Halloween Cookie Cutters as Needle Felting Supplies

Halloween Cookie Cutters as Needle Felting Supplies

I can’t recall when or how I first heard about the craft of needle felting. But it is a technique that I’ve admired for a while and wanted to try out. A friend of mine told me that the easiest way to learn was to use cookie cutters as needle felting supplies for shaping the wool. So, when I thrifted these Halloween cookie cutters, I knew it was time to try out felting wool once and for all!

halloween cookie cutters

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Of course, I didn’t have ANY needle felting supplies in my arsenal, so I had to start from scratch. Luckily, though, I found a delightful starter kit that had all the needle felting supplies I would need to get started.

needle felting supplies

Honestly, I didn’t even know what I’d need to try felting wool, but the kit seemed thorough enough to me!

needle felting kits for beginners

How to Needle Felt Wool with Cookie Cutters

Before I did anything else, I spent some time on YouTube watching videos of other people needle felting. This video showed the basics of felting, but this one was much longer and showed how to create finer details.

Either way, I was ready to give it a try after watching the videos. From the box of needle felting supplies, I grabbed some wool roving, the foam pad, and one of the larger felting needles.

Per the instructions, I cleaned the needle first.

Then, I separated some of the wool roving from the ball, making it thin and wispy before gently folding it into my cookie cutter. And underneath everything was the foam pad from the needle felting kit.

how to needle felt with cookie cutters

Next, I stabbed the wool roving with the needle in an up and down motion. I went slowly at first, but got the hang of it pretty quickly.

The wool roving began to shrink and get matted to itself (which it was supposed to do), and I’d periodically flip the entire thing over to do both sides.

making a needle felt owl

As it became more and more felted, I added additional roving to make it thicker and stronger. Eventually, I was quite satisfied with it and removed it from the cookie cutter.

cookie cutter as needle felting supplies

I decided I was done when it felt like a Brillo pad or steel wool. Not scratchy, of course, but felt strongly connected and thick when I squeezed it between my fingers. Does that make sense?

Next, I switched to a finer needle, put on the finger protectors, and cleaned up the sides (still gently stabbing). I also sharpened any angles and corners in my design this way (think of it like sculpting with your needle).

felting wool for halloween pins

Now it was time for the more intimidating part– adding details, like the face on my owl!

needle felt animals from halloween cookie cutters

Creating with Needle Felting Supplies

Because I had watched that longer video that I linked to earlier, I knew how to begin creating the face and eyes. So, I balled up some white wool roving and began to felt it to my owl (still using the fine needle). 

All the colors I used came from the needle felting supplies in the starter kit.

adding details when needle felting wool

Next, I added smaller, tighter balls of yellow roving. Oh gosh, it looks more like sunny side up eggs than a face! But bear with me…

needle felting an owl

Stab, stab, stab…tuck, tuck, tuck…form, form, form. Once you get started, it becomes easier and easier to figure out how to “sculpt and stab” to create the details.

After that, I added small balls of black roving to the center of the yellow eyes and ringed them with wispy black roving, too.

And just like that…owl eyes were staring back at me.

felting supplies for beginners

I was feeling more and more confident with needle felting now. Finally, I finished up my Halloween owl with a beak, wings, and a wispy, fuzzy white belly.

needle felting supplies for felted animals

Now I just needed to turn him into a Halloween pin! I flipped him over and needle felted a ball of roving over a bar pin.

halloween pins from needle felting wool

To do this part, I held everything in my fingers and was very careful to not stab all the way through! I didn’t want to mess up those details I had worked so hard on.

Instead of needle felting up and down, I went in at a 45° angle to keep from ruining the front.

Halloween Cookie Cutters as Needle Felting Supplies

Of course, I had to try out a few of the other cookie cutter shapes! I decided I wanted a black cat and a jack-o-lantern as Halloween pins, too.

halloween cookie cutters as needle felting supplies

Obviously, I have a long way to go as far as technique is concerned, but OH MY GOSH. I understand now why people love needle felting so much!

It is a completely addictive craft, that’s for sure.

halloween pins

Think you’ll give needle felting a try now? Such a fun way to upcycle your vintage cookie cutters…

Here’s another idea for you, too. I also made some heirloom pumpkins to go in my vintage toy truck. I made these felted pumpkins by starting out with felted wool balls from this Etsy shop. Aren’t they adorable?

felted pumpkins

These are almost like that show that used to be on Food Network, “Semi-Homemade”. Because I definitely got some help from these pre-made felted wool balls. 

Of course, you could easily make your own wool balls, too. All I did was apply the same “ridge technique” to the felted wool balls as I did to these bandana pumpkins!

Fabric pumpkins from a Halloween Bandana

And if you enjoyed this upcycling idea for Halloween pins, you may also enjoy these candy corn decorations that I upcycled!

Candy corn decorations from thread cones

Craft on!

S

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Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.

Comments

  1. Too cute! I Love them!

  2. Cookie Cutters!!! What a great idea! I love needle felting and have made several little animals and a snowman :o)

    Tania

  3. You are so talented. I love your site. I love going to Thrift stores and Garage sales.With great ideas, but what is in my head never looks like that as end result. So I love watching you. Thank you so much.
    BTW I like your Brillo Pad reference. Never heard that expression since I left England many years ago.Hugs.

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      Awww, thank you so much!! I never thought of Brillo Pad as being an unusual reference (other than dating myself!) but it was the first thing that popped into my head to describe the consistency of the wool. 🙂

  4. These are really cute. You did a wonderful job! thanks

  5. Mary Loveland says

    How cute are those! Cuties for Christmas would be endless!

  6. Wiw, this is another one I have never tried. Will have to be on the look out for wool roving as I have the hugest collection of cooky cutters! I love the idiea of pins but I think they would also make great Christmas ornaments, too! Great project!

  7. Angie Jerrell says

    Thank you for sharing once again a wonderful project idea!!!!! I bought my first kit, tools and felting supplies over a year a go and have never did one thing! Just seemed to hard, detailed. Thank you for sharing the ins and outs in detail and links too!

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      I think you’ll love it, Angie!! Definitely worth giving it a go – let me know if you do and what you think!

  8. Wow ! So cute ! I need to look in to this asap !

  9. Oh my! Those are adorable! I thought that it would be much harder to learn but those cookie cutters sure seem to make things easier. Love the little pumpkins too!

  10. How adorable are these! Wow, I’m impressed that this was your first attempt at needle felting because these cuties look like you’ve been doing it for years!

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      Thank you so much! I was shocked at how easy it was to get a hang of this, I promise you. Watching the videos first definitely helped.

  11. Another winner, I’ll have to try needle felting again. Also love the dryer balls into pumpkins

  12. Karolyn Love says

    You have inspired me, Sadie! Have thought about this, but nervous about trying. I will definitely watch the video first!! Thank you so much for sharing!!

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      I understand, Karolyn!! I was nervous, too – just go slowly to avoid stabbing your fingers. I think you’ll be surprised how quickly you get the hang of it, though!

  13. You’re amazing and so talented. These are adorable.

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