Money in the Bank

My little guy and I were given homework after his last Dr.'s appointment.  Since he is not even a year old you may wonder if my son is freakishly smart.  Although I think he is very smart, we are not memorizing U.S. Presidents or anything that outstanding.  His doctor actually gave us a list of problem-solving activities to do which includes playing "Money in the Bank".  The form suggested cutting a slit in the top of an empty container and giving him juice can tops to put into it.  Booooring, and we don't drink that much juice.  The last time I made him a home-made toy I literally stabbed a couple of holes into a wipes dispenser, and threaded some yarn through the holes.  He loved it!  But this time I wanted to come up with something a little bit cuter...

A rice cereal canister works well.  I saved them knowing that they would be handy for something.  I put together a little tutorial in case you would like to make one too.

Materials:

Canister with removable lid (any that you have)

Felt (white for the backing) (various colors for the money)

Fabric

Coordinating thread

Hot glue

Stitch Witchery

Embroidery Needle & Decorative thread (optional)

Cardboard (e.g. cereal box....)
Exact-o knife

Directions:

Using pieces of string, yarn, or a flexible measuring tape, measure the height as well as the circumference.  Measure the height of the canister with the lid on in order to allow for the lid to close!  Cut a piece of felt to your measurements.  Then cut a piece of fabric slightly larger (I added 1 in. to the height and 1/2 in. to the circumference measurement).

Next, cut a length of stitch witchery the same length as the fabric.  Cut the stitch witchery in half lengthwise.  Center the felt on the wrong side of the fabric.  Place a piece of the stitch witchery along one edge of the felt and fold the fabric over.  Making sure that the fabric is completely covering the stitch witchery, follow the instructions on the stitch witchery package to set the seam.  Repeat with the other side. 

When both edges are finished flip the piece over and iron it flat. 

Cut letters out of your coordinating colored felt.  It helps to cut rectangles that are the basic size you will want your letters to be, and then cut the letters from those rectangles.

Attach the letters with hot glue.  Watch the fingers!

Get creative if you'd like and embroider the letters!

Make a line on the canister where the lid ends.  Then remove the lid.  You will use this line to guide your fabric placement.  If you let your fabric go above the line, your canister will not close (and that would be sad!). 

 Hot glue straight up the side.

Press the left unfinished end of the fabric onto the hot glue.

Use more hot glue on the canister to attach the rest of the fabric.  Turn under the other unfinished end and carefully hot glue it to create a nice finished edge.  I chose to take a few extra minutes to slip stitch the edge as well, since my little guy is very tough on toys.

Using an exact-o knife cut a slot into the lid.

 

You can't have the bank without coins.  Cut 20 same size circles from a cereal box with some heavy duty scissors.  Make your circles about a half inch in diameter less than the length of the slot to allow room for the felt covering.  To make it go faster I accordion folded the cardboard and cut out several at a time.  Don't worry about being too precise. 

Hot glue a stack of 4 circles together then cut out a rectangle of felt, large enough that it can be doubled over the circles and have plenty of room around it for sewing. 

Using your sewing machine, zig-zag stitch or regular stitch around the edge of the cardboard circles.  Cut off the excess felt.

Make 4 more!

If you want, cut out numbers 1 through 5 and hot glue them to the "coins". 

My son loves his bank and has gotten so fast at putting the coins in I need to make more!  Happy playing!

Elizabeth

Shower Favors - potted flowers

 There are a lot of shower favor ideas out there, but I wanted to share one of my favorites.

My mom and I put these little zinnia pots together for a baby shower I co-hosted.  We found the plants at our local hardware store along with the little pots that you can plant right in the ground.  At the craft store we picked up the ribbon and labels.  Lucky for me, my mom is great at calligraphy and labeled all the tags for me!  (I don't have the best handwriting)  

I am also a fan of little silver tins!  

Ah, beauty!

Elizabeth

monkey-ing around

Isn't Pinterest great? For those of you who are not yet pin-makers, Pinterest is an online pinboard where you can create a virtual collage of all things beautiful and noteworthy. (If you would like an invitation, shoot us an email.)

A few Saturdays ago my sister pinned a photo of a particularly cute sock monkey (found here) and gave it the caption, "Stuff my sister should make for me." Later that morning, the boy and I went to Goodwill to look for treasures and they had a sale on (new!) socks: 4 pairs for a dollar. My head said, "Cha Ching!" I bought four pairs, and considered it a dollar well spent. (I actually bought more things then just that, but I will save the other projects for later posts.)

When we got home, the boy took a nap and I whipped up this little mono.

The tutorial (found here) was fantastic, especially the tips for stuffing the tail of the monkey.

I popped her into a shoebox and she flew up to Washington for my sister. She was surprised.

Unfortunately in all my excitement, I forgot to take any pictures. Amy was very kind and took several shots. Her pictures are way better then any I would have been able to take. Photography is one of the skills where I have lots of room for improvement. I would mail her all my projects so that she could photograph them, but that could be expensive, especially if I made a 7-foot still life titled, "A study in lead."

