Talk to the hand (puppet)

Doorjam puppet theater ....

It's pretty easy. 

You just make two curtains: one with a 14 X 17 window opening, and a smaller curtain that fits under the first curtain.  

Get yourself two tension curtain rods ... (one will support the lower edge of the window opening).

One yard of fabric ...

One fat quarter (for interior curtain) ....

One yard of bias tape ...

Felt or fleece scraps for the opening border ...

And matching thread.

There's still time to make HORRIBLE gifts ... usually around 1 a.m.

You know what happens when a person like me can't sleep?

They come up with really horrifying sewing projects that will undoubtedly (and unfortunately) wind up as a school grab bag present.

So ...

Thanks to insomnia, some poor kid will have to deal with ...

THE SNIFFLE PILLOW & BLANKETCHIEF SET

Essentially, it's a pocket tissue pack cover and a double-sided doll action figure blanket made with flannel scraps.

To make the pillow cover:

*Cut two pieces of fabric, the exterior side is 5 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches and the lining will be 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches.

*Sandwich the fabrics right sides facing each other, ends meeting. Sew first side.

*Adjust the opposite ends so they meet. Sew second side.

*Turn right sides out and press flat so that the lining leaves a 1/4 inch of border on either side.

*Turn lining side out, fold so that borders meet. Sew raw ends closed.

Turn right side out. Stuff with pocket pack.

To make the blanketchief:

*Cut two pieces of fabric the same size. (I used 8 x10)

*Sandwich right sides together.

*Sew around all four sides, leaving a three-inch gap to turn blanket right side out.

*Close end and sew 1/4 border all the way around the blanket to finish.



I'm fairly certain there is a reason this toy has never been invented before.

Smart adults usually discourage children from playing with phlegm.

A bicycle (bag) built for two

 

Annabel has been wanting a basket for her bike ever since the training wheels came off. When we couldn't find anything that suited her "style" she decided I could make one with our sewing machine.

I procrastinated for a while, but then I had an idea. I could quilt one using scrap fabrics and a length of high-loft batting I had found in a remnant bin.

I pieced together the top to fit the width of the batting, basted it to the batting and quilted it along the seam lines. Next, I pinned in place the backing, attached a homemade bias tape to the edges and stitched all the way around. Folding the quilted side together so that about four inches remained unmatched, I sewed the long edges and turned it inside out to form the bag. I toyed with the idea of boxing the corners (as might notice in the picture) but I decided to keep it simple.

I top stitched along the back of the top edge to made a crease in the flap for easier folding. Finally I cut two 12" strips of grosgrain ribbon and stitched them to the outside edge of the flap (three inches from each side of center) so the basket could be tied to the handlebars.

It was such a success that Silas demanded one for his bike.

  

Of course I was out of batting  ... and he wasn't really keen on the pretty quilted look (he wanted man-eating sharks on his basket)... So I procrastinated again.

Until today, when I found some olive-drab twill at the local junk shop (three yards for $6) and thought it would make a nice temporary "bike basket" that I could put on my bike if he didn't want it. 

I used the same basic design as before -- two rectangles of fabric (outer and lining) but without the interfacing or batting. I made the exterior of the bag first, leaving a four-inch section at the top for a flap and then sewed the lining. I boxed the corners for both bags before inserting the lining, turning the bag inside out and stitching around the opening. I then stitched the bias tape around the flap and opening. Finally, I stitched the straps (ribbons that I'd saved from some of our wedding gifts, actually) to the back of the bag. 

Silas took one look at the bag I was now coveting, and decided he didn't care about sharks after all.

Just my luck.

Life imitates App

Or so they say.

Found objects

The Champ dug this old, frightening thing out of the bottom of his toy box today:



Though, it kinda warmed my heart to see the old monster pillow back in action, gobbling up LEGOs by the dozens before the interlocking bricks were lost forever to the whirling vortex that is our vacuum cleaner.

I didn't even mind doing a little reconstructive surgery this evening when it turned out the poor critter's gullet wasn't as strong as it used to be.

Can't have reclaimed monsters leaking the building blocks of childhood now can we?

Hop to it ...

Easter's coming.

In a few days ... or something.

Unless you're Greek. Then you have time.

As a non-practicing Catholic, however, I was so busy not paying attention to the election selection of a new pope that I almost completely forgot about the grandest day of the whole Christian whoseamawhats's -- The biggest zombie rising of all -- Easter.

(I know ... I'm going to hell for that last paragraph.)

I was reminded of all the preparations I'd forgotten, when the kids came home from school yesterday with instructions to bring in a dozen filled Easter eggs tomorrow.

So, in my usual fashion, I decided to try and make a craftacular Easter project in three hours, using things I fished out of the trash: Felt scraps, stuffing from an old pillow and paint chips.




The idea was simple:

* Sew together two circles of felt (or furry fabric scraps) leaving about an inch on one side open.

