Handmade Christmas Softies - Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth

Christmas Softies - what a great idea!  There are so many great ideas, patterns and tutorials out there for making your own Christmas cuddly toys.

In past years I've made a few furry and other Christmas creatures for my girls. Here are some pictures of what we have.

A Santa Jem - this is a covered plastic bucket - so is great for putting presents in!

Two small Santa's Elf Jems - these are covered sections of drainpipe - and over the years I've made A LOT of these in various colours to sell and for kids presents. 

They are cuddly and can be filled with all sorts of things (tutorial here)

I also made a small Santa one year. (He's about 30 cm  (1') tall)

And together with a shoe box full of wrapped boxes and a cuddly reindeer we bought - he gets played with a lot each Christmas.

Finally this year I've added a couple of super simple no-sew sock snowmen from an old pair of the girls school socks. stuffed with fabric scraps.

Here are some more Softies that have been linked up to my Christmas parties over the years.

Snuggly Christmas Characters (with tutorial) from Brassy Apple.

Christmas Crochet Robin from Creative Chaos Art.

Christmas Reindeer from Howling at the Moon.

And a Gingerbread Man Rattle (with tutorial) from Vixen Made.

There are plenty more ideas for making Christmas Softies and lots of other Christmas Crafts on our group 

Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth Pinterest Board

Please do come and take a look - and feel free to request to join as a contributor to this board. The more the merrier!

To see what other topics I've covered in my Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth series - go here. And do keep coming back as I'm adding more ideas, projects and tutorials every week!

I'll be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose pretty buttons can be found on the bottom of this page and direst links on my linky party page.

Bright and colourful turtles and tissue holders - more clothes upcycling

I'm continuing upcycling the last of the clothing for my girls school carnival, which is in just 4 weeks time!

After the softie turtles I made last week were all a little grey,

I decided we needed some with a little colour!

I forgot to take pictures of the clothes before I cut them up - but they are made from a selection of shorts and t-shirts.

My girls have been helping me out today too - giving each turtle a name and a character, for example, this is Sparkle,

this is Lily,

and this is Missile.

So here are all the turtles together - a much more colourful bunch now don't you think?

My girls also did some sewing too yesterday!

They made a whole heap of tissue holders from jeans and other trouser legs for the stall.

So nice that they can make things for the stall and be so involved with it. The idea is to get is set up this year as a concept, then try to help the kids at the school do a lot of the upcycling themselves next year!

To see what else I've upcycled from clothes so far for the school carnival go here.

And for over 600 more clothes upcycling ideas - please do visit the ongoing linky here. There is so much great inspiration there. Do feel free to add your own clothes upcycling projects to the linky too!

I shall be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose pretty buttons can be found at the bottom of this page and direct links on my linky party page.

Fifty Shades of Turtle - more clothes upcycling

This week's clothes upcycle is a few more turtle softies for the school carnival stall.

I made my first one of these 3 months ago using fabric from a skirt and pair of jeans.

Then I made another one a couple of weeks ago after a special request for a turtle mascot for my daughter's school environment club.

For all these turtles I used this great tutorial and pattern from 

Cup of Threads.

The three turtles I made yesterday are several shades of darker greys, black, beiges and blues.

I made them from scraps left over from other projects - from a couple of pairs of jeans and shorts.

Now whilst these turtles may be cute - I'm wondering if I should make a few girly turtles to offset the shades of grey!

What do you think?  A pink turtle perhaps?

You may have noticed I have made quite a few turtle projects over the past few months.  Well, living up here in Cairns, right next to the Great Barrier Reef, I'm lucky enough to be able to volunteer to help care for sick turtles.

This has also inspired me to sponsor a turtle through the WWF - this is Mitch the turtle:

For each of my e-books that is sold , which only cost $3.99, or the cost of a cup of coffee, I am donating $1 to the WWF to help support and protect our amazing wildlife and planet.

If you haven't yet seen, my e-book is a set of patterns and tutorials to make a comprehensive set of shopping bags, upcycled from sheets and curtains, and all contained in a stylish handbag upcycled from a pair of jeans.

Please do take a look at my E-book, maybe you could make yourself a set of shopping bags, and no longer need plastic bags when you go shopping! In doing so, you will also be helping to support and protect our beautiful turtles!

I shall be linking this post to many of the fabulous linky parties whose pretty buttons can be found on the bottom of this page and direct links on my linky party page.