 

My nephew loves the "Kitty" and likes to swing her around by her tail. She also is a cheerful Attack Monkey, flying across the room with style.

It was an afternoon well spent.

Toddler Art Smock

I recently whipped up an art smock for a little family member turning two.  Lately I had been looking for a use for this great oilcloth fabric by Amy Butler.  My mom had given me a few scrap pieces leftover from a highchair cover that she had made.  In theory oilcloth should make art clean-up a breeze, only requiring a simple wipe down, but I can only imagine the kind of mess that can result from a kid with paint!

I based my art smock off of a pattern in "One Yard Wonders", but had to alter it to make it work with the amount of fabric I had.  I also changed the pocket in the front, and made my own bias tape out of a different Amy Butler fabric I had on hand. 

Working with oilcloth turned out to be a bit of a challenge.  I had heard that your sewing foot can stick to certain fabrics, and boy did that turn out to be true!  I didn't have too much time to fuss with getting the stitching just right, but I do have another project to work on - learning how to sew with oilcloth!  Maybe another topic for Sewing Tips? 

Elizabeth

Sewing Tips: Cutting Fabric

Cutting fabric can be such a pain!  Recently I have been working on a project that involved a lot of cutting. .  I actually had been avoiding the project for several months because the amount of fabric I had to cut felt daunting.  By the end I had improved my technique and realized it had been excellent practice.  The process also took way less time than I had imagined.

Everyone has their own way, but I am always a fan of using my rotary cutter when I can.  Here are some cutting tips to hopefully inspire you to start on that new project you've been avoiding. 

Step 1:  Turn on some jams!
Nothing inspires me to get working more than some fun music.  What does your mood tell you?  Calming Bach, jazzy Ella?  Thanks to my childhood, one of my favorite "pump-up"  musicians has to be blues rocker Stevie Ray Vaughan.  

Step 2:  Press the fabric
When I cut fabric, especially large pieces, it is a good idea to press your fabric before cutting.  This is especially true when working with cotton.  Too many wrinkles can really hinder an accurate cut, and just making the job plain annoying.  So do yourself a favor - break out your iron - you'll be happy you did.

Step 3:  Assemble your tools
A cutting mat, a ruler, a rotary cutter, fabric weights, and fabric scissors are all great items to have available.


Step 4:  Line up your fabric
Use the grid-lines on your cutting mat and your fabric weights to keep your fabric in place!

Step 5:  Measure twice - Cut once!
I don't know where I heard this old saying, but it is so true!  Better to take a little extra time lining up your ruler and double checking the measurement, than to waste money and time by making mistakes.

Step 6:  Enjoy a job well-done :)
What is more satisfying than freshly cut stacks of fabric bursting with potential!  Time to create!

 Improvise your own fabric weights using large metal washers wrapped with fabric or glass jars filled with something fun!

 

Share your cutting tips with us!  

fabric dye and paint

I dyed my first onesies when I was pregnant with the small boy. It took me quite awhile to work up the courage to try it, but it was much easier then I had anticipated. Dana, over at Made, has a fantastic tutorial for fabric dyeing that I highly recommend. When I dyed the onesies, I used a bucket filled with hot water and Rit liquid dye. I stirred the mix every 10-15 minutes for an hour, rinsed the garments in the sink until no more color came out, and then washed everything in the washing machine. It was very simple, not nearly the messy monster that I had expected.

My neighbor will become a grandmother for the first time next month, and so I wanted to make something for her new grandson. I took some of the onesies that I had previously dyed and added a little paint.

This was the result:

I love stronger colors on baby boys, and the orange and blue dye turned out very well. It makes a simple white onesie look less like an undershirt.

On the blue shirt I used a moon stencil and silver glitter paint.

And for the orange shirt I made an iron-on stencil out of freezer paper. (The shiny side of freezer paper will adhere to clothing when you iron it.  Then, when you have finished painting and your design has dried, you can peel the stencil right off! There is a more complete tutorial by Dana here at Made)

For both shirts, I used a stamp set to make the lettering.

Because I had already dyed the shirts, the whole project took less then 30 minutes. This is perfect when you are trying to sneak in crafts while a certain small boy is seeping.

Vintage Thread Spools

Antiquing would be really fun if I had some serious funds available.  At this point though, I mostly window shop.  Every once in awhile I do find something inexpensive and fun to buy at an antique shop.  Like these wooden thread spools.

My grandma recently gave me a whole bunch more that she didn't want any more (Score!).  Hers actually had thread on them still.  To display them I have filled several jars with the threaded spools and I also use the jars for fabric weights.

I'm keeping my eyes out for more ideas on how to display or use these great spools!

And on another note...

If you've read our blog at all you're probably, "Really you took two months off?  Where have you been?"  I could go on an on about what Christina and I have been doing during this time.  However, instead of boring you with the details *although we're pretty exciting :) I'll just say that we learned a lot during our month of blogging and our time off, and we're now ready to move forward with more blogging!  

I am so excited for Birchwood & Almond this year!  We have been experimenting with different crafting techniques and materials, and can't wait to share that with you!

Elizabeth