handmade holidays

felt bird
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I'm jumping back into pottery this weekend, making ornaments, more icons, and some wide, shallow bowls for forcing paperwhites, but before I get all dirty, I wanted to show you this little bird. I can't even tell you how delighted I am with it.

This sweet little pattern has been making the rounds online for quite some time. I came across it this morning while doing some inspiration research for my family's advent calendar. I'm making a whole bevy of these little birds to hang on a special tree (Gary is in charge of making that) each day during December. Before making 24 of any one object, it is sometimes wise to do a test-run. The original pattern is a bit larger than this one- I reduced it to 60 or 70 percent and cut the pieces out of some felted lambswool sweater scraps. Since the bird is so small and the felt is so thick and fuzzy, I simply zig-zagged the seams and left them showing. It's a bit more rustic and tactile that way. The eyes are french knots of chartreuse ribbon and I stuffed it with some cotton quilt batting.

This little guy is resting on a quick-and-dirty ivy topiary I made from a 4" pot I found at the grocery. I took a 14" length of thin (16 gauge?) copper wire, formed it into a circle, and wrapped the tendrils around the form. The bird is hanging from the top. A friend is hosting a tea this weekend, so I'll take this as a hostess gift. Though I admit, I almost hate to part with the fuzzy little bird.

I'll have more pottery to show you next week, I promise. I know it's been a bit of a drought, pottery-wise, but I feel the clay calling me. And I WILL have revised matryoshka ornaments up at etsy by the 8th.

Happy weekend!