In honor of Earth Day, I thought we would do another fun craft with recyclables — a kit to design your own robot! Of course, we craft with recyclables year round, since it’s better for the environment, plus I consider them to be free art supplies. Emily has been on a robot kick lately, as […]
Shop Update! Butterfly Play Set
April 12, 2010 by
Once upon a time, there was a little caterpillar who liked to eat lots of leaves. When he was full, he spun a cocoon, and went inside. He was in there for a long time! Then, the cocoon started to move, and…… out came a beautiful butterfly!! Emily had so much fun playing with this […]
Kid-Made Stuffed Toys
January 25, 2010 by
I helped Emily make this cute stuffed robot toy this afternoon, and if you have some fabric scraps, stuffing, and a some fabric markers, you can make your own stuffed toy using this technique too! Emily was so proud to have made this toy, and plans are in the works for a home for our […]
Penguin Playset Tutorial
January 5, 2010 by
We were going through the girls out-grown clothes and deciding which ones to donate to Goodwill, when Emily spotted these old microfiber tights. She declared we could make a penguin from them, and of course I had to agree! To make your own penguin playset, you will need: some felt, thread, old microfiber stockings, and […]
Happy New Year!! — Jingle Bell Noisemaker Bracelet
January 1, 2010 by
Emily loved ringing in the new year with this fun jingle bell noisemaker bracelet! To make your own noisemaker bracelet, you will need: felt, thread, jingle bells, and a small button. Cut two long pieces of felt about 1 1/2 inches wide. Measure your child’s wrist and add about 2 inches for the length. Whip […]
Handmade Holiday — Meet Butter!
December 22, 2009 by
This sweet kitty cat was a late night sewing project I made using this free pattern found on Wee Wonderfuls, and I wish you could have seen the look on Emily’s face when she first saw him! She immediately named him “Butter”, and they have been enjoying many adventures together this morning. Butter’s made from […]
Handmade Holidays — Felt Fairy House Tutorial
December 10, 2009 by
This little fairy house was an impromptu sewing project for two sweet girls (sisters) we were lucky enough to meet for a play date this afternoon. In mind was this fairy house from Imagine Childhood. Ours was made from this felted wool sweater, some other pieces of felt, a tiny bit of yarn, some buttons, […]
Handmade Holidays — Meet Rose!
November 18, 2009 by
As promised in yesterday’s post, here’s what we’ve been working on…. a doll made from felt! This handsewn doll became an instant treasure, and Emily has named her Rose. Rose was easy to make, though she did take a few days to complete. I made two dresses (one red, one blue), and Emily loves to […]
Crafty Sneak Peek
November 17, 2009 by
A little peek at what we’re working on for tomorrow…. Emily is about to burst with anticipation! It does not involve a sewing machine, but it does involve a pattern that is free for download. Fun!!
Handmade Holidays — Dolly & Me Lounge Pants
November 12, 2009 by
I had purchased one yard of pretty flannel fabric at JoAnn back when it was on sale, with the intention of sewing some cozy lounge pants for Emily. When the pants were done, I had just enough fabric leftover for a fun pair of matching pants for Dolly. Emily was so happy with these! Dolly […]
You can’t catch me!
November 10, 2009 by
All four of us enjoyed some late night baking this evening. We made gingerbread cookies! This is an activity Emily has been begging me to do for ages, but I’m not much of a baker. At all. Clearly, it was time to call in reinforcements! Hey, I know my limits. First, find the perfect cookie […]
Handmade Holidays — Fabric Dollhouse
November 9, 2009 by
When I set out to do this project, I thought it would take me about a month to complete, or at the very least, a few weeks. I was wrong! Thanks to this wonderful (and free!) tutorial over at UK Lass in the US, I had almost the entire doll house complete before the girls […]
Macho Manly Man Pocket Hand Warmers for Men
November 7, 2009 by
This little project combined two activities Emily has asked if we could do recently, but I had to give the “yes, we will do that later” answer. A good tip — Keep a list of requests your child makes to be done “later”. When boredom starts to creep in, break out the list! In this […]
The Halloween Deal
October 31, 2009 by
Between Clara’s Little Red Riding Hood, and Emily’s Link from Zelda, we’re kickin’ it old school in our household this Halloween. Mark made the shield from cardboard, and I sewed the tunic, hat, and sheath for the sword ($5.00 fabric from JoAnn). The sword was a Target find ($5). Emily and I worked out a […]
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
October 29, 2009 by
I finished sewing Clara’s Halloween costume last night because there’s no sense in waiting until the last minute, right? Fortunately, this sweet hooded poncho for Little Red Riding Hood took less than 10 minutes to put together. I used 1 yard of costume fabric from JoAnn that was just $2.49/yard. Bargain! I love that her […]
Beautiful Autumn Leaf Garland
October 26, 2009 by
We thought the dining room (aka sewing studio) could use some decorating this season, so Emily gathered up some leaves earlier in the day and we got to work on this beautiful garland for some late night crafting. Emily had been begging me to do the waxed paper leaf collage for a long time, but […]
Fishing for Cats
October 19, 2009 by
We are the proud owners of two of the World’s Laziest Cats, as evidenced by this post. Emily thought they could use some exercise, and I had to agree. So we made cat toys from some of our fabric scraps, and filled them with catnip! We attached the filled catnip fish to a dowel rod, […]
Tutorial — Princess and the Pea Playset
October 13, 2009 by
Am I the only one who has craft fantasies? Not so much while I’m crafting, but after the craft has been made. I know, it’s weird, right? I noticed it after the crayon wallets were made, and the fantasy went something like this… We’re seated at a restaurant waiting for our food, and Emily pulls […]
