Feeling felty? Guest Post from Bean Bell!

I'm so happy to have another guest post to celebrate National Craft & Crochet Month here at Donna's Decembers. Today's guest post comes from one of the sweetest bloggers I know. Bean is a pro at upcycling and recycling craft supplies, so in a time when pennies are being pinched and clutter is no longer an option, Bean has a fabulous DIY using felt scraps you probably have collecting in a drawer or bag somewhere!

Hello, I'm Bean Bell!

I got really restless and bored at the end of 2010 and instead of having a midlife crisis, I started a blog. I'm too young for a midlife crisis, anyway! I decided to merge my love of craft materials with my admiration of animals.  I am a part-time nanny (aka Beaniesitter) and recently sold fancy chocolates, worked in a pet store, and volunteered at Brookfield Zoo.

I hope you enjoy seeing what animals, critters, and beasties I create!

I have been making many stuffed critters and have a ziploc bag full of felt scraps. I am feeling the urge to do some spring cleaning but couldn't just throw away all the brightly colored fuzzbits. Instead I made an ice cream pint cozy with them.

For this project you need:

-paper

-felt scraps

-scissors

-pencil

-sewing thread & needle

 

First, I traced the pint on the paper, rolling it along the paper to get the shape I needed. It needs to be slightly longer than needed so you can overlap the felt when the felt strip is sewn together.

I sorted through the scraps, pulling out shapes that looked aquatic. I trimmed one into a more fishy shapes but left most of them as is. I stitched them onto the felt base with a simple running stitch and gave the fish french knot eyes.

After all the scraps are attached, fit the felt strip around the ice cream pint and sew together where it overlaps. Make it snug! It can fold flat in a drawer between ice cream noshing and will keep your hand cozy warm!

What a great way to avoid trashing easily reusable felt scraps, plus keeping your icecream container looking adorable ;).

You could also do this same project for aluminum cans turned storage units!

Thanks so much, Bean!