Felt Cinnamon Toast

One of O's handmade Easter gifts was cinnamon to go on the bread that the Easter bunny brought her. She and her daddy love to make cinnamon toast on Saturday mornings, so I know she'll enjoy making pretend cinnamon toast in her play kitchen. We (my mom and I) also made peanut butter and jelly, so she can make her favorite sandwiches :)




I really like the bread because it has a strong magnet sewn within the slices which holds the sandwich together nicely. I put cut up refrigerator magnets within the cinnamon and peanut butter and jelly, but the magnets aren't very strong.




I linked to the bread at amazon in case anyone wants to know which bread I bought. However, I am sure that I didn't pay 16 dollars for it. I bought it almost a year ago, so I don't remember exactly what I paid, but that price seems very high to me. 

Melody Maker

O and I recently made a melody maker that I saw in the most recent issue of Family Fun. I thought it would be a great addition to her banging wall!





To make a melody maker you need : 1/2 by 4 inch threaded eyebolt, teflon plumber's tape, 1/2 inch coupling nut (this was impossible for us to find!), 1/2 inch all thread rod (24 or 36 inches. ours is 36 inches), 10 to 15 1/2 inch washers (I bought washers in 3 different sizes for added visual interest), and a 1/2 inch locknut. Start at the top and assemble the pieces. This was simple and fast to put together (once we finally found all of the pieces!).







Now we can make beautiful music outside. Our neighbors love us!

Flower Button Board

I recently made this flower button board, so O can have fun practicing her buttoning skills. It was fun and easy to put together.
To make the board, you need: felt in various colors (I used ecospun felt), fabric, foam core board cut to size,buttons, thread, fabric glue, and hot glue.
I glued the stems and leaves to the fabric using fabric glue and then sewed the buttons at the top of the stems. I used hot glue to attach the fabric to the foam core board. Then I cut out various flower shapes from felt and cut button holes in the centers. Now O can make her own beautiful flower garden!
(It was nice to finally have an original idea instead of just copying ideas from other blogs :)

Rock Family

O will be getting this family of rocks for one of her handmade Easter gifts. I hope she loves them :) I've had making this family of rocks on my to-do list for months, and at first I was a little dismayed by how they turned out. Then I decided to lower my perfectionistic standards and just enjoy their simplicity :)

(I wish I could find the blog that inspired these rocks. The inspiration paintings were MUCH nicer!)

Pipe Cleaner Crown

I've wanted to make this crown for a while, so I thought it would be a good activity for me to do on the way to our vacation spot this weekend. However, it was so quick and easy that I was finished before we even got to the interstate :)
My little princess was excited about her new, beautiful crown!







The idea and directions for making a pipe cleaner crown came from here. I mostly followed the directions, but I made O's crown bigger because I wanted it to fit on her head without needing bobby pins.

Tell Me A Story Blocks

The idea for these blocks came from The Toby Show. The idea behind the blocks is to use them as story starters. You roll the dice and start your story based on the picture on the block. Then the next person rolls the dice and continues the story. I've been eyeing these tell me a story cards, so I already loved the idea of story prompts. This was even better since I could easily make it myself, and I already had all the materials that I needed.

To make my blocks, I cut tiny pictures out of old (torn, beat up, scribbled in books from the thrift store that I buy for various craft projects) children's books and decopaged them onto the blocks. This was super simple, fast, and fun! I've made 3 blocks so far (the blocks are 1 inch squares), and I plan to make a few more using pictures of us since O especially loves stories in which she is the star!

More Felt Donuts

I finally finished the felt donuts for O and M (with Guh-guh's help!). I used the pattern and directions from Skip to My Lou. I would enjoy sewing so much more if every machine didn't give us so much trouble! It may be users' errors, but I'm not sure about that. O saw us making the donuts, and she immediately confiscated 2 of them. She said she "needed them for her kitchen." So much for my handmade Easter :)

Sneak Peek

Guh-guh just ordered these bunny baby necklaces for M and O for Easter, and I am SO excited! They are adorable. You MUST check out this etsy store. I'm planning on reviewing these necklaces after Guh-guh and Grandpa give them to the girls for Easter, so make sure to check back :)

My 1st Felt Donut

I've wanted to make felt donuts for months, and I decided to make several for O and M for Easter. I'm finally emerging from the fog of constant nausea and got started. I used the pattern and directions from this book. It's a wonderful book, and I am excited to make many more of the sweets!