* Turn the seams inward and stuff with old pillow fluff.

* Cut ear shaped spears from the fabric, pinch at the centers and stick into the front-most part of the opening.

* Sew it shut.

* Sew on eyes, a nose, whiskers and a cotton tail. (I used the tops of cotton swabs for the tail when I ran out of pompoms).

* Glue rabbit onto a paint chip because there's no way this is going to stand on its own.

You end up with something like this:




Then I got the bright idea to make a carrot bookmark:

* Sandwich together two rectangles of orange felt.

* Machine sew a carrot-shaped outline, complete with segments, leaving space at the top open.

* Insert a couple of loops of green felt.

* Topstitch the carrot closed.

* Cut out around the stitching with pinking sheers

* Cut a slit in a paint chip, insert carrot.

* Tape carrot down in the back.

And it looks like this:



Hardest part will be cleaning up  ...




since it looks as if the Easter Bunny vomited in my office.

Boy babies

They're "ACTION FIGURES," the champ chided emphatically.

"NOT DOLLS!" as I had erroneously called one after stepping on it and hopping around the living room floor swearing and openly wishing the dog would chew them all to plastic bits.

"Then pick up your ACTION FIGURES and put them away before someone gets maimed."

He just harrumphed and headed toward his toys with sloth-like speed.

Typical.

Honestly, I don't see that much difference between the way the boy plays and the way the girl does. They both sing songs as they move toys around in their imaginary worlds. They both shriek and act like their fingernails are being ripped out one-by-one when the other touches their stuff.

Normal. Ish.

The only difference seems to be the terms.

In Boyland, dolls, as we've all learned, are "action figures."

Doll houses are "secret lairs."

And doll clothes are disguises.

His dudes surf ...

 

Rescue damsels ...

 

or not ...




His dudes fight with their sisters ...

The usual.

It didn't even seem out of the ordinary when he asked me to make him a doll like the one I made for his sister.

Only his doll had to be a boy doll.



With boy doll parts.

"That means he wants his doll to have a penis," Ittybit translated.

I knew that. I was just stunned into silence.

What can of worms would this open?

Anatomical.

AnaTommyCal.

AnyTummyGall?

Of course, Ittybit was laughing at me. Over-thinking as usual.

ThisAintFunnyGirl.

"It's not that difficult," she said, brushing past me to sit behind the sewing machine. She took a scrap of fabric, folded it twice and ran it under the presser foot like a pro. A few passes of the machine and it was done.

She turned it inside out and handed me the results.

I had to admit. It looked like a private part.

She showed it to her brother, who was delighted. It looked convincing enough.

"Are you going to put it on my doll," he asked, unable to contain his excitement.

"Not before I have clothes ready. This doll has to be appropriately dressed in public places.  Just like you can't go to school nude, he can't take off his clothes unless he's taking a bath or getting ready for bed.

"How long is that going to take?"

"Have patience. I don't want to rush it and make a mistake."

"Please hurry. He REALLY needs to go to the baffroom, and I don't want him to have an accident."

Turns out, it was simple operation.



 And in case you wondering:

 

Boxers are easier to sew than briefs.

Melts in your heart, not in your hand ...

Ittybit picked up an awesome craft idea from two uber crafty (and articulate) girls in her 4-H club, who, during the last meeting, made a formal presentation of their brainstorm: Valentine bookmarks.

They cut sheets of poster board into uniformed strips, put one of the strips and quarter-sized dollops of acrylic paint into the bottom of a shoebox, added two marbles and started rocking and rolling.



A hole punch, a length of yarn and a charm add the finishing touches.

Best part?



It's only messy on the inside.



Six down ...

24 to go.


Here are some other sweet crafts to consider:

Doodles and Pillows

Wax Nostalgic

Robot Love

Doll face ...

I'm not sure what possessed me, but I decided today that I had to make a Waldorf-style doll.

I Googled some basic directions and I got started.

Now, I'm not for certain, but my instinct tells me that the people most likely to make their own dolls will use organic materials such as wool, cotton and yarn.

I used an old sock, an old nylon stocking, some new 100% polyester knit in the color of "nude," and stuffing from the cheapest pillow I could find at the Odd Job. (I think I paid a total of $11.27 for supplies.)

First thing I did was take a couple of handfuls of pillow fluff and shape it into a ball. I stuck the ball inside of the (toddler sized) sock and tied off the sock near the stuffing. I added more stuffing and made a second lump (for the neck).

I tied a piece of string around the center of the head (eyebrows) and another string crossing the first (from forehead to chin) to give the face shape.

It kinda looked like this:



That bump a little off center and to the right is supposed to be a nose.

I covered the head with the toe and ankle parts of a white stocking (from Ittybit's old dance gear) and tied it again near the neck area.

Out of the knit fabric, I made a one-seamed tube sock-like thing and fit it over the head.

