Sewing for baby: quick and easy gift idea

Sometimes I just feel ancient. Like when I try on a jeans and my behind starts before the jeans do or a shirt with an empire waist line that hits me across the bust. It's just that things aren't where they used to be. LOL Oh, but I am thankful for every wrinkle and sag that time has blessed me with. Swing for a new mom get me feeling a bit on the antique side too. It was almost nine years ago that I first became a mom. Whoa, where does time go?

With all that aside is there anything more fun than sewing for a newborn? Oh, to think of the little fingers and toes wrapped in the blanket or the bib just below that sweet face. Oh, do you feel a little "Awe" coming on? :) Well, I had the pleasure of making this gift for a sweet baby that was welcome into the world this weekend.

My favorite baby gift is this little square blanket/night-night. I love watching little ones snuggle with it, and it is just the perfect size to cover baby in the carrier. A little "baby bungee" makes a good partner. I haven't used one, but it is on my to do list for my youngest twins. It clips to the blanket/toy on one side and the stroller/carseat with the other. Genius! Who thinks of such great things that are so simple? No loosing blanket/toy or even dropping it on the germy floor. The little bib completes the set. Cost is about $8 give or take and time invested was about 1.5 hours. But wait, the packaging is just as fun as the sewing.

I used the bag tag design from a few weeks ago for the bag. With a few quick tweaks, I had the design for the bag and a card. Hit print and use glue stick on the plain gift bag... instant custom packaging. Cost was under $1 and time invested was less than 15 minutes.

I have been loving making these little bibs! They are so quick and easy that I made a few for my twins while I had the material out. :) This time I added a layer of batting in the middle and I love the soft look this time.

Happy Baby Sewing!

For the love of comments...

May I just take a second to unashamedly say that I LOVE COMMENTS! Thank you to each of you that has taken the time to leave a comment. Please know that I read each one and greatly appreciate them. :)

On that note, this is for PisecoMom who asked about the homemade risk game. This is a United States version, which means that they drew the United States instead of all the continents. The kiddos stole the dice from the Yahtzee game (another of our favs). The first game used the cowboys and indians shown in the picture to represent the troops. The second game used the beans that were hand painted. Each color represents an army. The boys love making maps, I had gotten a DVD from the library that all the kids enjoyed "Map skills for children Making & reading maps / [videorecording] Schlessinger Media". (There were lots of treasure maps in the days following.) One of their favorite parts of the DVD was about the compass rose and key. So for that reason the compass rose is disproportionately large in most of their maps. I don't know a lot of the rules (they change each time the kiddos play), but I am keenly aware it is all about domination. :)

We love chasing little "learning rabbit trails", this one lead us onto learning about the states. The "who can name the most states game" and "who can name the most "A"/"C"/etc states game" came shortly after this one. Don't you just love a day full of games?

One of my favorite quotes is from Plato. "Life should be lived as play."

If you ever have a question or want to see more of something, just let me know. Thanks again for the comments and keep 'em coming.

Reading List for Kiddos Age 5-8

Our bedtime routine is filled with books. After the five year olds are tucked in bed, the seven and eight year old gather next to Daddy and the nightly reading begins. The little ones enjoy looking at the books from their bookshelves while Daddy reads. I just updated the list of books he have recently enjoyed. The list is on the right side of the blog, just above the blog archive.

We are always looking for great books. Please leave me a comment if you have a family favorite.

In the past the kiddos have especially enjoyed:

Encyclopedia Brown: The boy dective - series

Little House on the Prarie - series

Henry Huggins (Beverly Cleary) -series

The Fudge Books (Judy Blume) - series

Hank the Cowdog - series

Fancy Nancy - series

The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh

Thomas the Tank Engine

The Box Car Kids - series

Happy Reading!

birthday celebration..

Have you ever had an idea that just kept snowballing? Of course you have, you start out heading down one road and before you know it you've created a town. :) Well, this project started out simple enough. My trio of five year olds were headed to a birthday party.

I wanted to make something special for the birthday girl. Truth be told it may have been a bit nervousness about a new environment. This was a little girl that the kiddos met at at co-op and I hadn't even met her mom. So I put together this sweet little purse.

Well, since I already had the material out I though the girls would enjoy having a matching bags. And as luck would have it, I also had enough extra fabric that needed to become skirts. I just love the little bird. It's made of blue felt, with a little orange eye. The legs are done with a wide zig zag stitch. The details are always so much fun. I used a coordinating thread this time and stitched all the projects with a brown tread.

