Monday, December 28, 2009

bluebirds of happiness...

This year we made most of our presents in an effort to simplify and maybe save some money. I managed to size and crop some photos of one of my projects (being without a computer for a few days slowed me down a bit!)

A while back I saw a post on Brenda's beautiful blog, Cozy Little House, where she was making the prettiest birds in such beautiful, colorful fabrics! That project of hers immediately came to mind when I spotted this blue & white snowflake fabric at a junktique shop (and at only $1.00 for a couple of yards!). I decided to make each girl a "bluebird of happiness" as one of their homemade gifts and the snowflake fabric definitely fit the bill.

Now I am not a sewer or seamstress, so right off the bat I was off to a rocky start. The first bird, a prototype that I'm keeping, looked much more like a seal than a bird. And the next two, pictured above, came out much smaller than I expected (I forgot about that pesky seam allowance!)

After stuffing the birds, I attached a wing ornament to each. I purchased them several years ago but never got around to using them, so they came in handy for this project. I wrote the date and a little message to each girl on the underside of the wings.

I pressed sticky rhinestone eyes onto each bird (from my stash of craft supplies)...


...and finished them off with a vintage earring (again, from my stash) clipped onto the ornament ribbon around the throat.


To say these birds are a bit tipsy is an understatement. I hot glued a big flat button to their undersides, hoping it would keep them upright. And if you place them just so, they do stay upright...
So thanks for the inspiration, Brenda!! If I hadn't seen your fabric birds, I doubt that I would have thought to make these!
I'll share a few other homemade projects once I get pictures onto the computer!

Donna

15 comments:

Joanne Kennedy said...

How cute are those! Plus they will be treasured for years and years knowing their mommy made them. So special.

Hugs,
Joanne

Old Time Cindy said...

Donna,
They are precious! I love them! I want to make some birds also and yours have inspired me the most out of all that I have seen! Great job!
Living it up at Lakewood,
Cindy

tamlovesran said...

What lovely gifts!

Unknown said...

They are so sweet, I may have to make my own version!
Sue

Shaam said...

They look great! I love the idea of the ornament wings and the vintage earring on the neck. So pretty!

All the best,
Allison

J.G. said...

These are beautiful! Handmade gifts from Mom are the best.

I am smiling with a vision of the "Seal of Happiness," too.

Claudia said...

They are so pretty, Donna! The fabric is lovely, the wings are perfect and I love the way you personalized them for each of your daughters. For not being a sewer, I think you did pretty darn well! And the girls will have handmade birds from their Mom to treasure forever. Not bad!

xoxo
Claudia

GwendolynKay said...

Those birds are so sweet and charming. You did a great job with them. I am sure the recepiants were very happy to get them. Thanks for the tutorial. Blessings!
Gwen

Susan said...

Hi Donna....One word for these birdies....ADORABLE! Good job! Sincerely, Susan from writingstraightfromtheheart.blogspot.com

Brenda Pruitt said...

And I still don't have mine finished! I got onto the vintage photos of the children for the trellis tree, and the birds got stuffed, but I didn't get around to sewing the hole for stuffing them yet. Yours are absolutely beautiful! How inspiring that you thought to put those wonderful textured wings on them! Mine probably won't have any. Well, at least one of us got them finished. Now I'll have to get back to mine soon. The vintage children photos come down soon and the trellis goes right side up!
Brenda

Elaine said...

Aw, those little birdies are adorable. Bet the girls loved them
especially since they were made by
you.

Rosie said...

They turned out SO pretty! I never would have guessed it was your first attempt!
rosie

La Petite Gallery said...

This is as good as it gets!!1
Great post.
Happy new year

yvonne

Stephanie said...

I love your little birdies and I'm sure that your girls were honored to receive them. I'll have to remember this idea for next year. I made all my gifts too!

Véronique Rose said...

ils sont superbe
belle journée
Rose