THanksgiving Swap: What I made!

Heather was my swap partner for the Thanksgiving Decoration Swap! I knew from her post around Halloween that she had a lovely mantle that she decorated. I had originally wanted to make a garland of little pilgrims, Indians, and turkeys but that didn't work out too well using felt; then I tried paper and that didn't work either! So back to the drawing board! I came up with the leaf garland when I was flipping through Martha; I needed a template for the leaves! The leaves are made from lovely local felted wool which I sewed together using local wool yarn! The turkey's I found a-la Martha (she calls them Pom Pom Tom); I used 3 colors of wool yarn for the bodies, red wool yarn for the head, and the other body parts are wool felt and pipe cleaners. If you go to the Martha page you'll notice that her turkeys have eyes and mine don't...there's a reason for that! On my "test" turkey, when I made the eyes, he looked like he had mange, was mean, and he looked like he was about to be in a cockfight!! Seriously!  So no eyes, just nice calm (blind) turkeys for Heather! LOL In the background of the Pom Pom Tom page you'll see the little pumpkins; those I made using acrylic yarn because that's what I had on hand. Oh, I bought one of those pom-pom makers but I think it was a waste of money; make your own because you can make your pom-poms bigger, then trim them down for a more dense pom-pom. There's a great tutorial here...prepare to make a mess and have yarn bits everywhere! I also created some labels for her!

I had originally made just 2 turkeys but I added another one after I took my pictures. So, go check out Heather's site for better pictures and of it all in action! Plus she call me "the Energizer Bunny of the craft blogosphere", how funny...yet so true! LOL

Comments

[Kim]

I love the garland. I found it on a swap partners Wist, so I'm going to make one for her too. shhhhh.... ;)

[La Rêveuse]

You're linked on apartment therapy nursery--good for you! Great looking garland. You're so crafty. ;)

[LeOgAhEr]

I Love you girls

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[Erin O.]

I love your garland and was inspired to make one of my own last night. I only wish I had such a lovely mantle to hang it on!

[Rebecca]

What a wonderful swap partner you are! I'm dying to know, did you just print those labels right on the twill? They are beautiful.

[Heidi]

Ooh, those little turkey guys are just adorable! I'm definitely going to have to check them out. The garland is so pretty! Love it.

[lucy]

I love your garland. I don't usually do too much Thanksgiving decorating (I save all my decorating energy up for Christmas :o), but this is just perfect!

[Colorsonmymind]

This is a great garland and looks fab.

[jenny b harris]

I'm here via Blair, too. Wonderful, fabulous garland, perfect for Thanksgiving decorations! Thanks for sharing. I'll stop by often. Cheers!

[beki]

I love this! I think my mantle needs some leaves ;-)

[Sasha]

I love this garland, the colors and shapes, the patterns, such a great idea! Do you mind if I do something similar?

[Amy]

I just discovered your blog via Blair's blog. I love the idea of the Thanksgiving leaves decoration. So festive! I'll be back to visit again.

[myra]

Fantastic! Love the turkeys!

[dawbis]

those are awesome gifts shanna! i can't believe those are handmade :) wonderful! now i wish i had joined in on the fun!

[jennifer w.]

Lovely job, Shanna! The leaves are fabulous.

[Patricia]

Wow! You are rockin' the crafts lately! The labels are such a nice idea, I'm sure Heather was thrilled.

[Heather]

I forgot to mention, I looked at Martha's toms and I like your version much better. No eyes!