Making Kid Friendly Chopsticks

This post is courtesy of my son. We went to lunch Tuesday at a Thai restaurant, his first visit to a Thai restaurant. When I requested chopsticks, he wanted to be able to use them too. He is not yet comfortable using chopsticks in a traditional way, but he had previously used special kid chopsticks at another restaurant. As a result, he knew what he needed to make a set of kid friendly chopsticks out of a standard set of restaurant chopsticks. He headed up to the hostess stand and asked for a rubber band. We made up a set and he used it to enjoy his lunch.

After we were done eating, he wanted to take a video of me making the chopsticks. So, based on his request, here is a picture of the three supplies that you will need - a rubber band, a set of chopsticks and their wrapper:

Here is the video that he shot of me making the chopsticks:

As you can see, you simply roll up the paper that the chopsticks come in and place that between the chopsticks on the non-eating end of the sticks, leaving just enough room to attach the rubber band. Attach the rubber band securely above the wrapper, and Voila!, chopsticks that a child can easily master and use to enjoy their meal...just like mom.

(I guess this is my first Vlog...does it matter that I didn't say a thing? He certainly had what feels like an odd angle and I feel like I look a mess, when he moved the video to show me - but all in all, I can now say that I have Vlogged.)

This post shared at Works For Me Wednesday.

Busy Bag DIY

Recently, I saw a pin of this really cute busy bag and decided that it would be perfect for my daughter. She is always one to enjoy coloring and writing on the go, but it always seems like she is losing her crayons or dropping her pencils and when we go to clean out the van, we find them all. Plus, it is portable and we can easily take it in if I have to take her to a meeting or a book club, where she needs to entertain herself.

It is a really straight-forward project, you don't need much from an 'equipment' perspective, a tape measure, scissors, an iron and a sewing machine.

We were able to pick up all of our supplies at Walmart. We bought 1/2 yard each of two fabrics, you could probably use less if you went with one fabric, but she wanted two. We got 1/4 yard of fusible fleece, because we could only find it on the bolt. If you can find a package, just make sure that it is at least 8" x 19". We also got 21" of webbing - they had a lot of colors according to their shelf tags, but we got white because it was the only one that they had in stock. We already had Velcro at home, but you will need 2" x 1/2" piece. You will also want 4 - 6 Quart size bags. I would recommend not using the one with the slide, in case that would break. We went with 4 bags for our busy bag.

1/2 yard of two coordinating fabrics
1/4 yard of fusible fleece
21" webbing
2" Velcro (1/2" wide)
4-6 Quart size zipper bags

Cut out a piece from your outside fabric that is 8 1/2" x 20" and two pieces that are 8 1/2" by 10 1/4" from your inside fabric. Cut your fusible fleece to 8" x 19". Cut your webbing into three pieces - 2 that are 9" and 1 that is 3".

Using an iron, adhered the fusible fleece to the wrong side of your fabric according to the directions on the fleece.

Fuse one end of your 3" webbing with a lighter to seal it. The other end will be inside the project and does not need to be fused. Sew one side of your Velcro to the 3" piece of webbing.

On your outside fabric with the right side up, measure in 2" from the side and pin the end of your webbing handle to align with the edge of the fabric. Do this four times. Pin your 3" strap in the middle on one of the ends. On the other end, pin the other side of the Velcro to the fabric. Using a 1/4" allowance, baste all five connections and sew around the Velcro.

Sandwich the quart bags between the inside fabric, with the right side of the fabric towards the bags. Using a 3/8" seam allowance, sew the fabric and bags together.

With right sides together, align the inside and the outside fabric pieces, pinning in place. Sew most of the way around, leaving yourself a small opening to flip the bag right side out. Sew the opening shut.

I only sewed the 2" opening I had left, but for a consistent finish, you could sew a 1/4" seam around the entire bag.

The finished project:

The bag stocked for use:

My daughter was pretty excited to see the fabrics she chose turned into a bag that she can use on the go to tote her crayons, pencils, tablets and more.

