A sweet reader taking an idea to the next level

Spring flower brooch, originally uploaded by carolinafair.

Caroline from Carolina Fair contacted me a few weeks ago to say she liked my flower pin tutorial. She took it to a whole new level and made these beautiful flowers for her daughters' Easter dresses. Aren't they gorgeous?  She shares the tutorial on her spin HERE. I was so excited to she her photo in our little Flickr Pool. 

Please continue to share your photos, whether by flickr or email.  I LOVE to see them, and also love to feature them!

A Totem Pole

 My eldest was assigned the task by his third grade teacher to create a totem pole, with a figure for each family member. Family members could help make their own figure. So, here are my boy and girl making their figures, and figures for the little ones:

They chose animals for each person, and we found this website for inspiration. Brother chose a lion for himself, a whale for little brother.  Sis chose a dog for herself, and frog for Baby.
I drew and painted mine (bear) and daddy's (eagle) to lessen the load, and give some examples. 
We printed off small thumbnails, and they drew their own pictures with pencil on white cardstock.  After sketching in pencil, they outlined with sharpie pens, and then painted with poster paints.

Later that evening, brother cut each animal out.  Dad helped him assemble the whole thing with a wrapping paper tube, paper tube from the box of aluminum foil, shoe box, and lots of packing tape.  It turned out great, and even survived the trip to school on the bus.

Even Baby wanted to be a part of things...but then decided as I snapped a photo that she changed her mind.

All in all, a fun project.  If I can just convince my eldest that we don't have to do the whole thing the night before! 

Meet Sparky, my first softie.

My little boy is really into robots right now.  There is a pbskids.org game from Word Girl that has you build a robot...he's hooked.  So, he asked me the other day to make him a robot toy.  I've wanted to try my hand at softie making, and so I decided to go for it.

We began by sketching out some ideas.  Little boy knew he wanted certain important features like a square body, gloves on the hands, and an antenna.  He also wanted a circle head, but we decided aesthetically, a square would be better.  He helped to color the sketch:

I wasn't sure where to begin, but I remembered Larissa at mmmcrafts had a free Molly Monkey pattern, and I decided to do some research.  Although robots and monkeys have little in the ways of similar anatomy, Larissa's clear instructions helped me to know how to put my robot together.  (I'm also planning to make a Molly Monkey for Baby when she turns two this summer.)

This was a lot of fun to do.  I just let my imagination run wild.  I played with grommets and ricrac, appliques, and embroidery, and my boy is thrilled.  The head and body are denim, the arms and legs regular cotton.  I also added his name, so there would be no arguing about who's toy it was. 

 The hardest part was turning those skinny arms and legs, and then stuffing them.  All three older children helped to stuff this guy, and then I hand sewed the openings closed with a baseball stitch.  Thank goodness for Larissa's instructions! They were invaluable for constructing a softie.

 Best of all, my little guy has a new friend. 

Sparky was marked as a favorite over at Blue Cricket AND featured on Tatertots and Jello! 

Linking up with Somewhat Simple,  Blue Cricket, Women Who Do It All, and Just a Girl,  KoJo Designs,  A Few of  My Favorite Things, Tatetots and Jello, The Idea Room, The Girl Creative, and Delicious Ambiguity and SSB Mondays.

The Matchbox Organizer and a mini tutorial

Thank you to all of you who voted for my Hanging Car Garage/Matchbox Car Organizer on SYTYC. By way of a mini tutorial (sorry if I forgot details, I made it in February!), here's how I put it together:

First, I measured the length I'd need for the number of cars I wanted to store. I figured that the length would be 26 inches by 16 1/2 inches. I then used the hanger as a guide to shape the top.

I then marked the location of where the pockets and words would be.

I traced the words I printed out onto freezer paper, and cut them out with my pocket knife.

I ironed on the stencils, and then painted the lettering.

Then, I made the pockets.  Each pocket was made from two pieces of fabric 2 1/2 inch by 16 1/2 inches long, sewn right sides together and turned, and then attached to the background where I'd marked. 

