Monday, March 2, 2009

Handful of Gratitude

On a rainy afternoon recently, I was feeling pretty blessed to have certain people in my life and thought it would be fun to make something for them to show my gratitude, thus came about the idea of gratitude soaps.

The basic materials I used were a few bars of soap, felting wool , the plastic mesh bag our tangerines come in, felting needles and cookie cutter forms.

I took thin wisps of wool and wrapped them around the soap going in different directions

Placed one in the mesh bag and rubbed vigorously in very warm water for about 10 minutes to felt the wool around the soap, changing the water when it started to cool down. The kids really enjoy "helping" with this part for all the bubbles they get from the soaps :)

I did a quick rinse with cold water to "set" it and let them dry for a day

I placed the cookie cutter form on the dry soap and let Matteo stab at the wool, adding a little bit at a time. Nothing screams "I'm a daredevil!" like letting your 3 year old use a felting needle next to your fingers.

and lastly, I used tiny bits of wool to add detail

Sending thoughts of gratitude to everyone!

xoxo, Marina



12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! Once again we're on the same page. I scored 2 bags (too bad it wasn't 3 like the song goes ;-) full of second-hand wool roving (some vegans wear 2nd hand leather shoes, I justify my wool craving w/2nd hand wool ;-) from freecycle this weekend so I could make felt rocks for Ostara. I'd love to try your soap idea, but fear my forming skills are, well...not very well formed. With time, I hope.

Jen said...

They're gorgeous! Thanks for the tutorial, I've been considering needle felting for awhile.

Rebecca said...

They turned out lovely!!
You're very brave letting your LO use the felting tool...good for you!

Anonymous said...

They came out great Marina...Between this and the Valentine's Day tutorial, it looks like you are the one to go to for great ideas!

Thanks also for the hugs :-)

mamaraby said...

So cute, what a great idea!

RunninL8 said...

Those are so fun to make. And great little gifts!
Hey! I received a bloggie award and I’m passing it on to you! Come on over and get it!

Unknown said...

oh how beautiful!! i love all your ideas...thanks for sharing my dear!

Jenne said...

Beautiful Marina! I haven't tried needle felting at all yet but would really like to learn.

Lisa said...

They are so beautiful! We usually just use to needle to felt, but now we will be trying these!

dongdong said...

That's so pretty. We made felt soap too, but no design. Thanks for the cookie cutter idea.

Marina said...

Thanks everyone! These were really fun and it's a great craft to do with kids as long as you don't mind a wet floor :)

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

LOVELY!! I attempted felting for the first time this week with my 6 year old. We tried to felt wool around some plastic easter eggs but I didn't do it right because it did not "felt" I don't know if you keep it in the water the whole time you're rubbing it or if you dunk...my technique is sketchy. You are a brave soul with the felting needle. I let my 6 year old drive the sewing machine pedal last week and it was a bit scary since my hands were guiding the fabric through by the needle!