DIY - Doll Carrier

The other week, my daughter asked me if she could have some string from Daddy's office. Wondering what she might need string for, I asked her. She told me that she wanted to make a carrier for her dolly. First, I thought that she was rather creative to decide that she could use string to make a carrier. Then, I told her that instead of string, we should make one together out of fabric. I told her that we could go shopping in a couple of days to get the material for the carrier. When Sunday afternoon came and we were ready to head to the store for fabric and groceries, she wrote out a list to bring along. (I just loved this list - that first item is fabric, can you guess the others?)

It was then that I decided, I might want to have a plan before I shop, rather than figure it out on the fly. I quick search of the internet and Pinterest, yielded me lots of different carrier photos, but I couldn't really find a pattern or directions. There were some shops that were selling patterns and some that appeared to use a book, that of course, my library didn't have. So, as any industrious person would do, I started measuring my computer screen to get the 'relative' dimensions, which then I scaled up and added a seam allowance to. I drew it on a piece of paper that wasn't quite the right size and then transferred it to the funny pages.

So, I had a pattern and that gave me an idea of how much fabric I would need. I opted to skip batting - which it seemed that several of the carriers were made with. I had planned to use buttons to secure it, but eventually opted for Velcro, with button accents at the points of connection.

At the store, I told her that she could choose two fabrics - one for the inside and one for the outside. I wasn't really sure how much I would need, but I went with 1/2 yard of each fabric - this was probably a lot more than I needed, but it is always nice to have some extra fabric on hand for future impromptu projects. She also chose a quilting quarter for the pocket. The fabric in total cost me about $5. In addition, we picked up four buttons and some thread (turns out I had some purple already, but it didn't seem worth the effort to return a $1 spool of thread, so I have added it to my collection). That was about $3 in total. As I mentioned, I decided to go with Velcro, but my husband picked that up for me and we have a lot left.

I folded my fabrics near the end, allowing just enough to fit the pattern. Using the skills I learned in 8th grade Home Ec, I pinned the pattern to my fabric and cut it out. I had to cut two of the pieces - the inside and the outside.

Then, I cut two long strips at about 5" wide to make the straps. Then, I cut out the pocket. I cut it square and sewed it into shape.

I decided, based on pictures, that I would sew the straps in at the bottom of the carrier, so with right sides together, I sewed around the outside of the carrier body leaving the bottom open for turning it and securing the straps. The planner that I am, I failed to sew on the pocket ahead of time, so the stitching is visible on the 'inside' of the carrier - not a big deal, but a cleaner project would have had the pocket sewn on before joining the pieces. The, I flipped the carrier right side out and sewed on the pocket.


To make the straps, I used my iron to press a 1/4" seam on the one side and then folded the other side to just past middle and then folded over the side that I had pressed, making sure that I covered the unfinished edge from the other side. I ran a stitch on each side at about 1/4" from the edge and then ran two that worked out to be about 7/8" from the edges. This secured it and made them look 'strappy'.

I inserted the straps into the bottom of the carrier and folded in my edge, sewing it across with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then, using Velcro dots, I 'sized' the carrier to fit a dolly and my daughter. I had intended to create button holes and attached buttons, but the Velcro seemed to work well, so I switched from the sticky dots to sewn on Velcro. Then, I added button accents.


She loves her doll carrier. She uses it to carry her dolly when she is busy doing other things and can't be bothered to actually carry the dolly. I must say, that for no pattern, I am very pleased with the results, it's not perfect, but is perfect for her.


This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday and Homemade By You and DIY'ers link up.

Update: I have been asked about dimensions. I didn't use a real pattern, but sort of used a guide and then adjusted. Here is a sketch of relative dimensions. So, you can see that it is about 3 times as tall as the tail is wide, etc. This will allow the most flexibility to you to figure out the sizes for your own child. The straps were cut at about 5" wide and finished were about 2" wide, so you can use that to see that the tail is about 5" wide finished on mine.

DIY Tinkerbell Slippers

On Thanksgiving, my daughter spent part of the afternoon relaxing and watching Secret of the Wings. After watching the movie, she decided that she needed to have shoes like Tinkerbell's to wear with her Tinkerbell dress. I was out running to CVS when the movie ended and my husband drew her a shoe on green paper that she cut out. When I came home, she told me all about the shoes.

