Lion King Set

I needed a birthday gift for a young friend and she LOOOOVES The Lion King.  I went in search of clipart to design my own patterns, but actually found some ready-made patterns that worked great.  I did some Googling for clipart of the actual characters and that helped me with details.  I made some changes to the colors and the shape of the eyes to make them more authentic to the movie.  I think they turned out great and my little friend was thrilled with them!  

I did not receive free patterns or anything else in exchange for this post.  I'm just sharing in case you'd like to make a set.  If you do, you can find the Etsy shop here.

Ebenezer Scrooge

Let me issue the disclaimer right up front:  I do not receive free patterns or anything else in exchange for promoting products on this blog.  Pretty sure these pattern designers don't know I exist.  If it's a good pattern, I'll tell you in case you want to make one, too.  And if I run into a bad one, I'll tell you that, too.

Larissa Holland at Mmmcrafts has quickly become my favorite felt ornament designer.  Her patterns definitely aren't for new stitchers, but really anyone who has patience and can follow directions can make her beautiful ornaments.  She designed the 12 Days of Christmas series I completed last year.  In 2020, she launched not one, but TWO new series.  The first one is based on the poem, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."  You saw me stitch the Santa and Mrs. Claus from that series earlier this year.  

She also started a series based on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," and I had time to complete one of those.  She began with Ebenezer Scrooge and he is really a beauty.

  

Lots of embroidery, beads, and sequins, which have become a hallmark of Larissa's patterns.  She has the Jacob Marley pattern ready and I've been collecting my supplies.  I predict he'll be the first one completed in 2021!  Her patterns really are extremely thorough with fantastic diagrams and instructions.  If you want to give her a try, you can find her Etsy shop here.  

Storybook Mouse

Ouida was showing me one of the original Carolyn DeAngelis catalogs and we noticed there was a picture of a pattern we didn't have called Amanda:

I figured that would be easy enough to draw a pattern from, so I saved the image.  When it came time for my mom's annual mouse ornament, I remembered this drawing and knew it would be very easy to just stick a mouse head and tail on it.  It was!

Sven

I had three of the characters from Frozen that I designed in the past few years.  Click here if you need to refresh your memory.  I wanted to do a 4th because I thought that would make a nice set.  I had decided on Sven, the reindeer, and hadn't settled on exactly how I wanted to do it.  Then I remembered something Ouida gave me years ago that I'd stuck in a file somewhere.  I went digging and managed to find it!

She sent it because she thought I might like the elves, but it was the reindeer that caught my eye!  I've hung on to that for more than ten years, but look at the date.  1977!!!!  Ouida had hung onto it for longer.  And, fortunately, she also had the black and white drawings, so that made my life much easier.  

He turned out great! 

There are a lot of small pieces, but he went together much quicker than I thought.  And it's a good thing, because I need to do another one by Christmas!

I've done another Elsa and Olaf this year, so I had them handy for a group photo:

Since that initial magazine article included directions and drawings for enlargement, I am able to share the pattern with no problem:

Little Leaguer

I wanted to make ornaments for Linus/Daniel for his birthday and he's a HUGE Cleveland Indians fan.  That was a no-brainer:  Little Leaguer.  I love the Carolyn DeAngelis sports figures.  They have nice details that are well worth the effort.  I can't believe that I'd never made this one before now, but somehow it had escaped me.  I had Tyler/Schroeder do a little snooping to find out which variation of the uniform style was Daniel's favorite and this is the final result:

He turned out great and Daniel LOVED him!  And I didn't want him to feel left out after Tyler got two ornaments for his birthday, so he also got a Pete to remind him of our time in Charlie Brown.  His got chives AND a big pencil!

That's a cuticle stick that I cut and painted, in case you're wondering!  

Pete and Robin Hood

You're probably wondering what in the world these two ornaments could possibly have in common.  It's a Charlie Brown thing.  You might remember from an earlier post that I played Lucy last winter in a community theater production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  It was pretty unanimous that our favorite song was The Book Report.  The kids have been tasked with writing a 100-word book report about Peter Rabbit and they're all toiling away in their own unique ways.  Charlie Brown can't think of anything to say . . . Lucy is counting words . . . Linus is too academic . . . and Schroeder likens Peter Rabbit to Robin Hood and gets lost in a fantasy.  It was the hardest song in the show and also the most fun to sing.  

At one point, Lucy is talking about Mr. MacGregor's garden and, in an effort to add as many words as possible, lists all the vegetables he grows.  I, in turn, had to sing that list every night.  I don't think I'll ever forget it:

carrots

spinach

onions

lettuce

turnips

parsley

okra

cabbage

string beans

parsnips

tomatoes

potatoes

asparagus

cauliflower

rhubarb

chives

And when I ended the list, "chives" was to be sung in a big, operatic way.  Spontaneously bursting into CHIIIIVES just became a running gag among the cast.  When it came time for Schroeder/Tyler's birthday, I knew just what to do:

If you have the DeAngelis patterns, that's Robin Hood and Pete.  I made a couple of changes to Robin Hood.  For starters, I gave him arms.  The original pattern has none.

