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Felt Landscape

Total Time Needed:: 2-3 Hours

Piecing together a decorative wall hanging is a fun way for a child to depict a favorite place, be it his own backyard or an imaginary landscape. Plus, it can be a true work in progress to which he can add new elements with the changing seasons, in celebration of different holidays, or whenever the mood strikes.

Click here to download printable versions of the felt landscape elements. They will be saved to your hard drive as "0203_swfelt_patterns.pdf". Your browser needs to be running the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in to view and print this file. To download and install the free plug-in, click here.

Materials

Fabric or craft glue
22- by 36-inch piece of felt (sold by the yard at most fabric stores) in any color
Fabric scissors
Wooden dowel, 26 inches long, 5/8 inch in diameter

12- by 22-inch piece of light blue felt for the sky
9- by 12-inch felt sheets in assorted colors
Self-adhesive Velcro
1-yard-long piece of cording

Instructions

Apply a thick line of glue across the 22- by 36-inch felt backing 3 inches from the upper edge. Fold down the top of the felt, pressing it firmly against the glue to stick the edge in place (if needed, use straight pins or masking tape to secure the felt until the glue dries). Cut notches in the folded portion as shown below to create wide loops to thread the dowel through.
Next, create your environmental background. First, glue on the blue felt sky. Then cut out cliffs, buttes, hills, dunes, or fields from the felt sheets. Choose the ones that are meant to be farthest in the distance (such as the buttes in the scene shown here) and glue them on so that the tops overlap the lower sky. Layer and glue on the remaining pieces in the same fashion, working toward the foreground.
Now your child can cut out trees, plants, animals, houses, vehicles, people, or any other items he desires from the colored felt sheets. Simply attach a small piece of self-adhesive Velcro (the part with the small hooks, not the fuzzy part) to the back of each cutout and you can press it in place on the felt hanging. Lastly, tie the ends of the cording to the dowel ends, and your finished scene is ready to hang.
Add fun felt people to your landscape! Check out this feature on felty friends which includes printable patterns.