Teddy Bear Felt Craft

My daughter was making crafts this week. She was given a gift from a friend, ‘Easy to Make Felt Teddy Bear’. It came in a box with all the parts included. My daughter busily blanket stitched around the two teddy bear body felt pieces, leaving a gap to then fill with stuffing, then sewed the opening closed. Then she used the glue to decorate the bear with eyes, mouth etc. She also made a lovely bag using plaited straps made with wool. It was a great project that kept her busy for a couple of hours. Her youngest sister also had the crafts out and sat at the dining table and made some lovely mess too.

 

Below are a few photographs I took of this project.

 

Table Tent For Kids

Kids love to make tents in the house using blankets and sheets which are thrown over the furniture. I remember doing this myself as a child, which seems an eternity away! I have spent many years putting these tents together for my three kids and spent forever putting them back together once they collapse because one of them has pulled at the sides. The last time I did this, I got so upset because they were shouting at each other blaming each other for knocking the tent over. I thought to myself, there must be an easier way to do this, and that is when I thought about a fitted tent. I went online to get some inspiration and couldn’t believe the amount of table tent tutorials there were on the internet. Most of them were for the classic Card Table Tent. I however needed a large tent to cover my large dining room table. I took ideas from the various tents I had seen and came up with my own design.

I had two single quilt covers spare which were similar in design and thought these would be perfect for the tent. I didn’t really think about making it look nice just as long as it fitted over the table. However I did try my best to make it look acceptable. Some tents on the internet look like real miniture houses with their own letter boxes and door numbers! My tent however, was just going to have a quick simple design.

I had the material for the basic sides and top of the tent from the quilt covers. I also used an old brown skirt that had belonged to my eldest daughter for the front door. I put the door on one of the longest sides and then I used press studs for fasteners to keep the door open if needed. The door just rolls up to open and unrolls to close.

I also added a window to each of the short sides of the table so that the kids could look out of the tent. Once I had made the tent the kids also decided that they wanted curtains added to the windows. I made some curtains with some other spare material and fastened these to the tent in a way that they could be left open or closed. The kids can now have privacy!

I also added some large pockets to the inside of the tent. These come in handy for the kids to put their books or toys into.

I keep this tent folded up inside a bag and I keep it handy for when the kids want to play with it. It is so simple to just take out and throw over the table, and also to fold up and put away. And the best part, it never collapses which keeps me and the kids happy!

You can find many tutorials on the internet just do a search for 'table tent tutorials'.

My Crafting Passion

I love crafting, I think I have always been interested in this since I was young. However, I never had much time to pursue this.

One of my earliest memories of sewing something was when I refashioned a long skirt that I owned. I simply cut this skirt into a short skirt and hand sewed the hem. I remember at the time feeling great, because I knew none of my friends would be wearing the same outfit!

Another memory was my DIY table. When I moved into my first apartment I didn’t have a table to put my hifi onto. I did however have a large strong box which used to hold my new TV. I used this as my table for over a year, I simply placed a nice throw over the box and nobody had a clue that it was only a cardboard box.

It has only been the last few years that I have been able to pursue my crafting. Once I became a SAHM (stay at home mum) which was 5 years ago now, I started sewing a few small projects. I used to borrow my mum’s old sewing machine for my projects. Then after a year of using my mum’s machine my husband bought me a new sewing machine as a surprise birthday present for me. This then made it easier for me to do more sewing projects.

Once my youngest turned 3 last year and she started nursery, I then had a bit more time on my hands to do more projects. This was when I started using the computer more for designing my own birthday cards and calendars for my family and friends. I also used the computer a lot for doing research on my family tree, I spent a whole year investigating the family tree and found out quite a lot of interesting facts about the family. I occasionally still do this, but only when I feel in the right mood.

I also love organizing. I live by my charts, forms and diaries. I design all my own charts and diaries and I use these on a daily basis. I always carry with me a small diary/notepad with me at all times. I never used to be so organized, but after I had my third child I had to start some kind of organizer, because there were so many things going on with each child that I was just overwhelmed. I had experience of making forms and charts when I used to be employed, so I knew the basics. I started with simple planners, but every year I have always ended up updating them to accommodate all the changes that occur. Children have such busy lives these days!

Personalized Cushion / Pillow

Above is a photograph of a cushion cover that I made. My daughter’s friend had a birthday a while back and I needed a quick present for her. I didn’t have time to go out to buy anything special, so I decided to make her a present with things that I already had lying around in the house. I chose to upcycle again. I had some lovely yellow material, which was from an old child’s quilt cover. I had a spare cushion too so I decided to use this as stuffing for the cushion cover.

