walnut shell & wool pin cushion

I was so happy to walk into our market to the sight of big bags of nuts:hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds! We nibble on so many different kinds of nuts in our family and I was excited to show my little son a bit more about where they come from. We decided to bring home a bag full of walnuts and he delighted in cracking them open. Many of the shells just broke into pieces but the ones that were split perfectly in half left lots of room for the imagination. I made one half into this wee pin cushion simply by needle felting a wool ball the same size as the walnut opening and then gluing it into the bottom of the shell. I found it helpful to start the felt ball outside of the shell and then to shape the rest while the wool was in place. 

The shells would also work well for these boats. Who knew that there were so many things one could made with a simple walnut shell! And you get to snack on nuts while you work! How nice.