After looking at her cut out, I had a plan in my head on how we could make a simple pair of slippers, so I asked her if she wanted to make a pair of Tinkerbell slippers that she could wear. Of course, she wanted to run right out and get the fabric and cotton balls to make them. I told her that we would have to wait and go on Friday to get the materials. After I finished my Black Friday shopping, I came home and we had lunch and headed back out to get materials for Tinkerbell slippers.

At Walmart, we were able to find a soft green brushed flannel material and matching thread and some white pompoms, although not as big as we had hoped. We also grabbed some puffy paint to create a non-slip bottom for the slippers.

When we came home, I pulled out my sewing machine and got started. Using the paper cut out and her foot as a guide, I cut a square of fabric along the fold.

I sketched in a pencil line to reflect the general shape that I needed to acheive for the slipper. I started by sewing the back. I then sewed the top seam. I flipped them inside out and had her put them on. I could tell that I was too tall in the toe, so we took them off and I sewed it a little lower. To get a more 'boxy' toe, I snipped the end of the slipper and flattened them so that I could sew a toe seam. Once we were happy with the first slipper, I used it as my guide to create the other one. Then, we added the puffy paint in designs of my daughters choice to the bottom of the slipper and allowed it to dry overnight. Then, I grabbed a needle and sewed on the pompom.

At first, she had reservations about them, but once they were done, she loved them. They were a simple and quick project that we could work on together. Of course, in the process of modeling the slippers with her Tinkerbell dress, we learned that the dress was getting too small. So, now we need a Tinkerbell dress to go with our slippers. (sounds a bit like a Laura Numeroff 'If You Give a Mouse A...' book!)

DIY projects work for me!

Clothes - Making Them Last or Enhancing Their Style

I always heard that boys were rough on clothes. What I didn't consider is that girls are equally rough.

My daughter loves to run and play, and I love for her to run and play. Problem is, she always seems to find a way to fall down. The result is a skinned knee, a tear in her pants, mud/snow/water all over her clothes, and in one unfortunate event a baby tooth that had to have the kid's version of a root canal and is now known as 'my gray tooth'. She even has a knack of being able to cut her clothing with her scissors while doing art projects.

She has a definite style sense, all her own. I affectionately refer to her as 'my Rainbow Brite' on many a morning, when she comes down wearing a multitude of colors and patterns. Despite her affinity for diverse patterns, she simply can not wear clothes that have a tear or a stain. So, when, as it frequently occurs, she manages to make a mess of a new pair of tights, pants, shirt, or other, the article of clothing is typically toast. It will be passed over or placed back in her laundry. As a mom, it is rather frustrating to see that new article be worn but once or twice.

In the past, some of these holes have been small and I have been able to apply a sneaky patch or whip a few threads through it and all is well. But, that is not always the case.

When she managed to get holes in the knee in two pairs of pants within a week, I knew I had to find a solution. I simply can not go out and buy new clothes every week. I decided that I would embellish the pants that she has holes in. When I left home to look for the perfect patch, I had visions simply of a colorful, shaped patch. I was thinking a star or a heart. Unfortunately, at the store, I didn't see these - I simply saw standard, rectangles of patches like I had used in the past. I knew that I could cut a shape, but that wasn't what I was after. I was after 'fancy'.

So, I kept wandering and luckily, I did, because just a few short steps away, I came upon exactly what I was looking for. Decorative patches. We chose cupcakes for this first project. The close second was butterflies.

To mend her pants, I used a small patch on the inside. This might have been unnecessary, but I wasn't sure how well the decorative patch would do at mending. Then, in order to up the style and not make it look like it was just a repair patch, I stacked two patches - one big, one small - over the hole and set them with the iron.

To complete the embellished looked, I also added another small patch on the pocket.

I was planning to put it on the back pocket, but their were no back pockets on the pants.

The end result:

I am happy to say that not only was she excited to wear them the day that I patched them, but the embellished pants are now often requested by name. In fact, she recently asked if I had any more of those cupcakes and could I put them on some of her other pants.