I sewed the pockets by topstitching the bottom and basting the sides.  I marked the pocket dividers with tailor's chalk, and sewed down each pocket.

I made a skinny piping, and basted it to the outer edge of the garage. 

For the applique, I drew a car shape based on the fabric and made appliques with aqua and white fabric and heat n bond.  I ironed on the 3 pieces, then added layers of freezer paper stencils in black, white, and peach to add the details.

For the back, I cut two pieces of fabric that together made up the back, but overlapped.  I basted them together before I sewed the back and front together.

I then sewed the front and back pieces together, and then opened up the basting stitch, and turned everything right side out.

Lastly, I ironed everything, and inserted the hanger into the garage.
There you go!

Thank you so much to those who voted, and wish me luck as I begin this adventure. 

UPDATE:  Kim @ Girl and a Glue Gun came up with a fun alternative way to make a car hanger.  See HERE.

Linking up with The Girl Creative, Keeping it Simple, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, and Making the World Cuter,  Delicious Ambiguity and Today's Creative Blog, and The Nifty Nest.

Shared on Someday Craft's All About Boys and Kojo Designs Gifts for Guys.

Featured on Oopsey Daisy, and Somewhat Simple, and The Baby Center Blog.

Happy Easter

I hope you are having a wonderful day with your family. We started this morning with these:

We'll have a special dinner with our children, including grilled chicken and mormon potatoes, cooked carrots, pear-cranberry spinach salad and deviled eggs (ironic, I know).

On a more serious note, I have been contemplating this:

John 20:11-18

I am so very thankful for the reality of the Resurrection and the amazing grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May each of you have a sweet day.

Bunnies from Envelopes ala Martha

Today I'm playing room mother for my big boy's 3rd grade class.  We'll be making these.  I originally found the idea on Martha, via One Pretty Thing. 

I've traced my templates and will add them to this post, mostly so I don't forget for next year.  I made a few changes to Martha's pattern, adding a paper nose and a pompom tail.  I did this for the simple fact that I couldn't find any pink pompoms in our little town.

They are easy to make.  Seal your envelopes.  Turn so the side is now the bottom, then trace the template for the ears on your envelope.  Cut out the ears.  You'll also want to trace on pink paper the inner ears and nose.  Cut those out, and glue in place.  Trace the eyes on blue paper, and cut out and glue in the appropriate spot.  I used a gray colored pencil to draw on the mouth.   For a finishing touch, glue the white pompom to the backside of the bunny.

Here's the template:

And to prove I don't always think of everything in advance, I have traced 24 sets BY HAND to be used today for my boy's class.  I'm sure there's a simpler way to do this, but I frankly didn't want to go back into town, OR use up all my printer ink.

We're also going to do a carry the egg on a spoon relay, and the perennial favorite, button button.  I'll try to get some photos of the mayhem to share. 

We've just hit 100 followers, WOW.  This sounds hokey, but I never really imagined I'd have that many folks interested in my stuff when I started blogging last summer.  Thanks for making me feel great about what I do. 

Fun Easter Treat and Activity...Edible Nests

Easter is coming soon, and I wanted to do a fun/easy project with my kiddos. We made our Easter Nests for our family night activity last Monday.  These yummy "bird's nests" are made just as you do marshmallow krispie treats.  Gather your ingredients.:  Chinese noodles, a bag of small marshmallows, and 1/4 c. butter or margarine.  Plus, you'll need a bag of jelly bean eggs and waxed paper to cover your counter.

In a large bowl, empty your noodles and set aside.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the marshmallows.  Stir constantly until all melted.  Pour the melted goo over the noodles, and stir to cover completely.  Dump piles of gooey noodles, about 1/4 cup each, and form into a nest shape. Add your eggs to your nest, and allow to set up.

There you have it!  A fun, easy project for Easter that your kids will love.  They are actually pretty tasty, too!

Linking up with Someday Crafts...and then was featured!  See HERE.