Flower Buds
Cover your white earbuds with colorful needle-felted flowers. (This project was designed and carried out by my eight-year-old daughter. I am merely her photographer and secretary.)
Materials
This project can be done after one visit to a good yarn store - the kind of store that supplies spinners as well as knitters. You can also find materials online, but then you have to wait for them to come in the mail.
You will need:
Wool fleece. You won't need much for this project, so if you can find a sampler pack with multiple colors, that's great. Otherwise, you'll just have plenty of material to make other felting projects...
One or two felting needles. These are SHARP. And brittle. (You may want a back-up needle.) Proceed with caution. Have band-aids just in case. We had no injuries this time, but I've jabbed myself in the past when I've gotten distracted.
A kitchen sponge with small holes in it, or a piece of foam scrounged from packing material.
Spare earbuds. We borrowed my husband's extra set, since he was at work...
You will need:
Wool fleece. You won't need much for this project, so if you can find a sampler pack with multiple colors, that's great. Otherwise, you'll just have plenty of material to make other felting projects...
One or two felting needles. These are SHARP. And brittle. (You may want a back-up needle.) Proceed with caution. Have band-aids just in case. We had no injuries this time, but I've jabbed myself in the past when I've gotten distracted.
A kitchen sponge with small holes in it, or a piece of foam scrounged from packing material.
Spare earbuds. We borrowed my husband's extra set, since he was at work...
Flower Center
Take a piece of fleece for the center of your flower. Fluff it up a bit. Combine it with another color if you'd like a slightly different shade.
Roll it between your hands to make a snake shape.
Coil the snake into a snail shape.
Put the snail down on the piece of foam or sponge, and jab it gently but repeatedly with the felting needle until all the parts are stuck together and you like the shape, turning it as you go along. If you don't like the shape, keep turning and poking until you do.
Roll it between your hands to make a snake shape.
Coil the snake into a snail shape.
Put the snail down on the piece of foam or sponge, and jab it gently but repeatedly with the felting needle until all the parts are stuck together and you like the shape, turning it as you go along. If you don't like the shape, keep turning and poking until you do.
Flower Petals
Take a length of fleece for making your petals. (If your fleece doesn't come in long strips for spinning, you may need to fluff it and then roll a long snake between your fingers.) We used about 20 inches, your flower may vary, depending on your preferred petal size.
Leaving a 3 or 4 inch tail, carefully attach the petal fleece to the flower's center. Jab repeatedly with the felting needle until you feel things are securely attached.
Create a short loop in the petal fleece, and then attach it to the center again, right next to your previous attachment point. Your loop length is approximately your petal length, though things will flatten out and get bigger as you go along.
Repeat the loop-making process until you've worked almost all the way around the center, and have almost as many petals as you want.
For your last petal, take the first tail and the end tail and make them both into a loop, fluffing and detaching any extra length of fleece at this point. This petal will initially be fatter than the others. No matter.
Use the felting needle to flatten and shape all the petals. Turn the flower over and shape the petals on the other side as well. You can do a lot of touch-up work at this point, adding other colors, and reshaping as you like.
Leaving a 3 or 4 inch tail, carefully attach the petal fleece to the flower's center. Jab repeatedly with the felting needle until you feel things are securely attached.
Create a short loop in the petal fleece, and then attach it to the center again, right next to your previous attachment point. Your loop length is approximately your petal length, though things will flatten out and get bigger as you go along.
Repeat the loop-making process until you've worked almost all the way around the center, and have almost as many petals as you want.
For your last petal, take the first tail and the end tail and make them both into a loop, fluffing and detaching any extra length of fleece at this point. This petal will initially be fatter than the others. No matter.
Use the felting needle to flatten and shape all the petals. Turn the flower over and shape the petals on the other side as well. You can do a lot of touch-up work at this point, adding other colors, and reshaping as you like.
Attach Earbuds
Place earbud on top of flower center.
Take a short length of fleece in a color to match the center. Roll it between your hands to make a short snake.
With your felting needle, and being careful not to stab the earbud cable, attach the fleece snake to the flower center on one side of the earbud base. Attach the fleece to the other side. Run a little bit of the fleece around the top of the earbud, so that the flower will not slide down the cable while you are wearing it. Tuck in any ends and secure them with the felting needle.
Repeat steps 2 - 4 for second earbud.
Take a short length of fleece in a color to match the center. Roll it between your hands to make a short snake.
With your felting needle, and being careful not to stab the earbud cable, attach the fleece snake to the flower center on one side of the earbud base. Attach the fleece to the other side. Run a little bit of the fleece around the top of the earbud, so that the flower will not slide down the cable while you are wearing it. Tuck in any ends and secure them with the felting needle.
Repeat steps 2 - 4 for second earbud.
Try Them On!
And enjoy your music...