Toddler Time - Making Patterns and Pictures with Shapes

These little beauties have been some of my best friends lately. My 2-year old loves to play with them. And the best news of all is that I found them in the dollar bins at Target. They are basically inch-long multi-colored shapes that come with multi-colored shoelace strings. My little girl does like to thread the shapes onto the strings (although I had to wrap tape around the top of the shoelaces a few times so that it was easier for her to get the shoelace through the holes). But I wanted to find different ways to use them. So I decided to make some basic pictures using the shapes that she could then use as patterns. I laminated the pictures I made and now she can play with them by putting the correct colored shape onto the corresponding one in the pictures. 

Below are some examples of the patterns I came up with. (Important reminder: I am NOT an artist or graphic designer nor did I spend much time creating these. I usually leave the crafty blog posts to my very talented sisters and mother. So don't expect amazing. I just wanted to give you examples of things you could do--and yours will probably turn out a lot better than mine. Luckily, my 2-year old can't see my artistic deficiencies....yet.)

  

My 2-year old has been having a lot of fun with these. She likes to put the wooden shapes onto the patterns and she likes to make pictures of her own by putting the shapes on blank white pieces of paper.

Another fun thing to do is string some of the blocks onto one of the shoelaces into a pattern: i.e. yellow star, blue circle, green star, red circle, blue star... and then have your child choose what shape should come next. Then they can recreate the pattern on their own shoelace.

Anywho, just wanted to share some fun we have been having at our house these last few weeks. There are similar things like this that you can buy, but they cost $15 or more...which isn't a ton, but I made mine for $3. So go find some jumbo lacing beads in the dollar bins and have some fun!

Quiet Book Page: Baseball Glove

So it should be obvious by now that our mother is a very gifted seamstress. I'm not sure I fully realized how gifted she is while I was growing up; I just figured all moms made their own drapes, recovered couches, altered formals, sewed dresses, and crafted amazing Halloween costumes. It was just part of the mom territory.

Imagine my chagrin to realize that though I've been a mother six whole months, those powers haven't distilled upon me. I don't completely understand that delay, but while I'm waiting, I thought that now is a good time to use my so-so sewing skills to make things for SourPatch. He doesn't seem fixated on perfection and will willingly wear or use whatever I make him.

I also have found that sewing is ridiculously expensive. Do you know those giant cutting mats at JoAnns cost fifty bucks?!? Are you serious? Fifty dollars for a sheet of green plastic? Yeah right. I'll see what Walmart's costs... and I shouldn't complain! Our family's good friend Carmen is a saint and gave me a sewing machine, so there's one giant expense down. Yet I'm trying to be frugal.

So, I wanted an inexpensive project specifically for SourPatch that will help improve my sewing and can be done in funny snippets of time in-between naps. Thus, the Great Quiet Book Challenge was born...

The Great Quiet Book Challenge

Okay, so basically it's my sisters and me combining forces to create awesome quiet books for our kids. Since Delys already made some pages for Elin a long time ago, we used those pages as the basis for our books:

The Guidelines:

• All pages should be 11"x 12" on basic muslin
• Make 3 copies of each page to be exchanged with each other at a future date

And... those are really the only guidelines we have. Have you seen all the cute ideas on the internet? There are so many really neat books, tutorials, etc. It's fun to also attempt to design your own, too, so when I saw all the "put your hand in the glove" pages, I decided to make it a baseball glove instead! A quick google search revealed a few similar pages out there, but it's kind of hard to make a baseball mitt look adorable, si? Still, I went for it, and here's how it turned out:

Pretty cute, right? And super economical: the muslin was 40% off $2 a yard (thank you, JoAnns!), the felt was, what,  $0.30ish a sheet at Walmart, and I just used odd thread/string I had on hand.

To make the baseball stiff, I dipped it in a half water, half Elmers School Glue solution. It worked really well, actually (though probably makes it toxic to chew... hmm.) I know you can buy stiff, stick-on felt sheets, but they're a lot more expensive and don't have as many color options. Here's a picture of some blue felt I stiffened, too.

I'm really excited about the baseball display case! I cut out a square of the plastic packaging from SourPatch's "Charlie Chomp Chomp" crocodile toy and sewed it right on, easy as pie (half thinking I was going to break the needle, mind... glad it worked!) It already had this nifty snap on it, too.

I did buy a package of iron-on transfer paper from amazon for $7. I figure I can use it for lots of quiet book pages (and other projects!) I know some moms are really legit and needle-point on the words in their quiet books. I'm confident that this method looks a lot neater and cuter than my hand sewing.

So there you have it! The first page of the Great Quiet Book Challenge. I'm excited to see the rest of the pages to come!

DIY Le Mobile Nuage (The Cloud Mobile)

Shortly after SourPatch was born, Laurel sent me the link to a DIY site with instructions for making a darling cloud mobile. We thought it would be a great addition to his nursery and give him something to gaze up at while he is lying in his crib. The hitch was that the instructions are all in French. I, unfortunately, do not speak French.

But the mobile was so cute, and the instructions included pictures, so I figured, "Why not give it a try?"

So, here is an Americanized version of "DIY le mobile nuage." (Here is a link to the original site and instruction pages.)

