Needle felting is one of those crafts that seems really daunting, but is actually very easy. Basically, you're using a special needle to tangle wool into a shape you want, or to connect it to another type of wool. If you can poke something with a needle, you can do needle felting.
My first adventure into needle felting was inspired by a wool heart banner I had cut up for a Valentine's Day wreath. I had some leftover wool hearts that I just knew I could repurpose into something new and cute.
As with any new crafty adventure, the hardest part is getting all the supplies. You will need a needle felting tool and a protective mat. The needles in the tool are about 3 inches long, so you want your mat to be the same thickness.
You will also need roving—wispy bits of wool that is not spun into yarn. Roving comes in any color under the sun. You can in the yarn aisle of your craft store.
(As if my yarn addiction wasn't bad enough, now I am getting very into wool roving! I'll be buying my own sheep to raise and shear by this time next year, if this keeps up.)
Finally, you'll need wool hearts, balls, and beads. If you don't have ready-made wool hearts like I did, never fear: You can cut your own hearts out of felt. If you are feeling REALLY crafty, you can also fill a heart-shaped cookie cutter with wool roving and needle-felt that sucker into the shape you want.
Place your heart on the mat. Grab small sections of roving at a time and place onto your heart. I spelled out L-O-V-E.
Begin felting your design by poking the heart with your needle felting tool. This tool has retractable needles that connect your roving to your design. Continue for each letter.
Once I had the letters felted onto the hearts, I decided to make the hearts into a banner. I used the red-and-white-striped rope to make small hoops at the top of each heart. I used a hot glue gun to hold them in place.
I made the banner from a strand of chunky green yarn. I strung it through the hoops on each heart, then added a dab of hot glue where the hoop touched the green yarn, to make sure my spacing stayed the same when I hung the banner up.
You can buy wool felted beads and balls at the craft store, but making your own is also fun. With more hot glue, I added a few beads in between each letter for added pops of color.
I love the way my banner looks, and can now check needle felting off my crafty bucket list.
Check out more of my crafty adventures at www.jenniferperkins.com