I made this project as an all in one, meaning I didn’t leave an opening to remove the cushion cover. I used the cushion that I was using as a template. Once I knew the size of the cushion, I then made a pattern on paper, but with extra so that I would have a wide edge all the way around the cushion. For the front I used two pieces of material and also used another choice of material to make the applique letters that I attached. The back was just one sheet of the same material.  I printed the name onto the computer and then printed the individual letters out onto paper. I then cut these letters out of the paper and placed them onto the material I was using for the appliques. I then cut out the letters from the material and placed them onto the middle of the cut out cushion cover. I pinned these down and then sewed these letters on using a zigzag stitch. I won’t go into details about how I put the rest of the cushion together, I probably didn’t do it the correct way, because I didn’t copy from a tutorial. I just made it up as I went along, but the outcome was great, so I am not complaining, Normally I will follow a free tutorial that I find on the internet, but I couldn’t find one suitable this time.

You could just buy an ordinary pillowcase and unpick the edges and sew on some appliqued letters. Once you have finished sewing the letters on you can just machine stitch the edges again! Quite simple really. I liked the idea of giving the present with a cushion in it, just so that they can use it straight away. Kids love to get things with their names on, and even us adults too!

Woodwork Crafts

Above is a photograph of the woodwork projects that my son designed.

It makes a change to have a craft blog which involves my son. He rarely dabbles in crafts, so it is nice to write up an article about his work.

Last week my son attended a school woodwork class. This was a free class, which was put on during the school holidays for any of the school pupils to attend.  These classes are great for both the parents and the pupils.  I had a little more quiet time and he got to enjoy himself for a couple of hours! I say quiet, mind with my other two girls also at home, that was a bit of a wish, rather than a true statement.

 

Opposite is a closer photograph of his ramp.

He also made a small wooden bench at home, to go with the theme for his ramp.  He placed his skateboards and bike alongside  his ramp to give a good photograph. There maybe an artist inside him yet, he just hasn't realised!

He made 3 items at school in total.

1 – A small box with a lid. (painted green)

2 – A Hedgehog Pencil holder (varnished)

3 – Ramp (coloured red and black)

Opposite is a close up of his hedgehog pencil holder.  It was actually his idea to take a photograph with the pencils inside for better effect. Now, he is impressing me with some artistic behaviour!

Because he is only 12, it was the teacher who actually cut the wood. His role was glueing all the wood together, and then painting these with varnish or paint. He was allowed to leave his work overnight to dry, and collect them the next day.

He was really pleased with his work and made instant use of his skateboard / bike ramp!  Being his mum, I was also pleased with his work, well done!

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Upcycling Making a Dog Bed

My mum had two old foam cot mattresses which were of no use to her anymore. She also has a couple of dogs (Chihuahuas) that could do with a nice bed to lie on during the evening! So I decided to make a nice large posh bed for them to lie on! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the transformation, but I will try to explain briefly how I did this. I already had some spare material in the house so used this to cover the foam parts. For the quilt, we just used two dog patterned blankets sewn together to make a quilt cover and placed inside this an old small cot quilt. The base of the dog bed was one of the complete mattresses. For the sides I used one of the cot mattresses and cut pieces to the sizes I needed. (To cut the foam I used a bread knife!) I used velcro on the covered sides of the cut foam so that the three pieces were attached together, and the three pieces were also attached with velcro to the main mattress.

My mum can keep this under her bed during the day, and then bring it out at night for the dogs to sleep on. I made openings on the mattress cover and quilt cover, so that these can be removed and washed in the washing machine. There was some foam left over from this project so I used this to make a garden bench cushion! See photo below.

Coaster from a jar lid - Upcycling

Here is a project that is so easy and can be a fun craft project for the children too! After I have finished with a jar, and then placed the glass part into the recycling bin, I am then left with the jar lid! As this normally cannot be recycled, this is then placed into the bin. I came across the idea to re-use these as coasters! There was an article on the ‘ehow’ website that gave a few different ideas about what to do with these and I decided to make my own version using what I had in the house. Here is the link http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7574850_ball-jars-reuse-lids.html Obviously the small lids won’t be of a good enough size, but some wide jars are ideal. My tutorial shows you how to make a ‘doritos salsa jar lid’ into a bright colourful coaster. After I have finished with the jar and placed the empty glass into the recycling bin I can then start work on upcycling the lid. I will be using a sheet of bright colourful sticky back plastic that belongs to my eldest daughter. You could also use scrap fabric and glue or colourful paper and glue. I used the sticky back plastic as it was a nice pattern and easy, no gluing!

 First Step: Choose what paper, or fabric you need.

Second Step: Place the lid onto this and draw around with pencil or pen to get the shape you need. Then cut this shape out with scissors or scalpel.

Final Step: Then place the cut out plastic onto the inside of the lid and press down firmly. If using glue, then spread the glue onto the inside of the lid and then place the fabric/paper onto the lid pressing down firmly.That’s it, very quick and easy. A great afternoon craft project for little kids and big kids! Enjoy and be creative.