Pumpkin Decorating

Today's activity was making faces for the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch last week with Serenity's cousins.  I made a paper with choices of shapes, and Serenity decided what would go on each pumpkin, and after I cut out the sticky foam she put it on all by herself!  She's getting pretty good at placing eyes, nose, and mouth in a reasonable position =)  And we added leaves for hair.  She seems to like the shapes to match, if she uses triangle eyes she wants a triangle nose, if she does circles she wants everything in a circle.  It's cute, she has such an organized soul.  Where on earth did it come from? =) 

The big pumpkin had two sides, it was so much fun once we started we didn't want to stop =) 

Moses Basket for a Doll =)

Moses Doll Basket Tutorial

Well, last night I got the urge and just couldn’t resist it.  You know the one, when you’ve been thinking about making something and the idea finally clicks!  So at 10pm I started crafting, and this is what I came up with.

I’ve been seeing cute baby doll bassinets everywhere, and when my daughter got the first baby doll she’s shown any interest in, I wanted to make one for her, of course!  But I decided I wanted mine to look woven, more like a Moses basket than a fabric bassinet.  So I decided to make it like a braided rag rug!  I love how it turned out =)  As an added bonus, I had all those yellow fleece scraps in my stash, so I didn’t have to buy anything!!  It took around three hours start to finish. 

First, I cut a bunch of two inch strips from my fleece, about 12 yards.  This was enough to make the base and the sides of the bassinet.  I made about two more yards of two inch wide strips for the cover side. 

Then I sewed the strips together into three long strips.  I sewed at an angle, like you do for binding, so that there wasn’t as much bulk in the braid. 

Sorry for the bad pic, but believe me, there is a wrong way to do this, and I did about all of them.  =)

Then you braid them together.  I tied my strips to Serenity’s Yookidoo (this is a seriously awesome toy btw =)  and started braiding.  I discovered quickly that since I sewed the long strips, it helped if I sort of balled them up to braid.  Otherwise things got seriously tangled.  You could also braid short strips, then attach another strip, then braid, and so on, but I don’t like to go back and forth to the machine that much.  As I was doing it I thought it could be a seriously awesome Rapunzel braid too. =) 

Then I just started making the basket.  The base is exactly like an oval rag rug.  I used yellow Perl cotton to lace it together, which was perfect because it didn’t show.  But really I used it cause that’s what I had.  This project started at 10pm, so I worked with what I had! You lace it just like shoes, through the loops of the braid.  I went under from the back, up through the top.  Check out these diagrams in case that sentence makes no sense.  http://www.craftown.com/instruction/rugs.htm.  My strip started at 10 inches, and then I went around in an oval until it was about 15 inches by 9 or 10 inches. 

Then I started making the sides.  To get them to angle up, I used a ladder stitch to connect the base to the sides.  I’m still going around the oval here, I just switched my stitch. Then when I went around once, I kept going with the normal lacing stitch until it was the height I wanted.  I used about 9 yards of braid, which took the 12 yards of strips to make. 

Then I added the little section over the head.  I added in a new braid strip, weaving in the ends of the knot back into the basket.  Then I went around as far as I thought it should go, and then folded it back on itself to make the little arched top.  Hopefully the picture explains that better =)  Then I attached a little bow to where it connected to the basket, partially because it’s cute and partially to conceal the connection. 

Then I just had to make some handles!  I used one inch strips for these braids, and tacked them on starting right next to where the arch ended.  The handles aren’t quite centered because I figured the weight would be more on the head side. 

So there it is!  A Moses basket for your baby dolls =)  Serenity has been putting Rose to bed all morning.  Thanks for the doll Aunt Jan!!  =)  Let me know if anyone has questions!  I’d love to hear that someone actually used this tutorial =)

Of course, Rose needed covers and a pillow too =) So we used the scarves we dyed =) 

DIY Felt Pumpkin Game

I saw this great pumpkin game at thecraftingchicks and immediately had to see if Serenity would like it.  She loves it!  All it took was a little bit of felt from my stash, cut into a pumpkin shape, and then a variety of shapes for eyes, noses and mouths.  Then I made several samples, took pictures of them, and then gave them to Serenity to see if she could duplicate the pictures.  She says "I will decorate this pumpkin!" And she managed to do every one!  It's a great reinforcement for shapes, and a really fun game.  Here are pictures of the pumpkins I made her, and one of her "decorating" her pumpkins. =)  It was a hit, and took me maybe five minutes to make!  You could do it with construction paper or craft foam if you didn't have the felt on hand. 

Party Design: A Fall Food Table for a Library

My sister hosted a party for some of the teachers at her son's school in the library!  With that for inspiration, we settled on a nice autumn design.  I used books wrapped in brown paper and burgundy ribbon as cake plates to hold her delicious quiche, and an assortment of red serving plates and silk fall leaves for the table.  I love the little pumpkins on candle sticks, and the grapevine wreath was a simple and inexpensive addition.  I got it half off at Hobby Lobby for only 2.50!  I had no idea they were so cheap. 

DIY Playsilks

Here's an easy way to make great toys for your baby... dyeing playsilks!  I found this tutorial here and it was quick and easy!  I ordered various sizes of scarves from Dharma Trading and used vinegar and kool-aid to dye them.  It takes three or four packages of a color to dye them.  I usually didn't end up with a very solid color, but I like the shaded effect!  

Now for the fun part!  We've used these silks for dancing, as a fancy tablecloth for teatime, as lakes and rivers and other landscape, and for superhero capes!  I've used them as sails for boats, as rainbows, oh they can be anything you or your baby can imagine!  Also great for peekaboo, and just as silky blankets =)  It was definitely worth the time and effort!   I love the open ended playtime and creativity you get from simple things like these. 

Oh, and in case you want to know the colors I used, they were Lemonade, Orange, Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Grape, Pink Lemonade, Lemon-Lime.  I also tried Black Cherry, but the colors aren't as clear and pretty with that one, or with the Grape but I just had to have the purple.  =) 

Baby Quilt: Simple and Sweet Cherry Blossoms

I posted pictures recently of the shower we did for my friend Abbey when she was pregnant with her baby Maggie.  I didn't share yet the quilt that I made for her!  It had to be very sweet and girly, with pinks and purples. Abbey lived in D.C. for quite a while and just loves cherry blossom season.  Abbey's Mom painted a gorgeous cherry blossom tree on the wall of the nursery, and Abbey and I got to paint the blooms.  So I started looking for cherry blossom ideas.  I didn't end up buying a pattern, and instead used a simple free flower block made of squares and half square triangles that kind of interlocks.  I alternated pink and white blooms, and then when I tied the quilt I made little knots in the thread to look like stamen of the flowers.  I didn't get a great picture of the finished project, it was a crazy time, but here's the pattern I drew up in paint and a picture of Abbey opening it so you can see the colors =)  I think each square is about 1.5 inches finished.  I love that fairy fabric, it's got Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Faeries on it! =)

Ode to Shadowboxes

Just a quick post today about one of my favorite projects in my entire house, my little shadowbox.  I  bought it long ago with the intention that I would change it out fairly often.  Well, as often happens, I'd leave something in it for at least six months.  But the latest thing I put in it may just stay in it forever, as it is my very favorite decoration in my house =)  And without further ado...

This little green dress was my favorite of Serenity's clothes her first year.  It was just so sweet on her!  And her tiny shoes are just too cute.  I don't know that I could bear to take it down, having it up on the wall almost makes up for the fact that she outgrew it in the first place =)