While Bonnie was napping today I helped Bella work on this Felt picture. They're really fun and easy to do. Here's a mini tutorial incase you'd like to try it with your little one. I think these would make a lovely handmade gift for Grandparents (in a nice frame).
Materials needed:
Bubble wrap, tulle, sheet of plain felt for the background, merino wool tops (or similar), shaker container to put the felting solution in (we used a plastic drink bottle), detergent, extremely hot water.
Draw out a design on a piece of paper.
Lie a sheet of bubble wrap on the table. Add a plain sheet of felt on top of this (we used an a4 sized sheet) and use your drawn design as a guide to position and recreate the artwork onto the felt.
Lie a sheet of tulle over the design.
Mix up some felting solution in a drink bottle. To do this we filled the bottle full of super hot water and squirted in a dash of dishwashing liquid (giving it a slight shake up). Soak the area thoroughly with the felting solution.
Now for the fun part! Squish and rub over the top of the tulle with your hands. Add more hot felting solution as needed and continue to work for a good couple of minutes until the wool bonds nicely (felts) to background felt piece.
Roll up the entire working surface (bubble wrap, design + tulle) onto a round rod. This is optional - it just helps to squeeze the excess water/detergent out.
Rinse the design thoroughly with cold water and set aside to dry (cake coolers are great to leave them on while they're drying to let the air circulate).
