A look into the life of a crafter ... and a sneak peak at an elf ornament
04-09-2012, 02:18 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 268
A look into the life of a crafter ... and a sneak peak at an elf ornament
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I personally giggle at the story that goes along with this photo because I think it's a typically comical example of how most of us life-long crafters become thrifty in repurposing materials that had been left over from previous projects, as well as our self-proclaimed need to reuse materials from past lives of objects; and why we so easily acquire so many endeared WIPs and stashes of materials destined for upscaled known/unknown craft projects.; It also portrays our common "waste not want not" and "pay it forward when you can" and "I reserve the right to change my mind" personalities.
Here's the story...
I had vowed to myself this last Christmas season that "Next year I will not wait until December to make our handmade gift items". This has become a new family tradition for us with our many aunts/uncles/cousins rather than exchanging names and gifting in a round-robin manner. At the time of making that pledge, I was also working on a hand-made pillow made of yo-yo's in white and fashion fabric (fashion fabric was purchased twenty some years ago originally meant for a baby blanket which never came about and instead was used for bunny door hangers made of stacked yo-yo's). After making 60 white yo-yo's and auditioning them against the fashion fabric yo-yo's, I decided cream would coordinate with the fashion fabric better than white. So I purchased the cream fabric and the project went into my growing WIP pile until I could find enough idle time to make more yo-yo's.
"Aw darn, now what to do with all of the white yo-yo's?", I thought. "I can't let them go to waste!" Well, I wound up obtaining inspiration for our 2012 gifts from a Santa wall hanging made from felt and cotton balls that had been posted here on the QB (so sorry, I don't recall the poster). Anyway, my inspiration was to re-design the Santa wall hanging idea into elf ornaments using felted wool for the hats and my white yo-yo's for the beards. Secondary thought, "Perhaps if DD enjoys making these she could also use them as one of her items to sell", as she so very much wants to maintain an Etsy.com shop. Only problem with that idea was that I didn't have a great deal of varied wool swatches for the envisioned elf hats. QB members to the rescue; I recently received gracious help from a few QB members who I am trading swatches for ornaments with.
With this plan in place, I had searched the internet for free images and printed out various elves, I had my DD pick out one head shape and one hat shape. Then last night I taught her how to audition a sample. After drawing on a face which will eventually will be embroidered, she elected to teach herself how to hand-make yarn puff balls for the tip of each elf hat. This picture is what we ended up with.
Can you relate to this story?
Do you think the elves will be original enough and precious enough to sell?
What price range is acceptable for selling handmade ornaments?
Thanks for looking and contemplating.
This is my first time posting a pic, it was taken with my cell phone, hope it shows up.
I personally giggle at the story that goes along with this photo because I think it's a typically comical example of how most of us life-long crafters become thrifty in repurposing materials that had been left over from previous projects, as well as our self-proclaimed need to reuse materials from past lives of objects; and why we so easily acquire so many endeared WIPs and stashes of materials destined for upscaled known/unknown craft projects.; It also portrays our common "waste not want not" and "pay it forward when you can" and "I reserve the right to change my mind" personalities.
Here's the story...
I had vowed to myself this last Christmas season that "Next year I will not wait until December to make our handmade gift items". This has become a new family tradition for us with our many aunts/uncles/cousins rather than exchanging names and gifting in a round-robin manner. At the time of making that pledge, I was also working on a hand-made pillow made of yo-yo's in white and fashion fabric (fashion fabric was purchased twenty some years ago originally meant for a baby blanket which never came about and instead was used for bunny door hangers made of stacked yo-yo's). After making 60 white yo-yo's and auditioning them against the fashion fabric yo-yo's, I decided cream would coordinate with the fashion fabric better than white. So I purchased the cream fabric and the project went into my growing WIP pile until I could find enough idle time to make more yo-yo's.
"Aw darn, now what to do with all of the white yo-yo's?", I thought. "I can't let them go to waste!" Well, I wound up obtaining inspiration for our 2012 gifts from a Santa wall hanging made from felt and cotton balls that had been posted here on the QB (so sorry, I don't recall the poster). Anyway, my inspiration was to re-design the Santa wall hanging idea into elf ornaments using felted wool for the hats and my white yo-yo's for the beards. Secondary thought, "Perhaps if DD enjoys making these she could also use them as one of her items to sell", as she so very much wants to maintain an Etsy.com shop. Only problem with that idea was that I didn't have a great deal of varied wool swatches for the envisioned elf hats. QB members to the rescue; I recently received gracious help from a few QB members who I am trading swatches for ornaments with.
With this plan in place, I had searched the internet for free images and printed out various elves, I had my DD pick out one head shape and one hat shape. Then last night I taught her how to audition a sample. After drawing on a face which will eventually will be embroidered, she elected to teach herself how to hand-make yarn puff balls for the tip of each elf hat. This picture is what we ended up with.
Can you relate to this story?
Do you think the elves will be original enough and precious enough to sell?
What price range is acceptable for selling handmade ornaments?
Thanks for looking and contemplating.
This is my first time posting a pic, it was taken with my cell phone, hope it shows up.
04-09-2012, 03:50 PM
#3
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 19
OH how cute. I think I reconize the material for the hat. I will always be happy to send you more wool if needed. If she is going to sell these, she needs to get some for her time and the cost of replacing the fabric used. I belive they are original enough to sell and with the felted wool they could be called folk art. I love your story and can relate. Thanks for the sneek peek. Neena
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