Character Gift Tags

 I felt like adding some personality to my gift wrapping so I decided to make these fun character gift tags. All I needed was some coloured paper/card and a glue stick.

To make the snowman I cut out a gift tag shape from white card. I cut two rough circles for the eyes out of black paper and five smaller circles for the mouth. I glued everything in place and added an orange triangle for the classic carrot nose.

For the Santa belt I cut a gift tag shape out of red card. I cut a strip of white paper with torn edges for the fur trim, which I stuck down first. I then added a strip of black paper for the belt, with a yellow square and black square on top for the buckle.

For the Rudolph tag I cut two gift tag shapes, one brown and one white, and sandwiched the paper antlers between them. I cut a large tan oval for the mouth and added Rudolph's signature red nose on top. I then used black and white card for the other facial features.

 Once I'd added some matching string through a hole in the top of the tags they were done.

There were really simple to make and I'm already thinking what other characters I could create in gift tag form.

Felt Woodland Decorations

Felt seems to be my go-to material for making decorations. My felt dogs have been doing really well so my boyfriend suggested I try making some different animals. 

I decided to start with a fox because the woodland theme is quite popular. I went for a simple style and am really pleased with how it turned out.

Next, for something a bit more festive I made a reindeer. I wanted it to match the fox so I refrained from adding a red pom-pom nose!

Then, for something even more festive I made a cute little felt Santa! There are lots of elements to this pattern so it was a bit fiddly to put together but I love the end result.

What cute little character should I make next?

Sewed Santa

Every Christmas my sisters and I get a magazine in our stockings. This was originally to keep us occupied so my parents could get a bit more sleep on Christmas morning, but now we all get up around the same time.

This year I got this copy of Sew magazine which came with a little kit to make a jolly Santa!

It was the perfect thing to do during the afternoon while we were all just sitting around after Christmas dinner.

The kit came with everything you need to make the Santa, including thread. You just have to cut out the pieces from the printed fabric, stitch it all together, stuff it, then add the embellishments like the buttons and the pom-pom.

He was finished by the end of the day, whilst watching Miranda, Doctor who and Call the Midwife.

I love his tiny little legs!!

I've already asked my Mum, I mean Santa, for a similar little sewing project for next year.