The donut is smaller than I had hoped. It's a sewn by hand, so it took quite a while. I think I'll use the pattern and tutorial from Skip to My Lou for the rest of the donuts!

I Spy Doll Quilt

The doll quilt my mom and I made to match O's I Spy quilt is perfect for playing on the go games of I Spy! We've rarely played I Spy with the quilt on her bed...probably because it's so big and it's in her room (obviously), and we do most of our playing upstairs in the den. The doll quilt is a different story :) She takes it everywhere, and she was excited when I showed her how we could play I Spy with it. Hmmm, maybe this will be another game for game night :)

Our 1st Sewing Project...

on my new sewing machine! Guh-guh and Grandpa gave me a sewing machine for Christmas. Our 1st project was an easy one...a blue satin pillowcase for O. She loved my "shiny" pillowcase at my mom's house (my satin pillowcase from when I was little), and since I had the satin, we thought this would be an easy 1st project.

 

Sweets for my Sweets

I made these felt Valentine's Day cookies for O and my niece. They were quick and easy to make. I hope the girls like them!

Since a couple of people have asked for directions for the cookies, I thought I'd post directions here instead of in the comments section. So here you go...
1) cut 2 hearts out of the tan felt using a cookie cutter as a pattern
2) cut a slightly smaller heart out of red or pink felt
3) sew the colored heart to one of the tan hearts using a running stitch
4) sew sprinkles onto the cookies using embroidery floss
5) sew the 2 tan hearts together using a running stitch. leave a small hole and fill with stuffing before completely sewing the hearts together

DIY Babylegs

I've wanted to make babylegs for a loooong time (about 2 years), but I never found the perfect pair of socks and then I just forgot about it. On the day after Christmas I found several pairs of cute socks that were super cheap, so I decided to give it a try. I used this tutorial. At first I was totally intimidated by the tutorial, and I decided not to even try it. My mom and I cut the feet off of the socks and just hemmed them. Then I decided to look at the tutorial again, and it didn't seem quite so scary :) My mom and I worked through it and made the 1st pair of babylegs (I NEVER would have figured it out without her!). After that it was easy peasy! I LOVE to make babylegs, which are great for my little ballerina who likes to wear leotards or bathing suits even in the winter. O LOVES the babylegs, and she even sleeps with them under her pajamas. My niece also loves them, and I was excited that they fit her (she's 4 and a half). Also, they are MUCH cuter than the leg warmers my sister and I used to wear in the eighties! So...give it a try, but I'll warn you, it's addictive :)

A Cozy Hat

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I wasn't the only one who gave handmade gifts for Christmas! My aunt gave O this "tosey" (cozy) hat for Christmas, and she loves it. I'm hoping that I'll learn to knit using this book that Ell gave me for Christmas :)

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

If you need a last minute gift, here is one that you can make in a minute, and you probably have the ingredients in your pantry :) To make the sugar scrub you need sugar, olive oil, and peppermint extract (essential oil would be MUCH better, but I could only find peppermint extract).
Mix a cup of sugar with a half cup of olive oil. We then added about another 1/4 cup of sugar because it seemed too oily. Add peppermint extract (I didn't measure it. I just poured it in until it smelled good :) It was probably about 1 or 2 teaspoons of extract). Unfortunately, peppermint extract has a lot of alcohol in it, so the sugar scrub smells of alcohol as much as it smells like peppermint :) Oh, well. It's the thought that counts, and even though this was easy to make, I put A LOT of thought into it :)

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We put the sugar scrub in a pretty little glass jar.

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Then I put the jar along with a sachet in this felt gift bag (from the dollar section at Target). So now the last handmade gifts are finished! Just in time :) Phew!!!

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