When I saw this picture of my sweet daughter it almost brought tears to my eyes. They do grow quickly. But seriously, is it just me or could my five year old pass for a 10 year old in this picture?

I digress, since I had an outfit

(and matching bags) for the girls I felt compelled to outfit my son too.

What better than a little "problem child" bow tie shirt. LOL (picture fromhttp://breskiblogs.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/problemchild.jpg)

I drew the line on making him a purse, maybe some inequality is good.

As I was wrapping up this project, these little scraps screamed out to become bibs. Oh, the twins look so cute in them!

And there you have it the formation of a sewing snowball.

Instructions for raising kiddos...

Kiddos finally come with instructions...

A friend sent me this via email and I laughed out loud. I don't know where it originally came from, but I hope you enjoyed it.

MY new toy arrived!

I'm feeling oh so snappy today. We came home from a birthday party and there was a huge gift from me to me on he front porch. My snap press had arrived! I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get started on these cute little pumpkin bibs for my twin 'punkins. They match the outfits that I finished this morning for the trio. I will post about those later. 

Then I just had to add a little blue snap to the bag that matches the outfits and bibs.

Then I thought wouldn't it be a snap to make a little pencil bag to match the bag, that matches the outfits, that match the bibs? Oh yes, it was!

All this excitement about matching and corny snap puns brought to you by this lovely hunk of metal. Isn't she a 'bute? Any snappy names for the lovely lady? :) Gotta go to bed, after re-reading the post maybe I should have gone a little while ago. :)

packing up my little monsters: easy felt backpacks

Oh, that mixed feeling of seeing your baby walk into a classroom. The wondering of what happens when mama is not around, and the hope that every second is loved more than the one before. (sigh)

So with five of the oldest kiddos entering a classroom one day a week (co-op). I just had to send my three five year olds in with a little buddy on their back. I would have sent all five, but 60% complete isn't bad. :)

Felt is such an easy fabric to sew on! The kiddos loved cutting and designing the oh so scary faces of their monsters and picking out just the right buttons. These are the easy steps I followed:

1. Iron wonder under on white, black, and pink felt. A 4X5 square of each should be plenty.

2. Cut one felt rectangle about three times as long and one inch wider than your desired backpack. Cut one rectangle about 5 inches wide and as long as 2 straps + 14 inches for the tie if you are making a back pack. If you are making a messenger bag just make your 5 in wide rectangle as long as the desired strap.

3. If you  would like a fabric lining, cut a copy of your big rectangle out of fabric.

4. Let the kiddos design a very scary face and pick just the right buttons.

5. Iron the desired design on the front & zig zag with white thread around each piece. Hand stitch the button on in just the right place.

6. Stitch the sides of the bag (I like to use a zig zag). If you are adding a liner sew the sides of the liner too, but make sure the good sides of the fabric end up facing each other and the seems are on the outside. 

7.Then fold the strap in half and sew. After turning the strap right side out, zig zag down the center. 

8. Add the strap. I like the messenger bag style as well as the backpack. I have a fixed size strap on the messenger bag, but the backpacks tie in order to adjust the straps.

9. Sew the straps and liner (if you are using one) in.10. Find a kiddo to try it on and watch their face light up. My son was so excited to try to scare his friends at school. :) His sweet teacher did act very scared which made his day. :)

Happy scaring to you and your little monsters.

taking a risk: homemade board games

The "we don't have it" excuse no longer stands. Telling my oldest that we don't have something he wants is like throwing down the gauntlet. By golly that boy can make anything, we at least attempt it. 

We had sent our sweet 7 and 8 year old for a weekend with grammie and papa. But, when they returned we had a few "Risk" addicts on our hands. So the kiddos spent their first day home creating a board to fill their need to play the new found favorite board game. The original set-up look something like this..

but, obviously the men were too big for each of the armies to have 50 men. So they went to our recycle bins (birthplace of many great crafts) with no avail. They decided on beans and paint. Thankfully the hairdryer speed up the drying process. It wasn't so great for my hairdryer, but really who needs a paintfree hairdryer anyway?

It did take a little more paint than expected, and an extra lesson of "Becca, never paint your lips or teeth again." 

