Going Down the Rabbit Hole

Help me! I’m going down the Rabbit Hole! I’ve been drafting a lot of patterns. Yes, I need a better storage solution. Since I’m not done with them, I’m leaving them out. What’s that you say? Is that a white board, well yes it is! However, I cannot access it for all of the patterns in the way. To the rescue, another great idea from Pinterest by Jenn at Endlessly Inspired, a fabric-covered magnet board. Great instructions at her site lead to this:

Since this tiny little portion of my studio is done, wallpaper stripped and painted Glidden’s Cappuccino White, I mounted the new magnetic board! And the results:

Hurray! I got the oil drip pan at our local Auto Zone for $10, covered it with fabric from Joann Fabric using spray adhesive to adhere the fabric, and 16 lb Command removable strips to hang the board. Total project time was less that 1/2 hour. I did let the fabric and adhesive dry over night. I used the heavier strips since I not sure how heavy everything will be that I stick on.

I’m planning on adding magnets to the back of Ikea’s Bygel rail and attaching it to the bottom of this board. Trying to minimize the number of holes in the wall. Stay posted, I’ll show the results.

Now go and have yourself a fun-filled, crafty day!

Quiet Book For Boone

Boone is enthralled with his book

A special family friend just turned one. Of course, I had to make an extra wonderful book for him. I’ve been on a Quiet Book kick lately, as show by the mega pins I’ve done on Pinterest.  As a retired science/computer teacher I could not resist making this a rainbow-themed book using ROY G BIV colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. I did throw in some white and black. I’ve purposely blocked out Boone’s face since this is on the Internet.

Front Cover

Pocket page

B is for Bear

O is for Octopus

O is for Owl

N is for Newt

E is for Elephant

Rainbow back page

The book is 9 x 9 inches. Each individual page is backed with an interfacing. The individual pages were sandwiched together with a light cotton batting filling. Every item was sewn down, except the one I forgot. I used heavy duty grommets since I knew a one-year old would give this book plenty of loving. I wanted each page to either do something or have a texture, some pages have both.

Photo page – Boone’s picture was printed out at 4 x 6 inch size. I used a self-laminating pouch for it. A hole was punched into the pic and a heavy duty “springy cord with hooks” was used to attach it to the book. I included the rest of the laminating pouches so they could pick out other favorite pictures to include. The pocket pattern was free.

B is for Bear – I put stars on the shirt for texture.

O is for Octopus – Vinyl was sewn on the head and stuffed with puff balls and under the tentacles I used the grip fabric used on the bottom feet of kid’s pjs.

O is for Owl – The owl slides back and forth on the cord. A textured felt was used for the main part of the body.

N is for Newt – Fish were included to indicate that this was an animal that lives in and around water. If you lift up the left foot, you’ll find a fish under it. Bumpy green “thingies” were used for texture.

E is for Elephant – The ears are flappy and the trunk is fabric with elastic inside for baby to pull.

Rainbow back – ROY G BIV! The template for the rainbow came from Rainbow template

I found clipart and other animal examples from Google searches. I used Photoshop to design the layout; letter sizes, animal sizes, etc. The Felt Alphabet was free from Purl Soho. The idea for an alphabet, name book came from here, as did the Newt pattern.

This was a blast to make, as well as its frustrations. My first ever felt book so there was a big learning curve.

Have a crafty, wonderful day!

Counting With a Jellyfish

Jellyfish Counting Game

First quiet book page done: Counting Jellyfish. I free-handed the shape of the jellyfish. I stitched around it twice since there will be plenty of tugging on the “tentacles” and beads. I purchased the “ribbon” at Michael’s close-out last year. The pony beads were from the Dollar Store. Every jellyfish needs fish so I ironed a fusible web onto the Riley Blake fish fabric and then onto the felt. For texture, I glued small bead/glitter to the top of the jelly. The page size is 9″ x 9″.

Have a fun crafty day!

Caterpillar Crazies!

Caterpillar Crazies

With two toddlers in the family, I’m going crazy making felt crafts for them. The above Caterpillar Crazies is the latest. The idea was found at Toddler Approved! However, I had to pump it up and added the different mouth choices and the different sized pompoms. With the pompoms your toddler can also match colors, so its also a learning game. I had some wonderful textures which I added as additional choices. I totally love textures! A tactic person am I! The three-year-old is visiting today and I can’t wait for him to play with the caterpillar.

I’ve been working on some quiet book pages too. I have post-concussion syndrome and have had to give up knitting for a bit since I kept making too many mistakes. Frustrating. I never know when the dizzy spells will hit.

Have a happy crafty day!

Can You Find The Matching Pairs?

Matching Game

Animal Matching Game

With two rambunctious toddlers in the family, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for games that will easily fit into Altoid tins for the moms to throw into purses. This is the latest tin. While perusing the 99 Cent Store for bargains, I saw these erasers and knew they would make a wonderful matching game. Having had one of the toddlers for the last couple of days, we have had fun playing this game. Just turn the erasers over and let the little one find the matching pairs.

