Cinderella

I promised my friend, Naomi, a Disney princess/girl each year for her daughter, Penny Jean.  The year she was born, she received Snow White.  Last year I made her Tinkerbell, a pattern I originally designed for Mariah.  This year, I decided to do Cinderella.  This seemed like something that would be easily adaptable from an existing pattern, so I looked at some pictures online after a quick Google search and that helped me with colors and dress details.  

Cinderella's hair immediately made me think of the DeAngelis ballerina pattern called Tip Toe.  And that was my jumping off point.  

All I did was add a skirt and shoes, change the neckline, and draw the shoulder poufs, gloves, choker, and peplum and we were good to go!  

You really can't see it in the photo, but I used glitter felt for all the white pieces to give it a little sparkle.  She was pretty quick and easy and turned out great.  Since I was able to adapt an existing DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share this one with you:  

Pierre

Alex, my oldest nephew, is a sophomore at Ohio University.  I made him an ornament of his school mascot last year.  And now that I type that, I realize that I neither posted it . . . nor took a picture of it.  I'll have to have my sister take a pic and send it to me.  Anyway, since I already made that, it was hard to decide what to do for him this year.  He did a study-abroad trip to France in May and he nearly got a French poodle before I came up with the idea to just do a French guy.  I Googled "French boy cartoon" or something like that and came up with some generic ideas.  Then I took the general features from the DeAngelis Solo Sam and stole the beret from  Marching Brayden.  I added a French flag and . . . PIERRE WAS BORN! 

I did have to stitch to separate the arms because of the stripes and those stripes are individually stitched on.  No fun, I tell you.  But he turned out great and I think Alex will love him.  Because I adapted a DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share this one with you.  Make it fit an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and you'll be all set. 

Peggy

Like half the pool-owners in the United States, we acquired this giant pegasus float this summer courtesy of Mariah.  She promptly named her Peggy.  

I'm telling you, this float really made the rounds.  Peggy was hard at work saving lives in Texas following Hurricane Harvey.  

I really like ornaments that mark a specific memory or moment in time, so I just had to make this one a reality.  Since I can't draw, it was time to adapt.  This one was a cinch.  I headed straight for Carolyn DeAngelis' carousel horse, Dobin-Go-Round.  

I ditched the pole, bridle, and saddle and made stripes on the mane and tail.  Looking at the pattern, I did manage to freehand a wing.  I added some silver star sequins for some bling and made the facial features match the photo.  Everyone who sees this ornament says, "Oh -- a unicorn!"  There's just one problem . . . . no horn.  C'mon, people.  But you could easily add a horn and have yourself a fancy unicorn!

Since I adapted this from a DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share it with you.  As always -- just make it fit an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and you're good to go!

Different Color -- Different Look

I did a couple of duplicates this year and I did the colors differently.  Thought you might like to see how changing the colors can change the look of the ornament.  I first made Wild Willy years ago and gave him an all-denim look.  This year, I changed his clothes up a little.  This is still one of my favorite DeAngelis patterns, though I think that cowboy hat could use a little tweaking.  Maybe the third time will be a charm!  You can also see the different of adding a nose.  

My youngest nephew began vocational school this fall in a fire-fighting program.  Fire Chief Freddy seemed an obvious choice for his ornament!  I wanted him to match Zach's uniform -- which is the tan version -- so I used those colors.  (I have no idea if Zach's helmet is red.  It probably isn't.  That was my festive choice.)  When I first posted this ornament, I remarked that I thought he needed some sort of accessory and contemplated stitching an axe.  Then I saw the version made by a faithful reader, Janet, and she had brilliantly used a piece of shoelace as a hose.  Perfect!

Emojis

I departed from my ornament schedule and whipped up a couple of quick ones for my kids over the weekend.  As teenagers, they communicate primarily through text and they are quite fond of emojis.  I've noticed two, in particular, that I receive on a regular basis:  the laughing-with-tears face and the poop.  Very nice.  The laughing-with-tears seems to be their response to everything.  If you judged this family solely by their texts, you'd think we live in a constant state of hilarity.  I'm funny, but I can assure you that no one is sitting around this house crying in hysteria.  

I did a quick Google search for the emojis and whipped up a pattern.  I'm including the patterns here and you can stitch them to your heart's content!  They're very quick and would make a great gift.  The tears on the laughing face are stitched separately and then glued on.  Same thing for the eyes and mouth on the poop.  I must confess, looking at that poop makes me want to stitch a soft-serve ice cream cone with a cute face!

Downeast Thunder Farm Birds

On Pinterest, I found a wonderful site called Downeast Thunder Farms.  She offers beautiful patterns of all your favorite birds and wildlife and they are TOTALLY FREE!!! They are nicely done with color photos and you can just print them right out.  Cool, right??  My husband loves the birdfeeder outside his office window, so I wanted to make him some birds.  They were pretty quick and I love the detailed stitching you can add.  Get yourself right over to that site and download some patterns!  I'm placing the direct link to the specific patterns under each picture.  

Cardinal 

Redheaded Woodpecker

Boreal Chickadee

Sea Legs Stout

I've been a little quiet lately, but I've been here stitching!  I've done several that I've done before and I didn't think you needed to see a third mermaid that looks exactly like the others I've done.  I made the mermaid for our oldest, Caleb, who was the musical director for his district's version of "The Little Mermaid" back in the winter. Caleb also requested a pirate, so it was back to the drawing board for that one.  How is it that Carolyn DeAngelis never got around to designing one of those??

Of course, I headed straight to Etsy where I found this clipart from a site called Cutesiness.  I had asked Caleb to pick two features so as not to over-accessorize our pirate friend. His choices were:  eye patch, hook hand, peg leg, parrot, earring, and facial hair.  He chose eye patch, peg leg, and parrot.  This one turned out GREAT and I'm such a fan of that parrot that I may have to turn that into its own ornament!  See what you think . . . 

The hat has a strip of gold across the top.  You couldn't see it in the first photo.  Might have to make that a bit wider the next time.  

 

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.