I folded some more of the knit material and cut out these basic shapes along the folded edges:



I know what you are thinking ... You can't believe I went to art school can you?

Neveryoumindthat.

After I had sewn the pieces, leaving the wider of the short ends open, I stuffed them with filler and set them aside.

I made a little pillow sack (about 2" square) and filled it with rice to weight the bottom. I filled the body pillow with stuffing and set in the rice. Next, I hollowed out a little of the filler material and inserted the head and neck. I sewed them closed.

Of course, then I had to seam-rip the thing back open because I had put the head at a cockeyed angle. You might want to check it before you sew.

This is the general idea:



Once the head was secured to the body, I folded over the ends of the limb parts and sewed them to the torso with embroidery thread and a large embroidery needle. (I sewed both arms and legs at the same time by passing the needle through the body.)

When I was done, the whole thing kinda looked like this:



The hair was pretty fun.

I wrapped a CD case with two layers of yarn and put a piece of Scotch tape along the top (front and back) and then cut the bottom.

I sandwiched the strands between a piece of tissue paper and made three passes down the center with  sewing machine.

I pinned the wig to the center of the head and sewed it on with similar colored embroidery floss.

I made another wig and sewed it on as if it were hair parted on the side.

This is what it looked like when I tied the second wig to the first:



Honestly ...

I'm having a bit of trouble believing this is the first rag doll I've ever made.



Of course now there's the matter of a face ...

... and some clothes.

Blank. Stare.

When the cat's away ...

We made these last year for the 22 members of Annabel's Second Grade class.

Ours were a variation of Martha Stewart's no-sew candy cane mice.

Since I had lots and lots (and lots) of white, cotton felt and other fabric scraps (but no craft felt), I decided to double up the brushed cotton bodies and sew them together to make a pocket.

Ittybit glued on the features.

We made them to fit full-sized candy canes, but we could have just as easily made them to fit the tiny ones.

Rice and relaxation

The little miss has been missing school, the result of some niggling, nefarious virus that's just enough to keep her temperature elevated and give her ear the occasional boxing, but not enough to keep her from eating, sleeping or being characteristically chatty.

It didn't affect her creativity either.

Her touch of ear ache -- and my impromptu fix: A pillow stuffed with basmati rice that can be heated in microwave and applied to affected area -- has given us an idea for teacher gifts this holiday season.

No bother ...

Made a couple of these this morning as a breakfast surprise.

Kids now want to eat oranges morning, noon and night.

It's not even much of a bother.

All you need is an orange, a knife and a 10 strategic cuts:





UPDATE:

With a toothpick, Ittybit improves the design:

Sew what?

Most of the time I have no idea what I'm doing.

I get some hair-brained scheme that has me staying up late at night trying to make the idea ooze out of my ears and into reality.

Wherein it will undoubtedly clutter my desk until I find myself in need of a dust rag.

The ethospace it hogs around this place has been labled "craftacular." 

This time sad little idea rattling around in my head (all alone) is called SKIRT.

But soon it wanted friends, who demanded I play with them, too ...

Running horizontally. Vertically. On the bias.

Ruffles, edges, hems.

ROCK paper, scissors

I awoke on the second official day of Summer Vacation™ hearing a chorus of "what are we going to do today?" in three-part harmony with an undertone of whining ... something about "boredom."

I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee so you can imagine how pleasant I was in my response.

Truth be told ... I pretty much used up all my energy (and extra cash) on the first official day of  Summer Vacation™ when, under threat of thunderstorm, we went to the movies, lunch at a Chinese restaurant and to an indoor gym with inflatables. 

So that might have had a little something to do with the fact that I had to peel myself off the ceiling at the mention of the "b" word.

"How could you be bored? Have you already forgotten the Summer Reading Program™? We just got about a bazillionteen books out of the library -- which you begged me for -- so I KNOW you haven't read them already." 

"But mo-om!" 

"But. Mom. Nothing.  

"I mean ... We've also got toys, and games and art supplies. ... 

"Didn't I just buy paper™?
"And glue sticks™?
"And scissors™... with blunt ends so you won't go stabbing anyone in the thigh as you run around the house like maniacs?" 

"Well, yeah ... but ..." 

"But nothing. We're making crafts. Lots and lots of crafts.
"And then we're reading books .... Lots and lots of books.
"In fact, today we're making bookmarks."

And so that's what we did.

We used our paper.

And our scissors.

And we rocked the bookmarks.

And then we rocked a card for the wedding of some friends this summer.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow.

Maybe we'll finally get to read a book.

The Champ's Happy (safety violation) Birthday

The princesses and fairies aren't wearing hardhats.

The bathers aren't wearing life jackets.

The construction workers aren't watching what they're doing, not to mention the fact that they're using two different kinds of cement: royal icing and buttercream.

But I have it on good authority cookies (and cupcakes) lose a ton of calories once they've been cracked open with a jackhammer.