This is Owlie. He’s 31 years old, just like me. He was my first and favorite stuffed animal, and my love for him inspired my family to give me many years of owl-themed gifts. Somewhere in my parents’ attic, basement, or barn there are several boxes full of macrame, ceramic, and fabric owls that rival these delightful finds.

All this is to say that, in spite of a brief early high school attempt to get away from the “owl thing” and switch my loyalty to elephants, I was into owls way before they became the hottest DIY-hipster fad. I was on the owl bandwagon back in the 70s, the first time they were cool!

I’m working on a couple owl-themed crafty projects right now, but I have nothing to show you yet. So, here are some inspirational owl crafts and creations I’ve noticed in the past few months:

• Sam Trout Love Birds t-shirt - I saw this a few weeks ago at I Heart Rummage and fell in love, but thus far I’ve resisted.
• Shambhala Music Festival logo
• Droopy-eyed pillow owls by Curious Bird
• Cathy of California’s vintage inspiration for her owl creations, which inspired the felt owls I made for a couple friends for xmas this year
• Cathy also featured a vintage crewel embroidery owl last week
• The Owls Thank You card

If you really want to go crazy, check out 89 pages of owl fabulousness on Etsy. (Elephants only get 50 pages, but cats win out with over 300 pages - somewhat inflated by the prevalence of “cats eye” items.)