Christmas gifts for my niece and nephew

Yet another post from the "wait to post photos of gifts until after Christmas" category.

I made gifts for both my nephew and niece and wanted to share them, especially as they are all firsts for me!

The first is a pillow and cover for my niece. I have had these FQs of Birch Storyboek fabrics sitting around waiting for a perfect project ever since I received them from Green Bag Lady. Turns out a gift for my little niece is perfect! I made her a pillow form and an envelope-backed pillow cover. I used the tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew, but left out the appliqued front. I did applique a letter P on the back for her name though. 

 The second project is a felt crown for my nephew. I started this on a whim about a week and a half before Christmas because he mentioned he wanted a crown to go with his tutu (see below). So I made him a very boyish crown with his initial, along with a rocket ship, the moon and a star. My sister and I browsed a lot on Google images (and there are some great ones there if you crochet) but I based mine on the ones made by Maureen over at Maureen Cracknell Handmade. I have wanted to make one ever since I saw hers.

 The third project is a tutu for my 3 year old nephew. His friend had one at her house and he adored it, so my sister mentioned he would like one. I found a really easy tutorial at Skip to my Lou. It is still a bit serendipitous to me that a headband fits a toddler's waist. I mixed some purple, fuchsia and white to make a rather riotous tutu. My nephew loved it and wore it with the rocket ship crown, which was adorable.

These were all so fun to make, and it was nice to challenge myself with new projects and mediums. I like having these excuses to break the mold!