i’m not a huge believer in astrology, although i love devouring  rob breszny’s horoscopes in the weekly paper. reading rob’s predictions is more like reading a very short and very fascinating story that just happens to have a bit of advice or insight sprinkled in. i’m a libra, which i’ve been told means i can be a little indecisive at times. this holds true for many things in my life, including this mornings trip to the farmer’s market as i attempted to pick something out for dinner tomorrow night and spent 20 minutes weighing my options…french cut lamb or BBQ oysters and finally, i got both. another area of my life where i’m a bit non-committal is in my crafty world. i’ve never been able to stick to one craft. my crafting room is full of supplies for a variety of mediums…screenprinting, sewing, jewelry making, soap and candle making, painting, collage, mixed media diorama supplies and now i’ve taken on a new craft…felting. so, yesterday i headed down to my lovely local yarn shop, cast away yarn shop in santa rosa and stocked up on

some wool, felt, felting needles and a pad to felt on. always looking for a way to do things on a budget, i tried my hand at making my own needle felting tool instead of buying one. i have to say that it doesn’t work quite as well as a professional tool. i think for my next tool i need to put the needles closer together. but it still does the job. stay tuned for some tutorials on how to use you new tool to needle felt.
what to get:
hammer
wine cork
3-6 felting needles (i used size 36)
what to do:
1. working on a table with slats in it or using the end of the table, rest the cork on an edge and hammer in the first felting needle
2. this is where it got a little tricky, the second needle i hammered in went in sideways and i had to pull it out with some pliers. so, when you hammer in the other needles try to keep them very straight.
3. hammer in the remaining needles and felt your little heart out.

-nicole s.