MY BIG Winter Floral Arrangement and Snowman Scene

I know I've told you many times how much I love decorating with BIG floral arrangements and BIG  dolls.

And, I know I've mentioned that I like to change the decorations in my dining room fireplace for the different seasons or holidays. Well, I decided this year that it was time to create a big floral arrangement to cover the winter season.

Plus, I had a terrific coupon from Michaels for my entire purchase including the sale items so, of course, I had to put that to good use. So, off I went to Michaels last week.

I already had a large ceramic pot that had been given to us as a gift one Christmas by my younger brother and sister-in-law that I wanted to use so I didn't have to buy that. And, I knew I wanted the colors to be dark blues, burgundy and white along with some greens.

To my delight Michaels had what I wanted. So I checked out and came home.

Unfortunately it was a little too cold for me to work in the basement when I got home so I had to wait a few days before I could put my arrangement together.

It took me about 1 1/2 hours to put my arrangement together. It stands about 3 feet tall and is about 2 1/2 feet wide and fills up the dinning room fireplace nicely.

I decided to add three of my 2 1/2 feet to 3 feet tall snowmen to my scene this year as well as adding a little snowman I had made years before who sits on a woodland bear plant stand my sister had given me years ago. He looks perfect on he plant stand so I let him sit there every winter.

The snowman on the wood chair is my own Snow Go Noodles design.

I like how the snowman scene came out. Hope you do, too.

My “Will You Marry Me, Henri!”, 12” Victorian Groom Proposal Doll New E-Pattern

For several years now my younger brother has wanted me to make a groom doll to go along with all the Victorian "Lady" bridal dolls I had made for my sister-in-law. I kept putting it off as I didn't want to create a Victorian doll the same way my Victorian "Ladies" had been created. I wanted something different and hadn't quite decided what I wanted until this summer.

I decided that I wanted to create a Victorian gentleman doll that would be entirely bendable and be on one knee proposing to his lovely lady while holding her engagement ring.

The doll could be made either on one knee proposing, standing and proposing or sitting and proposing and would make a unique and beautiful way for someone to propose to someone else.

Can you imagine siting at a fancy restaurant with your boyfriend and having him present you with a doll on one knee holding your engagement ring? What an adorable way to ask someone to marry you.

Or, suddenly surprising you with this proposal doll at a family and friends gathering? How surprised would you be by that?

So, "Will You Marry Me, Henri!" was born.

“Will You Marry Me, Henri!”, 12” Victorian Groom Proposal Doll E-Pattern - Victorian Wedding Series - Pattern Category - Skill Level - Intermediate - 21 Pages

Henri has been looking for the perfect way to ask his beautiful lady to marry him and decided that he'd follow the traditional way and propose to her on one knee this weekend. He had already spoken to her father and he had welcomed Henri into the family with open arms. He would be dressed in his finest outfit, be carrying her beautiful diamond engagement ring, and would propose to her in front of her family and friends. He was hoping she'd say, "Yes!"

Henri is a fully bendable 12" Victorian groom cloth doll with an embroidered and water-colored face. He is wearing his best Victorian satin suit with fully lined long black satin fabric jacket with folded back black check fabric lined collar and lapels adorned with buttons. His fancy white shirt is gathered at the neck and wrists and has a matching lace trimmed fancy ascot which is tied around his neck.

He is wearing black satin double cuffed pants that are gathered at the waist which is covered with a red satin cummerbund.

He has a full head of thick brown/gray roving hair underneath his matching black polyester fabric with black check lining hat which sits atop his head. His black polyester boots are criss-cross laced with black DMC embroidery floss for laces. His is bending down on one k nee is a proposal position and is holding his lovely ladies engagement ring. He is affixed to a wood stained doll stand.

Pattern includes instructions for making the wood stained stand and instructions for bending Henri on one knee and proposing, standing and proposing, or sitting and proposing.

Henri is hoping that his lovely lady will say, "Yes!" What do you think? Will she?

My Henri doll makes an adorable way to ask someone to marry you.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

How I Made My Needle Felted Poinsettia Shadow Box Picture

I had wanted to create a poinsettia for the upcoming Christmas holiday season but wasn't able to find a mold for it so I decided to use a combination of the rose design petals upside down from the Rose Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each, the daisy design leaves from the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each, and the Floret & Berries Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each that I had bought (and which are shown below) to create a red Poinsettia.

I wanted my poinsettia to be multi-layered with bright red petals, olive green leaves, and bright yellow berries envisioned within a shadowbox frame sponge painted with festive Christmas colors.

As I wanted my poinsettia to be multi-layered with various size petals I decided to use the large  rose design petals upside down for the bottom layer, use the medium rose design petals turned upside down for the 2nd and 3rd layers, and use the small rose petals for the inner section that would be holding the the yellow berries.

First, I needle felted 6 large rose petals and turned them all upside down and felted them all together using the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat.  For the second layer, I needle felted 6 medium rose petals and turned them all upside down and felted them all together using the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat.  Then I put them on top of the 1st layer of needle felted petals I had created and needle felted the two layers together using  the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat.

For the 3rd layer I needle felted 5 medium rose petals and turned them all upside down and felted them all together using the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat.  Then I put the third layer on top of the 1st and 2nd layer of needle felted petals I had created and needle felted the three layers together using  the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat. I used the single needle felting needle and needle felting mat to make sure the three layers were securely felted together.

For the 4th layer I needle felted 3 small rose petals and felted them all together using the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat.  Then I put the fourth layer on top of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd layer of needle felted petals I had created and needle felted the four layers together using  the pen style needle punching tool and needle felting mat. I used the single needle felting needle and needle felting mat to make sure the four layers were securely felted together.

For the yellow berries in the center of the poinsettia I used the berries section of the Floret & Berries Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each that I had bought and needle felted three yellow berries with gold roving.  I added the gold berries one at a time to the middle of the needle felted poinsettia and felted them all together using the single needle felting needle and needle felting mat until everything was securely in place.

Then I needle felted 6 olive green leaves for my poinsettia using the leaves from the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each.  I wanted my leaves to appear to be curving up towards the center of the poinsettia so when it came to needle felting them to the poinsettia petals I only needle felted the very ends of the leaves to the center of the poinsettia using the single needle felting needle and needle felting mat.

As I wanted my poinsettia to be enclosed within a 6" by 6" by 2" Christmas holiday festive colored shadowbox with 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" opening I painted the unfinished wood shadowbox (except the back inside wall) first with white acrylic paint and then sponge painted it with a combination of Christmas Green, Christmas red, and white acrylic paint.  Then I applied one coat of varnish.

I  cut a piece of dark green felt backing 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" and a piece of 1" of Nu-foam backing 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" and using the needle felting punch tool felted them together.  Then, using the single needle felting needle,  I needle felted my poinsettia to the dark green felt and Nu-foam. Once it was felted to the dark green felt and Nu-foam I used the single needle felting needle to securely felt the inside sections of each layer in place. After I was sure the poinsettia was securely felted to the dark green felt and Nu-foam I hot glued this to the inside back of the shadowbox frame that I had left unpainted.

I liked how my poinsettia turned out and think it will make a wonderful decoration for the upcoming Christmas holiday season.  What do you think?

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh