Wet felting is such a simple and warm activity – it’s a great one to set out any time of the year, but particularly in cold weather, when you’re in a pinch and need a quick to prepare craft, or a calming activity. Before stringing on the balls, you can even take some time to work on patterns as you figure out which one is right for you.
For Valentine’s Day, we worked on felted balls and made a small garland. This same thing can be done for birthday parties, home decor, jewellery, and more.
A few other felting projects we’ve made include felted balls for our hand-crafted sling shot, and felted stones + soap.
Here’s what we did for the garland… even our kitty, Luz, enjoyed it. I untangled this thing so, so many times.
MATERIALS
:: wool roving in desired colours
:: warm water
:: biodegradable dish soap
:: towels for cleaning up spills
:: optional: a story or audio story to listen to while felting as it is, well, a process!
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pour warm water into a pot or large bowl, set on top of a towel.
2. Add dish soap to the water. Keep the soap handy as you may need to add more as you go.
3. Take a piece of roving the size of a large egg and wrap it up into a ball.
4. Dip it in the warm, soapy water and give it a squeeze.
5. Roll the wet, soapy roving in the palms of your hands as though you’re making a ball type cookie.
6. Now and then, dip the ball back into the water – as you work the roving, it should be sudsy.
7. Once the ball is fairly small and firm, and there aren’t strands of roving still unattached, you can set it aside to dry and start a new one.
8. Repeat until you have your desired number of felted balls! Have fun!
TO MAKE A GARLAND
Simply choose a string and using a fairly large needle (has to be sharp – children’s needles didn’t work for us on this one), thread the balls onto the string in any pattern you like!
Looking for Valentine’s Day inspiration? Check out our Pink Valentine’s Tea!
FREE Valentine Tags for tea, jam & honey:
Don’t miss our Farm Fresh Valentine’s Cards – A set of three printable cards to print and paint or colour. Great for food & nature lovers of all ages.
