Anyway,, Kunin Felt Group was so nice to send me some samples of their Premium 8oz and Classic 5oz felts. Did you know that they recycle water bottles to make their felt??? 12 recycled water bottles equals one pound of fabric. Is that seriously the coolest thing? So now you can say that you are helping the environment by crafting!
Supplies:
Kunin Felt:
- 12X18 craft cut of Premium Felt 8 oz(Smoke)
- 9x12 craft cuts of Classic Felt 5oz (White, Lemon Frost, Ocean Blue, Peach Chiffon, Baby Pink, Fuchsia, Orange, Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Candy Pink, and Red)
- Expo International Pom Pom Trim
- Alphabet Dies, die cutter
- Fabric Glue or low temp glue gun
I started by choosing my felt and cutting it into squares. I needed to cut each letter twice (shadow and regular) so I would need 52 squares. I picked out eleven colors of the 9x12 Classic Felt. I cut my felt into 2.5" squares, which was slightly larger than the largest letter. Using my rotary cutter and straight edge ruler made this process go so much faster. If you do any kind of cutting I recommend you invest in one of these - they are the bomb. But BE CAREFUL! They are super sharp. Follow the directions on the package when loading and cutting.
Next up I needed to sort the squares by color and decide what order they would go in on the board. Now, you could skip this step completely, but my OCD self can not. I need all my colors to be in harmony and I need them to be evenly spaced. But that's just me. You do what makes you happy!
After I had them all arranged in order, I started from one end and went down the line picking up squares in a stack until I had 26. I did the same thing again for the second stack, picking up right where I left off rather than going back to the beginning of the colors. This makes the colors staggered so the top and bottom layers are different colors.
I used my die cutter and some very old Sizzix dies for these letters. I designated one stack of felt squares for the shadow and the other stack of felt squares for the regular letter. Then cut out all the letters. Since both pieces of each letter were on the same die, it was pretty quick. I was able to put two dies at a time through the machine.
I used the grid on my cutting mat to help me line the letters up on the 12x18 piece of Premium Felt. I started at the center 6" mark and lined the first column up there. Then I moved 2" out for each column to the left and right. So my columns are aligned at 2", 4", 6", 8", and 10" from the left edge. I just kind of eyeballed it for the space between the rows. I just wanted to make sure each row was straight. Glue the shadow ONLY of each letter down once you have the all lined up.
I also added some adorable pom pom trim to the top and bottom. Pom Pom trim is perfect for everything! Because I figure the princess is going to do a lot of pulling on that trim I used my glue gun on it. I love this model from Surebonder because it has a fine tip to get the glue just where I want it!
I can't wait until the princess is here next so we can play with this! She loves singing her alphabet.
Be sure to check out the Designer Crafts Connection Blog and check out the amazing projects from all the designers. We all had so much fun designing with Kunin felt!
I bet the princess will have lots of fun with this!
ReplyDeleteNifty idea!
ReplyDeletetoo cute. That would be great for a preschool classroom.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet for your Princess, Anita! The letter color combinations are super cute!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful design!
my kids would love this..i would still find letters all over my house, but they would have a blast losing them, hehe :)
ReplyDeleteLove this idea!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Job! such a fun idea (lots of work) these remind me of the magnets we (I) had as a kid on the frig.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, so clever!
ReplyDelete