Craft Confessions | Hoot the Owl

Remember how owls were super cool a year ago? Well, being the stubborn, anti-faddist that I am, I wasn't really into them. Then I decided to throw a little winter bash, and I realized snow owls really did personify winter quite perfectly. So I caved. But let's be honest, these guys turned out really cute.

Here's how to create your own little Hoot.

1. Print out this template to cut out felt pieces. (I made mine on a piece of 8.5" x 11" paper folded in half.)

2. Place the template on a folded piece of felt and cut out the owl's body. Then place the template on a smaller, contrasting piece of felt to cut out the belly of the owl. The other pieces (beak, pupils, and irises) can be free-handed a bit, but the template shows how I chose to cut them out. I wanted to give a fun expression to my Hoot, so I played around with the placement of his pupils a bit.

3. To attach the various pieces to the owls, use a bit of tacky glue to temporarily attach the pieces. For the belly, beak, and irises, use a coordinating zig-zag stitch. For the pupils, I chose to use a simple dashed stitch so that the eyes wouldn't look too crazy. I also decided to throw in a cute little heart on the owls' bums. You know, just to share the love.

4. At this stage, you can go one of two directions. If  you want Hoot to be more of a pillow, then just sew the two pieces right-sides together, leaving a 4-inch opening at the bottom. If you want Hoot to stand on his own, leave the opening alone one of his sides. Then pinch the bottom corners together and sew across the corners at 45 degree angles to make the owl become three dimensional.

5. Flip your little owls right-side-out, stuff them up, and use an invisible/whip-stitch to close your guys up.

(6. Fall in love. I really wasn't into this owl thing before, but aren't these cute?)