I knew I wanted him to hold the notebook and you can't do that without any arms!  For this song, we all had giant composition notebooks and pencils:

  

I gave him a feather on his hat instead of an arrow and moved the arrow to his other hand.  I made a minor change to Pete, too.  I gave him overalls instead of a full jumper.  And instead of a carrot, I gave him CHIIIIIVES!!!!

Both these patterns worked up quickly and were simple to do.  And Schroeder wept when he got them.  Because he's a big sap.  

'Twas the Night: Santa and Mrs Claus

I hoarded my Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments for two years until I got them all done before I shared them with you.  That designer has started releasing a new set of patterns and I decided to share them as I go.  Mostly because this Santa and Mrs. Claus are so fantastic they make me want to weep and I wanted you to see them.  

I know some of you probably think they're too difficult.  I swear -- they're not.  Her directions are SO clear.  It's just like putting together a puzzle.  And she gives you sources for where to order various things if you want to . . . and shows several different color ideas.  She is just a fantastic designer.  There are even links on her website to people who sell the painted heads.  It's a little hard to tell in these pics, but I used glitter felt for the coats and the white trim.  They are so sparkly and amazing, I could just look at them all day long.  I am beside myself thinking about what other designs will be in this series.  Just think about it:

Not a creature was stirring, not even a MOUSE!
The CHILDREN were nestled all snug in their beds!
MAMA in her kerchief!

If there is anything remotely resembling a miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, I will lose my mind.  

Her details take a little time.  Take a look:

That package is stiffened felt that's stitched, but she also includes directions for how to do that from cardstock.  That mistletoe ball is a wood bead covered in tiny glass beads and you can get those at Joann Fabrics.  The candy cane is a white pipe cleaner wrapped in red embroidery floss.  They require a little patience, but they're so worth the extra time.  

My biggest dilemma:  Which one to enter in the fair????



Links to purchase the patterns
Santa
Mrs. Claus



PLEASE NOTE:  I will admit to leaving fan-girl comments on the designer's Facebook page and she has acknowledged those.  That is the extent of my communication with her.  I didn't receive a free pattern for this post and I'm sure she doesn't even know this blog exists.  I saw these patterns when she posted them on Facebook and I followed the link.  

The Pet Set

I did ornaments for our dog and cat back in 2018.  At that time, we just had Violet and Joey.  I went back to look at that post and it made me laugh.  I said:  Last fall, we quite literally inherited another dog from a relative who passed away, so look for a new dog ornament some time this year.  And if Joey has his way, we'll be adding another cat.  He has a friend who comes around regularly to play.  We felt sorry for him, so we put out some food.  Then Mariah named him Whoopie.  It's only a matter of time.  But don't tell Scott I said that!  

Well, we did indeed take in Whoopie on a permanent basis.  It took a long time to win his trust, but he's a great little cat now.  About ten months later, Whoopie brought home a friend.  A really tiny orange kitten.  He was very screamy and very persistent and he eventually wore Scott down.  He darted all over the house like a chipmunk, so Mariah named him Chip.  So at a time in our lives when we should be scaling down on dependents, we find ourselves with five pets.  

The cats were easy, because I just used the pattern I already had and changed the colors.  Oreo required an original design.  She is a pomeranian/fox terrier mix and her coloring makes her look like a border collie.  People are always surprised when they see her in person because they expect a much bigger dog based on her pictures.  She's actually quite small:

And there's Violet -- just generally not caring about anything -- LOL!  I searched for some border collie clipart on Etsy and found something that worked.

Here are the cats:  Joey, Whoopie, and Chip

And here is the pet set!  

DISCLAIMERS:

In case anyone happens by and thinks I've stolen someone else's work or thinks I'm profiting from it:

• I purchased the clip-art.  I did not do a "right click/save as."
• I am not selling a pattern made from this clip-art.  I'm not even giving away a pattern made from this clip-art.  
• I am not selling ornaments made from this clip-art.  

Steppe Brother

I do love my international people and could probably add to that set indefinitely.  I'm always looking at cute clipart of kids from around the world and drooling at the thought of filling a whole tree with those.  I needed to cut out something quickly one day and went back to my Carolyn DeAngelis patterns.  I saw the pattern for Steppe Brother, a Russian Cossack, and decided to whip him up.  I looked at a few Google images for color inspiration and I'm really  happy with how he turned out. 

Sophia

Once I finished Steppe Brother, I wanted to make him a friend.  I really like my Internationals to be in pairs.  Usually I do a boy and girl, but the Eskimo has the husky dog and my Paco has a donkey.  There's a Carolyn DeAngelis pattern for a cute Peruvian girl, and she might get a llama.  But I digress. 