But, after a "all hands on deck" effort and five bath times the game was ready for action. What a geography lesson, kiddos sure weren't afraid to jump in there and "get their hands (and feet) dirty". (sorry for the puns, but the pictures were just crying out for them) Not sure how many geography lessons make such a mess, but I will add any amount of paint to see the kids so excited about learning the states. 

Hum, I have been told a time or two that we might be a little odd, you think this is what they were talking about? LOL Oh, but if they walked a mile in these painted feet I am sure they would deem up just as normal as next family.

How to: homemade bag tag ... you can do this!

When it's time to send them into the classroom with their big girl/boy backpack it's fun to add a little touch of love on the front.We have joined a co-op that meets one day a week, so I tagged each of my kindergartners with a little extra label of love. This project can't be easier! 

1. Find a design you like or hand write your kiddo's name (better yet, let your kiddo write their own name) on a piece of card stock. The size doesn't matter, but I like the look of 4inch by 2inch tags. For the diaper bag tag I used the same design for both sides, but the kinder tags I used scrapbook paper on the back.

2. Cut both sides of your tag the same size. Set the two pieces (blank sides touching) inside a self laminating paper or pre-cut bag tag, follow the directions and peel off the excess paper while sealing the tag/page.

3. If you have used the self laminating paper cut around the label (leaving at least 1/4 inch clear laminate around paper. Use a hole-punch and cut a hole in the tag, and add string/ribbon. The tags hang a bit nicer if you fold the string in half and insert the loop side thru the punched hole and tread the other end  thru the loop. If you have used the pre-cut bag tag you can skip this step and just add the enclosed plastic strap.4. Hang in on your kiddo's bag and watch as their face lights up knowing that Momma labeled them with love. 

These make a great label for any type of present (especially christmas). What grandma could resist having a one of a kind baggage tag hand written by her grandkiddo? If you are using it as  a luggage tag, I suggest you make it a bit smaller to increase the durability and reduce the chance of it getting torn off while the luggage is being moved.

Happy Labeling..I was going to say tagging, but that has a whole new meaning. :)

Displaying kiddo artwork...

Keeping special artwork in a visible place is an easy way to remind your kiddos how much you value their creativity. We had a few extra boys over to spend the night and this was one of their creations. Outside painting is a great activity when friend come over to play. We have talked about it before, but I think it is worth repeating. Paint is not something to be scared of, with the right prep it can be a fun and easy activity. And what kiddo doesn't love to paint? I love that our guest's mom hung up the special flag at home. My boys were so proud when they heard that the flag was hanging in their house. What a fantastic way to remember a great day! 

How to: bleach design t-shirts..you can do it!

It doesn't get much easier than this! The kids loved creating their own special shirt. Although we followed the same steps, each shirt has it's own look.

Supply list for this simple kiddo craft: Freezer paper, Scissors or razor blade, Pencil or pen, Stick-on letters (if you want words on your shirt),  Iron, T-shirt (any color but white, but darker colors work the best), spray bottle with 80% bleach 20% water, container for rinsing shirt

1. Allow the kiddos to draw a design for the shirt on freezer paper (the non-wax side)

2. Cut out the design and iron it onto the shirt (wax side to shirt). Once the design in cool, allow them to add sticker letters if desired. 

(not sure why he chose "story lover", but glad he loved it!)

3. Lay the shirts out in an area that is safe to spray bleach. Make sure your container (or bowl) of clean water is ready so you can dip the shirt after you spray. Spray the shirt with a 80% bleach/20% water solution. I used an old no more tears bottle that had been cleaned.

4. The longer you leave the bleach on the shirt the lighter the shirt will become. The more bleach you use the greater the contrast. This one had a lot of bleach and sat for about 1 minute before rinsing. When you have the desired color change dip the shirt in the clean water and rinse throughly.

5. Peal off your design and letter and allow it to dry in the sun. This shirt we used less bleach and only let it sit for about 30 seconds. As it dries the color change will be more evident (see picture below for final product).  

6. If desired turn the shirt over and add another design or just mist with bleach solution to match the color of the front. Once you dip in the water you can allow it to dry in the sun or wash it immediately. I used a color catcher when I washed all five shirts together. After the first wash the smell of bleach was still strong, but after the second wash and dry they were ready to wear.

7. Let the kiddos enjoy their new creation.

This is great for old t-shirts that have seen better days, and I just love this twist on the same basic idea.