She's crafty.
Why yes, I did sit down immediately to make an advent calendar that won't get used until next year!
First, I drew out the shapes for the body and the wing on cardstock. I traced onto 14 different colors of felt and cut out enough for two birds --that is, four bodies and two wings-- on each of 12 colors, and then one each on two "special" colors to be Solstice (deep turquoise blue) and Christmas (sparkly white like snow) birds.
I then arranged them so that each bird would have a unique combination of body, wing, button, and string, mixed up the way they were facing, and decided what order I wanted them to go in.
(Note that the above picture is the best representation of color. I used my phone and it doesn't have a flash, so most of the photos came out a bit dull and/or fuzzy.)
I first sewed all of the wings on to the front body pieces via a button. I put the wings on at different angles to give them even more individuality. Then I went back and did French knot eyes. To finish each bird, I embroidered their corresponding number (counting up to the 25th) onto their tails, stuffed the bodies with a pulled-apart cottonball, stuck a loop of gold ribbon between the seams, and blanket stitched them up with full-thickness embroidery floss.
My embroidery skills got better as I went, so the larger numbered birds are a bit tidier.
I wish the colors came through better. It really is a fun variety, and I tried to mix up natural and bright colors. To give you a color reference, the button on bird 11 (brown with a baby blue wing and purple stitching, upper left) is bright red flannel; the green on the wing of the bird behind him is a bright, almost neon, lime green; the felt that looks red is really bright fuschia; and the yellow is a marigold. The Solstice and Christmas birds were sewn with metallic floss and have unique buttons (abalone on the 21st and rhinestone on the 25th).
The birds are all about 4.5" from beak to tail-tip, and 2" wide across the tummy.
To hold them all, I made an envelope/pouch of leftover olive green felt with a cute red button. Understated Christmas colors. :)
I ended up with an extra bird (which you know if you did the math above, LOL) so I made it into a "regular" ornament.
I'm really, really happy with how they turned out. I love getting inspiration from others and tweaking designs to make them my own. :)
First, I drew out the shapes for the body and the wing on cardstock. I traced onto 14 different colors of felt and cut out enough for two birds --that is, four bodies and two wings-- on each of 12 colors, and then one each on two "special" colors to be Solstice (deep turquoise blue) and Christmas (sparkly white like snow) birds.
I then arranged them so that each bird would have a unique combination of body, wing, button, and string, mixed up the way they were facing, and decided what order I wanted them to go in.
(Note that the above picture is the best representation of color. I used my phone and it doesn't have a flash, so most of the photos came out a bit dull and/or fuzzy.)
I first sewed all of the wings on to the front body pieces via a button. I put the wings on at different angles to give them even more individuality. Then I went back and did French knot eyes. To finish each bird, I embroidered their corresponding number (counting up to the 25th) onto their tails, stuffed the bodies with a pulled-apart cottonball, stuck a loop of gold ribbon between the seams, and blanket stitched them up with full-thickness embroidery floss.
My embroidery skills got better as I went, so the larger numbered birds are a bit tidier.
I wish the colors came through better. It really is a fun variety, and I tried to mix up natural and bright colors. To give you a color reference, the button on bird 11 (brown with a baby blue wing and purple stitching, upper left) is bright red flannel; the green on the wing of the bird behind him is a bright, almost neon, lime green; the felt that looks red is really bright fuschia; and the yellow is a marigold. The Solstice and Christmas birds were sewn with metallic floss and have unique buttons (abalone on the 21st and rhinestone on the 25th).
The birds are all about 4.5" from beak to tail-tip, and 2" wide across the tummy.
To hold them all, I made an envelope/pouch of leftover olive green felt with a cute red button. Understated Christmas colors. :)
I ended up with an extra bird (which you know if you did the math above, LOL) so I made it into a "regular" ornament.
I'm really, really happy with how they turned out. I love getting inspiration from others and tweaking designs to make them my own. :)