I have made two other Purse Games which I’ve featured in the blog.

Angry Birds Buttoning Game

Fishing Game

There are metal washers inside of the fish, and the fishing pole has a strong magnet attached to the end. The Hubs cut a pencil in half for the fishing pole, it fits nicely into the tin. The youngest loves to play this game while waiting at soccer practice for his older siblings. Another toddler tried to use the game and was told “NO” by my little guy.

Have a crafty, fun day!

DIY Angry Birds Button Game

Knock Knock

Knock, Knock! Can we come out to play with the little ones?

Angry Birds

One of my favorite blogs, Me & My Veritas Sewing an Crafting Projects With and For Kids by Jana, featured a DIY Button Up Game, a game to help toddlers with their fine motor skills. A few weeks ago, I had my three year old grandson stay the night. After seeing the game on Jana’s site, I had to make one for him.  Check her site for detailed instructions. I did make some modifications, he loves Angry Birds so I found a site with an Angry Birds coloring book, making sure his King Pig favorite was on the page, and printed it out. Each figure was cut out from felt, and I used a light box to trace the face using a Sharpie. A slit was cut into each piece of felt large enough for the button to fit through.

I sewed a button to one end of a piece of 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon the other was threaded through round piece of felt and tied into a knot. You can see the ribbon and button in the above picture.  The round piece of felt acts as a stop for the other felt pieces.

Bye Bye

All done? Put the game away in it’s nice little “home”.

Q

Have I been conspicuous in my absence? A bit over two weeks ago, I got Salmonella food poisoning from a fast foot joint! After gastrointestinal problems for 4 hours, my Vagus nerve cause my blood pressure to drop causing me to pass out. On my fall to the floor, I hit a few items with my face! One was a wooden step we keep in the bathroom for the grandkids. I came to with blood running everywhere. Long story short, a slight concussion, severe dehydration, and mega-headaches, I’m slowly on the mend. I finally have been able to knit again. My eyes looked like raccoon eyes, black and blue all around. Anyway….. the doctor said it will take a few months for all of the bumps, swelling and bruises to heal.

In A Pickle With Earl and Opal

Timeless Treasures Material Girl Panel

Who doesn’t look forward to the Sunday funnies with Earl and Opal? Starts our week off with a good, hearty, laugh. My Hubs likens himself to the “long suffering” Earl!

Timeless Treasures Material Girl Pickles

Timeless Treasures Pickles Cartoon Material Girl Comic Strip

Laura from SewVeryEasy blog’s panel quilt

At the Timeless Treasures site, is a fabulous quilt by Laura of SewVeryEasy blog, with a How to use Fabric Panels to Make Quilts link to YouTube. I am in love with her use of selvedges in the border. Super clever. The video tutorial show how.

Thanks for stopping by. Now go have a crafty day!

Here’s The Plan

Blog Planning Chart

Something needed to be done! We originally started the blog to include our mom, in Montana, in our daily life, to let her know what we were doing. After she passed away last March we floundered. Now that we’ve been posting on the blog again, I was getting a bit overwhelmed on what we’d be posting, and which day, and about what, etc. Deep dark secret? I’m a list maker! I like nice columns of what to do. After looking at blog planners online, and DIY blog planners, and These-are-my-blog-planning-ideas on Pinterest, none of which fit me I said, “Eureka!” I originally purchased this $1, magnetic, tear-away planner for meals! Yea, right! It’s so perfect for planning the blog. I can jot down ideas on the post it notes which are then tentatively placed on a day. See that post-it note line across the bottom, those are other ideas. If I get to that day and the planned post doesn’t seem a good fit, I change it. See what was to have been posted last Thursday and Saturday? Watch for those posts, they’re still in the queue. For Christmas, The Hubs gave a journal to me. I use the journal to list the blog for the day, which pictures are to be included and a bit about the text. For me, this is the perfect, low-cost solution! What are some of your blog tools?

Thanks for stopping by. Now go have a crafty day!

Nothin’ Like A Cat Butt

Cat Butt coaster

After spending a few days with daughter Darcey and son-in-law Todd and their cats, sisters Roxie and Pepper, I had a total giggle fit when I saw some Cat Butt Coasters by Krystin Long.  Definitely a must have for my daughter and s-i-l. There were some free patterns on Ravelry, but I really liked the curved tail on this pattern AND I do like to support Indies. After buying the pattern, I searched for the perfect acrylic yarn which would match the cats’ coats and then quickly crocheted four coasters. You can see how well the yarn matches Pepper in the below picture.

Coaster and mug

Pepper and her “twin” coaster

Wordless Wednesday: Tear Strips Rip It Up!

Curls’ Rip It

Curls’ Rip It Hidden

Q’s Rip It

Q’s Rip It Hidden