Spring It On with Mini Pom-Pom Pets

Today’s post is brought you to by Flora Kim, a product editor with Klutz. 

Early spring in NYC is tough. One minute it’s sunny and gorgeous, and the next thing you know it’s freezing and you have to break out your giant puffy coat (again). While I was waiting for Mother Nature to make up her mind, I decided to craft a little springtime magic for myself with one of my favorite Klutz books: Mini Pom-Pom Pets.

All you need to create your own menagerie of pom-pom animals is a dinner fork and a little elbow grease. Wrap some yarn around a fork, tie it up in a bundle, a few snips with the scissors, and ta-da! A pom-pom is born.

Tip to the craft-wise: When I first cut the loops of my yarn bundle, my pom-pom looked . . . weird. I was a bit alarmed. But I promise you, after a good trim, no one will know if your pom-pom had a less-than-adorable start.

The book also comes with eyes, noses, and other extras that transform your plain pom-poms into cute critters. My favorite extra? The blush marker—it was the perfect finishing touch for my ducky.

 

I decided my new pet pal needed to be on display, so I made a mini springtime wreath. I crafted this wreath base by twisting some old packing paper, but you can use a premade wreath, too. After adding paper flowers and leaves, I glued on my ducky. How CUTE is this little guy?

Be sure to check out Mini Pom-Pom Pets, and I hope that you’re not waiting too long for spring, wherever you are!

Teeny Tiny Christmas Gifts (With Mini Pom-Pom Pets from Klutz)

Every once in a while, there comes a new craft that really blows my socks off. I mean, let’s be honest, I love them all, but there are a few Klutz crafting adventures that have really earned top marks in my heart. As soon as I got my hands on Klutz's latest pom-pom adventure, Mini Pom-Pom Pets, I knew it was destined to be added to my "favourites" list. 

These heart-melting cute little fur balls take half the time to make as regular pom-poms, but are twice as darn adorable! Just wrap the coloured wool around any old kitchen fork, snip and decorate and, in no time, you’ve got a handful of teeny tiny pom-pom pets. 

Since ‘tis the season, I dressed mine up in their holiday best! A mason jar goldfish bowl wrapped up with a bow, two kitty ornaments to commemorate a first Christmas, and a little winter scene with some furry Canadian friends. Merry Christmas to you, you, you, and me!

 

Playground Pop-Up Shop (with Face Painting from Klutz)

When the sun is shining and summer is in full swing, even not-so-great days can turn out to be pretty wonderful!

A few weeks ago, I had a play date with my little friend, Ben, and his mama and papa too. We were meeting at the park on Saturday morning to laugh and play the day away, and I couldn't wait! Unfortunately, when our date came around, poor Ben wasn't feeling very well. But he put on a brave face and asked to go the park anyway, so we decided to downgrade our playground play to something a little more low key. Luckily, I'd just received this big box of goodness from my Klutz fairy godmother, so I picked out some favourites and we planned a Klutz party in the park.

You’ve already seen the hilarious results of our Cat’s Cradle play, but we also had some fun with Face Painting that day. Back when this blog began, I did one of my first posts about painting pumpkins with these great paints, and I was really excited to use them again.

We parked ourselves on a bench by the playground, spread out our supplies and opened up a fun little temporary tattoo shop. We painted bees and bears and some decidedly abstract art pieces all up and down our arms and pranced around the sandbox sharing and showing off our cool arm art. Our pop-up shop was the hit of the playground and Ben’s spirits began to brighten! Soon, we were galloping through the grass, planting flowers in the sandbox and snacking on sandwiches, and our quiet park day had turned into quite the adventure!

Introduction to Transfiguration with Felted Friends

The greatest thing about this blogging gig is getting to share how fun and accessible arts and crafts can be. With a little help from Klutz, even Muggles can create a little crafting magic.

I had exactly zero experience with felting when I got my shiny new copy of Klutz’s Felted Friends. So I didn’t know what to expect as I unpacked fluffy bundles of wool, a foam block and a green felting tool. I mean, I like to think I’m a pretty fantastical crafter, but even I couldn't quite figure out how I would conjure those cute little creatures on the cover with what was in front of me. But I knew Klutz had my back, so I cracked my Transfiguration textbook, picked up my wand and set to charming up some Felted Friends.

I poked and jabbed my wand into those fluffy clouds of wool and I started to see things take shape. A little head with a button nose, a round body with a white tummy, a fluffy tail and long ears — suddenly, there was one seriously cute bunny in front of me!

Before long I had perfected my practice and had three pretty pastel forest animals to complete my collection. And while the truth behind felting is slightly less magical than I imagined*, I still like to think these three little guys would have earned me an Outstanding on my Transfiguration O.W.L.!

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* As you poke the felting needle back and forth, it twists and tangles the wool fibres until they bunch together to become dense and compact. The same principle applies as you attach one piece to the other. The fibres tangle together to become one, without tape or glue. Magic!