Sunday, March 22, 2015

DIY Baby Taggie Inspired Blanket with Teething Ring


When I made the Wooden Teether Rings & Teething Necklace, I had some fabric laying around and I wanted to make a little blanket for Dustin with tags on it (I guess I'm not allowed to use the word "Taggies" since it's patent).

SUPPLIES:

(2) 8x9 Fabric pieces. Mine were cotton and flannel
Ribbons - I used different types and textures 
Batting 
Wooden Ring

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut your fabric to the size you want. Mine were supposed to be 9x9 but it turned out to be 8x9. Oh well. haha


Face your fabric with the right side of fabric on the inside. I cut the corner of my fabric because I had envisioned it to look like this:


Fold your ribbons in half and pin them on the inside (when you turn it inside out, it will be on the outside edge).


Lay your batting on top and pin all the layers together.


Sew around the edges leaving space to turn inside out. I left the little cut (angled) corner open. Trim the edges and corner. Turn inside out.


Tuck the fabric in. Slip the ribbon in the wood ring and slide it in between the fabric. Sew all the way around the blanket.



I love how it turned out!


Look! It matches the Wooden Teething Ring!


DIY Teething Necklace


I've been wanting to make a teething necklace using fabric. It looked easy enough and I've already made a Teething Crochet Necklace & the Wooden Teething Rings. With some trial and error, I've settled with what I've got. When you have little ones, it's hard to squeeze in time to do anything. My oldest (4) went to the market with daddy and the 2 year old and 7 month old was napping. So I quickly got on it. Of course, they woke before I was done and I attempted to finish with my 2 year old in my craft room while wearing my 7 month old on my back. When I turned around, my 2 year old was cutting my yarn (ohhh no!).


MATERIALS:

Fabric 48"x3.5" strip of fabric
(9) 1" wooden beads
(1) Button
Elastic

Sewing machine and thread

I took this photo before I decided to use the button & elastic



DIRECTIONS:

I had a few fat quarter sheets laying around. This meant that it wasn't long enough. I had to sew three 3.5 inch pieces together to get 48 inches. At first I only sewed 2 pieces together and it turned out to be too short. Wash fabric after cutting & iron if needed.

Fold the fabric with the right side of fabric on the inside and sew the edges (Twice).




Flip the fabric inside out. First I used a safety pin and it took forever (remember I'm trying to hurry before the kids wake up). 



When I made the second one, I sewed one end of the strip and stuck my tension rod in it to flip it. Then I snipped off the ends (so its open again). This was much  quicker!





Tie a knot in the middle of the fabric. Pop in one of the beads from one end of the fabric. Tie a knot to secure the bead. Pop in another bead from the other end of the fabric and secure with a knot again. Repeat until you have 9 beads (or however many you want). 

This photo is actually when I started on one end first. I think starting in the middle worked out better for me.



I decided last minute that I wanted to add a button because I wanted to slip in a wooden ring (maybe, but I wanted to have that option).




Use with a wooden ring too!


And just for fun, here are my boys hanging out (for only a short period of time) while I was doing this. 




Saturday, March 21, 2015

Wooden Teether Rings


I made a crochet teether using a wooden ring and wear it on my neck for my baby but then I was browsing Pinterest and saw this tutorial and it was just too cute not to make one! I pretty much followed her exact instructions. 

SUPPLIES

For 2 Teethers 

2 Natural Wooden Rings
4 - 14"x4" Fabric Pieces (Using Flannel on one side and cotton on the other)
Scissors/Rotary cutter
Sewing Machine/Thread
Iron (optional)





INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut the fabric pieces into this shape (mine isn't perfect but it doesn't matter).


2. With the right side of the fabric on the inside, sew around the edges leaving about a 1.5-2 inch opening to turn your work inside out.



3. Cut the edges on each corner. Here is where I tried her method and I tried trimming it closer to the stitches. I found that it was easier just trimming it (good to know for next time!).


Turn your work inside out (right side of fabric should be on the outside).


4. Iron flat once the right side is on the outside. sew along the outside all the way around with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.



5. Slip the fabric through rings and tuck the ends into the loop of the fabric. I didn't seal mine with oil & beeswax like she did. 







Sunday, March 15, 2015

Colored Craft Pasta

I found a tutorial here to make colored pasta for my son's preschool. I also made Homemade Play Dough to add to the list of things to donate.

INGREDIENTS:

Uncooked Pasta
15-20 Drops Food Coloring
1 Teaspoon Vinegar
Ziplock Bag

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put 1 teaspoon of vinegar into the ziplock bag

Add 15-20 drops of food coloring

Add 3/4 cups of uncooked pasta into bag. You know how you always try to push all the air out when sealing a ziplock bag? Well, you want as much air as possible so you can shake things up!

SHAKE IT!

Wait 10 minutes and SHAKE IT again (do a dance with it if you're in the mood lol)

Place on wax paper (I put it on a cookie sheet too) to dry.









Homemade Play Dough



My son's preschool is asking for donations. There was a list of things on the paper sent home. Since Logan enjoys making things, I figured we can make the Homemade Play Dough and Colored Craft Pasta.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil (or any oil)
1.5 Cups of Boiling Water

Food Coloring 


















INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix the flour, salt & cream of tartar in a large bowl. 

Add Oil & stir

Add food coloring to boiling water.
Pour boiling water slowly into bowl and stir (be careful it's HOT!)

Keep stirring until mixture becomes doughy 

Let cool

Knead until the right consistency 

(I have made play dough using the stove and boiling water. I think I prefer cooking it.)