You will need:
3 different sizes of circles for tracing--I used three sizes of plates, a dinner plate, a toddler plate, and a salad plate. (The mobile from the original site is much smaller. Mine ended up being about 10 inches across.)
Pen or pencil for tracing
1/2 to 1 yard fabric, depending on what size you choose to make it
Fiberfill stuffing (available at craft and fabric stores)
Needle
Thread to match your fabric--I used quilting thread for added strength.
3 pompoms for the raindrops or origami birds
1 plastic ring
Yarn, ribbon or invisible thread for hanging

It looks like the fabric in the original post is almost a burlap in texture. I chose a soft, white, textured velour. I think you could use just about anything.

Place your fabric on a hard surface and trace 2 large circles, 5 medium circles, and 3 small circles.

Cut them out.

It looks like the original instructions suggested using interfacing to reinforce the fabric. I chose to skip that step; it would not have worked well with my fabric. They also appeared to iron under a narrow edge around each circle. Since my fabric doesn't fray and the edges do not show in the finished product, I skipped that as well. 

Thread a needle with a long piece of thread. Knot the thread and run a long, running stitch around the outside of each circle. When you reach the end, gently begin to tighten the thread to create a ball.

Stuff each ball with fiberfill. You can fill it lightly to make a soft, squishy cloud or really squeeze it in to make the ball stiffer.

Pull your thread tight and stitch the opening shut. I shaped some of the balls into rounds and others into ovals by how I stitched them shut. The variation in size and shape makes the completed mobile more visually interesting and keeps it from looking too symmetrical. Hopefully, the pictures below illustrate what I mean:

An oval

A circle

Using one of the large balls as a base, I started sewing the medium and small balls around the outside by hand. There is nothing tricky about this; just take large, looping stitches and pull tight. Leave the second large ball and one of the medium balls to create the bottom.

I sewed the remaining two balls together at one edge and then started sewing each of the seven outer balls (above) to those two balls--making sure that the ugly openings are all on the inside--to create one large cloud. You can pin them to each other first if that makes it easier for you.

I sewed a small plastic ring to the top of the cloud and looped my hanging thread (you could also use ribbon or invisible thread) through it.

Using invisible thread, I sewed on three blue pompoms, varying the lengths of the thread for visual interest. I bought my pompoms at Hobby Lobby, but you could make your own from yarn. 

Voila! 

Le Mobile Nuage

Eeezy Breezy Doll Clothes

Since I am technically too old to play with dolls, I have to think of other reasons to make them clothes and accessories. Recently, I have started "rescuing" 18 inch dolls from garage sales and thrift stores, restoring them, and dressing them for donation. I often make outfits from scratch, but I also have fun adapting pre-made items; many of these come with fun details that would be difficult or time-consuming to add myself. Laurel suggested that I periodically share a few simple ideas for making inexpensive, high-quality outfits. So. . .

Part of the fun is the hunt. Keep your eyes open for cute pieces that look like they might potentially work for a doll. These could include new or used children's clothing, dog clothes, Build-a-Bear items, and . . . Christmas ornaments (more on that later). Resale stores are ideal places to start, but I have found great, new items on clearance at Walmart and other stores for as low as a dollar. Preemie and newborn sizes need very little adaptation, but larger sizes can work as well. For this outfit, I started with a newborn sweater I found for 99 cents at a thrift store. It is in excellent condition, and I liked the flower detail on the front.

When I tried it on the doll, it was just a little too large across the back. So I carefully clipped out the tag with a seam ripper, put the sweater on the doll inside out, and pinned a tuck in the center back of the sweater to make it fit.

Leaving the pin in place, I carefully removed the sweater and sewed a short seam along the pin line from the neck edge toward the bottom of the sweater--about 3/4 of an inch long, back-stitching at the beginning and end of the seam. (You could easily do it by hand.) This created a small pleat in the back of the sweater which brought it down to size. Voila! Just think of it as added detail. The sleeves were a tiny bit long, so I simply rolled them up.

The bargain hunter in me was so excited to find this "Build-a-Bear" denim skirt at a thrift store for a quarter. I love all the details--belt loops, pockets, decorative stitching and beading, as well as flirty pleats.

Two potential issues: it was too big, and it had a hole in the back for a bear's tail. No problem! Put the skirt on inside out, pin it to fit, slip it off, and stitch a seam down each side along the pin line. I took care of the tail hole simply by stitching it closed by hand.

Take just an extra second to finish the seam edge with a zigzag stitch to keep it from fraying. It will help your doll clothes last so much longer.

You can find fairly inexpensive doll clothes at craft stores like Joann's, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's--especially if you use a coupon. However, the difference between those outfits and the ones you make yourself or buy from pricier sources, such as American Girl stores, is the quality of the fabric and the workmanship. The cheaper manufacturers use poor quality materials and don't take time to do things like finish seams, so the clothes tear and wear out quickly.

Now for the little extras. I love after-Christmas sales at Hobby Lobby. Last year, when all the Christmas items were marked down to either 80 or 90% off, I found a few pair of velour boots and several vinyl pack-style purses. They were Christmas tree ornaments, and although they apparently hadn't been popular options for decorating, they make adorable doll accessories!

I threaded a pink and brown ribbon that I already had through the belt loops on the skirt to create a belt, and the outfit is complete! (Just for comparison purposes, the sweater cost $1, the skirt was 25 cents, and the boots and bag were 50 cents each. The outfit total: $2.25. And the sewing was minimal--a tuck in the sweater and a seam down each side of the skirt. Eeezy Breezy!)