Sophia is the pattern designed to go with Steppe Brother, but she's a little random:

And she looks suspiciously like Happy Heidi, but with different hair:  

I did a little searching for traditional Russian costumes and landed on these two images I liked:

  

I took elements from the two of them and put a new spin on Sophia: 

She looks kind of nondescript on her own, but when you see the pair, it makes sense.  

Big Bad Wolf

I did Carolyn Deangelis' Three Little Pigs ornaments way back in 2010.  They are far and away Scott's favorites, for some reason.  I like them, too, as you can clearly see by the header of this blog page!  They have always been sorely lacking a big, bad wolf and I just never have gotten around to it.  Somehow Carolyn's pattern didn't quite do it for me.  He looks a little more like a friendly dog than a menacing wolf:

I was perusing clipart one night on Etsy.  (Let me tell you -- that's a rabbit hole you can go down and lose several hours of your life.)  I started thinking about other nursery rhyme characters and stumbled across this Three Little Pigs Clipart.  I immediately fell in love with that wolf and knew I had to design him.  I loved the expression on his face.  Clif and I had a length Messenger discussion one night about how to handle the claws and, sadly, they just didn't work out.  But I love him anyway.  

And then I had to dig out my pigs to see how they looked together. 

Maybe if I get super industrious . . . or super bored . . . I'll design the three houses to go with them.  The three little pigs set within the nursery rhymes set.  That'll REALLY give my kids something to argue about when I die!  

DISCLAIMERS:

In case anyone happens by and thinks I've stolen someone else's work or thinks I'm profiting from it:

• I purchased the clip-art.  I did not do a "right click/save as."
• I am not selling a pattern made from this clip-art.  I'm not even giving away a pattern made from this clip-art.  
• I am not selling ornaments made from this clip-art.  

Jack and Jill

At this stage of the game, I'm designing a lot of my own patterns.  That takes time and I sometimes get caught in need of a new ornament to stitch, but nothing designed and ready.  That's when I reach for one of Carolyn DeAngelis' patterns.

For some reason, I have a fondness for the nursery rhyme/storybook characters.  The last time I visited Ouida, she was working on Jack and Jill and they were super cute, so I put them on the mental to-do list.  The first time this year I needed to cut a pattern ASAP, I reached for them.  

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do color-wise.  They had a lederhosen vibe, but I didn't want them to look like the German couple I already have -- Happy Heidi and Al Pine for you hardcore CDA fans.  I did a quick Google search for some inspiration.  Right away, I saw this:

Exactly what I was NOT going for!  Then I saw this and for some reason, I was hooked.  Maybe it was the vintage feel of it:

 

I used that picture as a guide for making my ornament and I just love it.

And, yes -- they are connected.  So is it "ornaments" or "ornament?"  I haven't attached the hanger yet.  I guess it'll attach to the back of both heads.  

Peanuts Gang

I've been working my way through the Peanuts gang for a couple of years now . . . adding one ornament each year.  My son played Schroeder in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in high school, so I figured he'd wind up with them one day.

Fun fact:  my husband and I are both musicians.  We perform together locally at wineries, festivals, and other events.  Additionally, I've been having an onstage midlife crisis that started in 2018 when I played my dream role of Miss Hannigan in Annie with a local community theater group.  I know it's a crime that I have yet to design a set of Annie ornaments, but it's on the to-do list.  This February, I played what will probably go down as the role of a lifetime for me when I was cast as Lucy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."  A full circle moment for our family!

The second the cast was announced, I got to work on ornaments for my castmates.  It was a true labor of love because, let me tell you, those particular ornaments are majorly time-consuming.  Schroeder's piano alone almost gave me a nervous breakdown.  Doing those eight ornaments back to back was truly a stitching marathon, but it was totally worth it.  (Seven for the cast and Lucy for the director.)  They were so touched and loved them.  Here's a pic of the finished set:

And here are my friends with their ornaments:

  I have no idea what my dress is doing there.  Incidentally, I made that, too!

I made the Sally ornament for myself this year.  I actually made two at a time.  Holy cow -- stitching on those polka dots.  Yikes.  And, no -- I did NOT put them on the back!  

If you would like to see my other ornaments from this series, look on the right side of this page where it says "labels" and you can search for "Peanuts."

Here are a few more pics from the show you might enjoy seeing:

Funny story:  I posted a picture on FB of the ornaments and IMMEDIATELY, people started wanting to order them.  Someone I only know casually asked if I could make "the whole gang" for her to give to a friend.  I read that to my son and he snorted and said, "For a million dollars!"  I just quietly took the picture down.  Lesson learned!

If you would like to make these ornaments yourself, click here to go straight to Etsy where you can buy the patterns.  

PLEASE NOTE:  I have never personally communicated with the pattern designer other than to order the pattern.  I didn't receive a free pattern for this post and I'm sure she doesn't even know this blog exists.  I just saw these photos on Pinterest and followed the link.