Adventure #5-- Put a Bird on It

Women in my family make things. My sister has the Christmas tree skirt my great grandmother made. I'm resting my feet on a footstool that my grandmother needlepointed. My mother was in a crafts-of-the-month club in the 70s/early 80s (who knew those existed?), and growing up, our house was filled with wooden boxes she painted or decoupaged,  our Christmas tree with ornament she sewed. She can re-cane chairs, sew doll clothes, needle-point, and cross stitch, and do all kinds of other crafty things.

I'm not really artsy or craftsy. I don't have the patience or the desire to be, for the most part. Yet year after year, as I previously mentioned, I get involved in overblown Christmas crafts projects. (I also like to needlepoint. But that's different. It's the color-by-numbers of crafts.)

Well, this year is probably going to be no different. I have an overblown project that I won't post about until after Christmas, since I don't want to ruin the surprise.

However. I decided to make something for myself, and for posterity (ha!)....

The super cute felt bird ornament kit I ordered from amazon for 10 bucks. 

What the finished product is supposed to resemble.

Birdie Numero Uno in real life!

I decided to start with the red bird. It looked easiest to complete. Two wings and an ear muff arrangement. A beak. I haven't really sewn anything since I had a random burst of craftiness in the 8th grade or so. I had to relearn some stitches, and had to FINALLY teach myself how to do that damned French knot. It's actually not that difficult once you get the hang of it.

"My, what nice French knots you have, my dear!"
"If you love the wings, you should check out the earmuff!"

So, I have finished red bird. It took a while. 45 minutes? An experienced sewer/crafter could probably get an ornament like this done in 15-20 minutes. This same company has a ton of other similar skill level ornament kits that I might order. We'll see if I'm still gung-ho after I finish the other birds. It is highly unlikely, but I'm enjoying this project while it lasts. Maybe I'll save the other kits for other years.