The eagle eyed will notice that in the photo I have positioned mine on the other side. It wasn't till I'd finished that I thought it would be better if this opened like a book!

Using the 3 strands of embroidery thread again, stitch along the pinned line to hold the "pages" in place. 

You are going through 3 layers of felt here so you might find it easier to stab right through to the other side and pull the thread right through for each stitch, that way you get nice even stitches on both sides. I think this is a stab stitch but don't quote me!

Carry on round the whole "square". Hard to describe, the picture shows this best.

Now it just needs the loop fastening. Fold the case up to a square like the photo below (sides in, bottom up, top down!) and using all 6 strands of the embroidery thread this time, come up from the inside where marked on the pattern/shown on the photo below. Don't pull the thread right through, leave an end. Then go round the button and back down just next to where you came up.

Come back up with the thread to the right side and use it to sew the 2nd button on.

On the reverse, tie the ends in a double knot.

The knot looked a bit messy so I covered it with another little felt flower with a few stitches to hold it in place and make a centre.

Pop a few needles in and your done!

Simple and easy. This would be perfect for children or beginner sewers, or the more advanced could put a lot more fancy embroidery on it.

You might also be interested in:

Camera lens cloth pouch

Lace Top Refashion

Easy to Sew Top

Knitting Needle Case

I'll be linking up at these great link parties.