06 Sep Even a Beginner Can Needle-Felt a Beautiful Scene!

“I’m just not crafty.” It’s probably the most common concern that we hear from homeschool moms when discussing the subject of handicrafts. I get it! We are all gifted in different ways. Your gift might not be crafting or creativity. Mine isn’t math. Growing up, I hated math. My entire left brain would go on lock-down at the very appearance of numbers. But unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), we don’t get a pass on subjects that we are not gifted in. We don’t get to skip over subjects that we find difficult. As a homeschool mom, I still have to do math with my kids. As a non-crafty homeschool mom, you can still do handicrafts with your children.

Start at the Beginning

The beginning is a good place to start. No matter who you are, you must start at the beginning. Take math, for instance. When I began homeschooling my children, I had to come to terms with the fact that as much as I hated math, I was going to have to embrace it in order to help my children. So, I began learning math (again), along with my children. Slowly, I noticed that my brain was not so terribly opposed to numbers anymore. In fact, I began to enjoy math. By the time my children were doing high school math, they were quite independent, but I was still asking to review their algebra with them, because I enjoyed it. “Who am I?!” I thought.

It can be the same for you. You may think you’re not crafty but there is the potential that you simply need to start at the beginning. Maybe you can walk this out with your children. And maybe – just maybe – you’ll find that you actually enjoy handicrafts.

Starting at the beginning is the embodiment of lifelong learning, and this is something that I love. Up until now, the only needle felting I had done was watching my talented daughter. Luci makes incredible needle-felted sculptures, and I would watch her in awe. In fact, I found her so inspiring that when I saw a needle felting hydrangea kit for sale, I knew I had to buy it. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower, and this kit displayed them in big bunches in purples and pinks and blues. It wasn’t until I sat down to open the kit that I began to wonder if, as a beginner could I actually needle-felt a beautiful scene such as the one on the package?

The kit came with everything I would need to complete the project, including written and video instructions.

Happy Handicrafts Video: Even BEGINNERS Can Make Absolutely GORGEOUS Needle-Felted Scenes

Now, I’ll admit, it wasn’t as easy as the instructional video made it appear. The person making the video made it look so easy as they blended the sky to perfection, and shaped the intricate flowers with ease. I struggled with the sky, redoing it several times before settling with what I am calling whisps of clouds. My flowers came out in all sorts of shapes and thickness, so I finally cut them into circles.

But here’s the deal: this is my first attempt at needle felting. I didn’t even know this amazing craft even existed until a short while ago when my daughter suggested that we learn it for our handicraft! My results are not perfect (or even close to perfect), but I can now say that I can needle-felt a beautiful scene.

You can be sure I’m not stopping here! This was my beginning, but it is not my ending. Isn’t that the beauty of handicrafts, and beginnings, and life-long learning? You have the option to take it as far as you want. It may be something that you want to explore further. You may find that it brings you joy. But to find out, you have to start at the beginning.