If you're not a Pinterest user, you're missing out on one of the greatest things on the web. For crafty, creative folks like us, it's a treasure trove of ideas. I see beautiful felt ornaments on there all .. the .. time. This seahorse recently caught my eye:
I have no idea why it caught my eye, really. I'm not a seahorse person. I think maybe the added stitched details really got my attention and I knew immediately that I wanted to make it. Fortunately, the pin led to a link on Etsy where the pattern was available for a bargain price of 5 whole bucks and was a PDF download, which meant I had it in my hands almost immediately. The creator intended for this to be a larger stuffed toy, so I just shrunk it to the size I wanted. The pattern pieces were great and very detailed -- well worth the money. I really loved the colors in the photo and I copied them as best I could. My beads are a little different color-wise, but I was working with what I had on hand. Every I've shown this to LOVES it! Here's mine:
If you would like to order this pattern, please visit the Squishy Cute Designs shop over on Etsy. Be sure to check out her other patterns, too!
This is the third time I've made this ornament and I'll be honest that I'm not a fan. I will say that he turns out GREAT, but he's just a pain. There are small pieces and those socks and shoes require a lot of thread changes when you stitch the legs together. The stitching on the basketball is no picnic, either. The first time I did this one was for my oldest nephew, Alex. I think it was one of the very first ornaments I did -- definitely prior to starting this blog -- and I didn't even take a picture of it. The second time was for our friend, John, who was playing basketball for Heidelberg College at the time. As you can see from the blog post, the colors weren't very exciting and my picture was terrible. In fairness to Jeffrey, I thought I'd post this ornament a second time so you can get a better picture of what he looks like. My younger nephew also plays basketball, so I thought I'd do this ornament for him, too.
When I got the pattern out, I laid out all the pieces to be sure I had them all.
Ouida's mom must've made this pattern several times, too, judging by all the pin holes in the pieces. Just looking at the pieces filled me with dread! I had a picture of Zach in his uniform to go by for the color choices:
He may be a pain in the butt, but he sure does turn out well. I know Zach will love him!
