Gemini Nutcracker & Friends and Christmas Nativity go Halloween

A little rearranging of the pieces, change up the colors and look at all the fun new Halloween characters you can make with the Gemini Nutcracker & Friends and Christmas Nativity applique dies.

First let’s start with the original products. Here are images of all the characters on the original packaging. It was so fun playing with them to see what I could make. I sure there are many more characters to make and even the ones I made could be made with several different pieces. There is no right or wrong way. Eye, wing and head placement can all change the expression of the character. It was fun seeing how it changed. Just have a play and see how you like them best. You can stick the felt together and try out placement before glueing anything down.

I do want to say that I cut the felt on my Gemini Jr. with my metal fabric plates in addition to the original metal shim and top and bottom base plates.. Even with all those plates there were still times when the dies did not completely cut through the felt. When this happened I just finished the cut with my scissors. I tried multiple plate combinations and this was the best combination I could find to cut the felt.

Bat – Below are the pieces you will need.
Christmas Nativity
Wing, black – 2
Sheep/Donkey Ears, pink – 1 cut, 2 pieces
Nutcracker & Friends
Hair, black – 1
Mouse Ear (small), black – 2
Cheeks, Eyes & Buttons, green – 1 cut, 2 pieces
First glue the wings together overlapping the end that is more rounded.
Next attach the hair with the round side toward the bottom and hanging below the wings and centered. The inside of the ears are next, leaving equal space around the edges. Finally glue the eyes letting them hang off the rounded part of the face.

Scarecrow – Below are the pieces you will need

Christmas Nativity
Hands, brown – 1 cut, 2 pieces (1 right and 1 left)
Camel Hump/Saddle, orange – 1
Kings Hat & Gift, light brown – 2
Wing, brown – 1
Belt, purple – 1
Nutcracker & Friends
Jacket, green – 1
Trousers, brown – 1
Shoes, light brown – 2
Hat, Belt, Mouth & Boot Trim, brown, – 1
Hair, purple – 1
Cheeks, Eyes, Buttons, white & black – 1 cut of each, 2 pieces of each

Start with his head. You will need to fringe both of the “Kings Hat” pieces. To do this cut small slits about 3/4 of the way into the piece along the long side. This will naturally flair out from the more narrow opposite side. Be careful not to cut the slits too close together or the felt might tear and the piece will fall off. I have shown the back of his head and hat so you can see the placement of the fringe. On the hat the fringe should come from underneath the hat and on his head it should be on top reaching up onto his face. You can see this is the second picture. When they are glued together they will look like the third picture.

Next take one of the “shoe” pieces and fringe it. Be careful not cut them apart (if you do you can still use them just glue them close together =)) Glue them on top of the bottom of the pants like a cuff. Then you can glue the pants to the stick. Leave about 1 1/2 inches of the stick below his pants. Attach his head to the top of the stick. It might help to lay the jacket on the stick to help with his head placement. Be careful not to place his head on too high.

Next cut the remaining “Kings Hat” in two and fringe them. Glue them to tops of each of the “Hand” pieces. The image on the left shows the hands from the back. The image on the right shows then turned over and attached to jacket. (Note: make sure the point the thumbs in toward his body.) Attach two white “Cheeks, Eyes & Buttons” to his jacket as buttons and trim the “Belt” to fit as the neck piece for the bandana on the jacket and glue it to the neckline of the jacket. Next. attach the jacket to stick, glue on his eyes and use the “Hair” piece as a bow/knot of his bandana. He is so sticking cute!!

Ghost & Pumpkins – Below are the pieces you will need

Christmas Nativity
Main Body, white – 1
Cloak, white – 1
Sheep’s Face, black – 2
Camel hump/Saddle, orange – 1
Sheep’s Body, orange – 1
Sheep/Donkey Ears, green – 1 cut, 2 pieces
Nutcracker & Friends
Hat Decoration, brown – 2
Cheeks, Eyes, Buttons, white – 1 cut, 2 pieces

First attach the main body and cloak. Next layer the eyes with the small white circles inside the black circles. Attach the eyes to the face of the ghost. To create the pumpkins attach the brown hat decoration as the stems and the sheep ears as leaves. You can add more than two leaves and or make the greens different colors.

Owl – Below are the pieces you will need

Christmas Nativity
Main Body, brown – 1
Cloak, brown – 1
Sheep’s Face, black – 2
Face, orange – 2
Wing, light brown – 2
Nutcracker & Friends
Dress, light brown – 1
Hair, light brown – 1
Mouse’s Ears (large), green – 2

First lay the dress on the main body and place the hair into the neck area. Place the hair low enough on the body so only about 1/2 the ears stick out of the top. Place the dress below it and when you are happy with the placement glue them down. Note: I laid the cloak on top to check to see how much of the ears were showing before glueing down the pieces to the main body. If too much of the ears are sticking out and showing the owl doesn’t look right. Next place the wings on high up on the head with the rounder side on the body and the pointy side away from the body making it the wing tip. Wing placement can vary. Lay the cloak on top to see what angel you like best for the wings. When you have the angel you like glue the wings down in place.

Next glue the eyes together. The black inside the green inside the orange. Center them toward the inside lower section of the orange circles. Adjust the eye placement on the top of his head to your liking. Changing the eye placement can change his expression. You then have the two pieces the main body and the cloak. Glue the clock on the main body matching up the top edge.

Spider – Below are the pieces you will need

Christmas Nativity
Hair & Beard, black – 1
Face, black – 1
Sheep/Donkey ears, green – 1 cut, 2 pieces
Belt, black – 6
Halo/Donkey’s Saddle, black – 1 (to place under the main body)
Nutcracker & Friends
Hat Decoration, green – 1
Cheeks, Eyes, Buttons, black – 1 cut, 2 pieces

Make sure to cut out the Halo/Donkey’s Saddle (image on the right). This is glued under the main body (Hair & Beard). You want the spider’s body to be the shape of the beard but the die cuts out the face with the hair and beard around it. If you place the Halo/Donkey’s Saddle piece underneath it you can’t tell the felt is cut. Glue these two pieces together.

Cat – Below are the pieces you will need

Christmas Nativity
Sheep’s Body, black – 1
Shepherd’s Staff, black – 1
Face, black – 1
Nutcracker & Friends
Epaulettes, pink – 1 cut, 2 pieces
Mouse Ears, white – 2
Mouse Nose, pink – 1 (I couldn’t find my die )
Cheeks, Eyes & Buttons, green – 1 cut, 2 pieces
Hair, black – 1

Start by creating his ears. Place the two pink epaulettes into the hair piece to make the cat’s ears. Place these fairly close to the tips of the ears leaving a thin black border. Create his face by glueing his green pupils into the lower section of the mouse ear pieces. The mouse ear pieces go with the narrow side facing down and toward his nose. His nose can be glued centered below his eyes. Cut the end off shepherd’s staff. Glue his tail to the body. Change the angle of the tail to suit you. Glue the ears to back of his head. Adjust them so only about 1/2 pink part is showing. Attach his head to his body. Head placement can change his expression.