A hand-made birthday!

Oscar is turning one this Saturday! Oh my goodness, where has the time gone?? Somehow, he has gone from this...

...to this:

In lieu of buying Oscar plastic made-in-China junk for a birthday that he won't even remember, Adam and I decided to sponsor a child in India this year. I am thrilled to honor the life that has blessed us so much by blessing another little life! So we're not buying presents for Oscar this year, but this doesn't mean I can't make gifts for him with stuff already in the house....

The first thing I'm making for him are felt alphabet refrigerator magnets.

They are three inches tall and lightly stuffed with batting. I drew a template for the letters on printer paper, but I realized (after all the letters were drafted, of course) that freezer paper would be an even better pattern material.

They have magnetic tape stuck on the back because that's what I had handy, but next time I'll probably sew magnets inside the letters...

This has been a really fun opportunity to try out all sorts of embroidery techniques! This blog has some great stitch tutorials.

Fishbone stitch

Wheatear stitch

Plain ol' running stitch

Couching

Cross stitch

Lazy daisy. Aren't I SO clever for putting Flowers on F. :-P

Palestrina stitch

A midnight scene

Coral stitch

More cross stitch

The reason for the season

 You'd be surprised at how quickly these whip up, too-- it usually takes less than an hour to make a letter! I've only made eleven letters so far, so I imagine there will be another post in the future when (or more like if) I finish the alphabet. So that's one set of goodies I'm whipping up for Oscar's birthday. Be on the lookout for the second gift!