On many occasions, you might find yourself in need of a gift. Perhaps for a birthday, the holidays, or just for fun. Either way, in any of these situations, you find yourself in a predicament. There is absolutely nothing to construct this so-called gift. But the solution is simple. Needle-felting. An all around fun way to glamourize gift giving. 

   The very first step is to go ahead and purchase yourself a needle-felting kit. Or, if you’re not feeling rather committed, borrow a friend’s.

   Then, lay out all materials, the kit should include a needle, a needle holder, a pad to place the felt, and an assortment of different colors of loose felt.

   Take the needle and insert it in the needle holder by wedging the needle between the two pieces of the needle holder

   Next, think of what you would like to make. Of course there are various things that can be made with felt, but for now, make a ball, to start simple.

   Pick out a color of felt.

   Take the felt between the thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand, and hold it in place on the felting pad.

   Start poking the felt repeatedly, while still holding it in place on the pad, as you poke the felt, it should begin to become more solid, and stiffer.

  As you poke, start to form the shape of what you’re creating, by turning it and poking different sides of it, in the case of a ball, start rolling the felt into a sphere, and poke the felt evenly across the entire surface.

   To attach different pieces together, take a chunk of loose felt, and poke about half of it into one piece and then start poking the rest of the loose felt into the second piece you wish to attach.

  These are the basic steps to needle-felting, as you progress, skills will naturally be picked up and learnt, so more complex designs can be made. For now however, you should be able to make a reasonable amount of gifts, if so inclined.