Felted sweater leftovers

After making the felted stockings, I had a whole mess of scraps leftover that I couldn't bear to throw away. I decided to make a couple different things, but I have only completed one so far! I started by trimming my scraps into circles, seen above. Just eyeball it, they don't have to be perfect. Make sure you have comfy scissors, because although it's easy, it can be hard on your hands (especially if you're a lefty using made-for-righty scissors).

The next part was Chloe's job, stringing the circles onto light-weight wire. She and I chatted while I cut and she threaded...some good Mama/daughter crafty time there. This is what I did to the wire to make it safer and sturdier for her three-year-old hands:

Can you see how I bent the wire back on itself and tightly twisted it together? Now the end is more rounded than pokey, but still small enough to go through the felt with ease. I had to straighten it out a few times, but other than that Chloe managed on her own....she even chose to add a few jingle bells along the wire interspersed with the felt circles, really cute!

But then, I did a very bad crafty-mama move: I took the entire thing apart and re-did it! I know, I know, but once Chloe had finished stringing all the circles I realized it made too dense and heavy a garland for our little tree.  The garland above is the re-done one. I folded each circle in quarters, then poked the wire through the doubled-up corner. And since Chloe had no interest in helping with version number two (can't say I blame her) I used a needle and it came together super fast!

She did help me add some jingle bells, though, so I can still say we made it together, right?!?