by Noella Noelophile®
This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one and purchase something, I receive a small commission.
There’s just a hint of fall on its way. And that means–time to start crafting and creating the magic for Christmas season 2022.
Creating that, when I was a teenager, was something special.
On the main street of our small town, the Woolworth’s (that tells you how long ago this was!) suddenly seemed to bloom with crafts supplies.
Gilt paint, star-shaped sequins, and squares of red, green, white and gold felt began making their seasonal appearance, just after Halloween.
Today you can get these online any day of the year. Back then, they only showed up when the Christmas season was a few weeks away–which added to the element of “special”.
I remember crafting a lot of fun things as gifts. One, in particular, that gift recipients really seemed to like.
A DIY Christmas gift
It started with a tall, snifter-shaped candy dish. You know the type: a pedestal bowl but too large to be a drinking glass.
Then, out came the felt.
A white beard quickly covered the lower portion of the snifter bowl. White glue and iridescent white sequins made swirls in the beard. A red pom pon became the nose, and a cardboard ring, covered with white felt, formed the brim for a red-felt Santa hat. With a white pom pon at the end, of course!
Then when “Santa” was complete, red-and-white peppermints went inside for a final, Christmasy touch. There! A gift for a favorite teacher, hairstylist or anyone else who loves Christmas decorating.
I wish I still had the picture of the Santa candy dish I made! But it was a really fun project, and if you email me that you’re interested I may just reconstruct it and put it up here.
Meanwhile, here are my affiliate links, in case you’re also crafting some festive fun things!
If you’re looking for pompons or other art materials, one of my favorite places to shop is Blick Art Materials. Here’s the link to their most-loved art supplies. If you type “acrylic pom pons” in their search bar, you’ll find the type I used on the Santa.
And here’s a new find, for special-project supplies: Lia Griffith Felt Paper Scissors.
Her website features packs of craft eyes, for stuffed animals and ornaments as well as some frosted-paper packs that have me imagining all kinds of quilled or paper-sculpted projects.
The website also offers wool blend felt, in a beautiful wide range of specialty colors. If you’re unable to find just the right shade of felt for a project (“peat moss” and “English rose” are two colors I haven’t seen anywhere else) you may be able to find it here.