I feel that I have succeeded. For a couple of dollars, I not only rescued a perfect other than a hole in the knee pair of pants from never being worn, but I turned them into fashion!

This post shared at Frugal Friday.

Holiday Gift Guide - DIY Cookie Trays

One of my favorite gifts to share at the holidays are my homemade cookies. I enjoy making a variety of cookies and enjoy that I can give them as gifts to others. Each year I experiment with new recipes (you can find many of the recipes over on A Busy Mom of Two in the Kitchen). Assembled together on a plate (or in a tin), they are nice to share with others.

When it comes to neighbors and co-workers as a whole, my goal is to help spread holiday cheer. For my neighbors, I like to put together a small plate of baked goods to share with them. I drop them off along with the Christmas card. It allows for a quick visit, during the cold time of year where we tend to see less of each other because we aren't outside playing. I also like to take a large platter of baked goods to work to share with everyone (although, I find myself eating more than one!).

For the kids teachers, I know that they are getting a number of gifts and try to avoid filling their life with more clutter. When my kids were first in daycare, I struggled with what I was going to give their teachers, I have a friend who is a teacher and she said - no apples, no smelly stuff and no mugs. Okay, that helped narrow things down a bit, but I still wasn't sure what to give.

So, I thought, why not make a plate of tasty treats that they could eat or share with friends and family that visit during the holiday season. For the teachers I decided it would be better to give them a plate that they could use over and over again, instead of the typical paper plate I use when giving plates of cookies to neighbors. I headed out to the store and found some really cute little square plates.

They were winter themed, not just holiday themed. I piled them with our homemade holiday cookies and candies,

>placed them in food gift bags and tied them with a tag.

I got a nice of lot compliments and thank you notes from the teachers. I've had teachers who didn't have my kids express disappointment that they didn't have one of the kids in their class at Christmas, so they could get the holiday treats. Now that the kids are older, they help me with baking the cookies and making the candies. Which, of course, makes it an even better gift for them to give to their teachers, because they helped make it. Homemade treats and a fancy plate as a Christmas gift for teachers works for me.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

Holiday Gift Guide - DIY Memory Board

For years, I looked for a way to display my Christmas cards at my house. I wanted them out on display, not stacked on my counter. I found a memory board and a wire tree that was designed to hold Christmas cards. I went with the memory board. It hangs in my hallway, in place of another picture every December. It lets me take a look at all the cards and the cute pictures every time I head down the hall.

I bought the Christmas memory board that I use, but when we were looking for something to hang on my daughter's wall, I learned just how easy they are to make yourself.

1 - Foam Craft Board, will cut to your desired size
1 - piece of fabric, your choice of patterns, large enough to extend a few inches on each side of your board
1 - bag of quilt batting, to cover the board
1 - spool of ribbon or elastic
Craft Glue
buttons or brads or other decoration

Tools:
Stapler
Straight pins
Yardstick
Ruler
Scissors
Utility Knife

1 - Using a yardstick, mark your board to the desired size. I mark at three points and then placed the yardstick so that it lined up with those three marks. Using a utility knife, cut the board using the yardstick as your guide. We cut ours in half to make two boards.

2 - Cut your quilt batting about an inch larger all around your board. I used a very small amount of glue on the front of my board to hold the quilt batting in place - it will be held by the fabric, but I didn't want it moving around. Don't use too much glue, or you will feel the hardness through the front of your finished board.
3 - Cut your fabric so that it extends about two inches around your board.
4 - Place your fabric print side down on your work surface and then place your board, batting side down centered on top of your fabric. Using craft glue, secure each side of your fabric on the edges. I recommend doing one side and then it's opposite side. Pull the fabric taut when you do the opposite side. Don't pull too much or it will looked stressed. After securing each side, you will have fun "wings" at each corner. I work those by folding the middle in flat to the board, so that the corner is smooth and securing it with glue. Then, fold the two new "wings" in towards each other and secure.

5 - Starting at one corner, place your first piece of ribbon or elastic. Secure at the edges with straight pins. Then, align your second ribbon/elastic. I used two rulers to help me align the ribbon as I worked.

Continue this way, working your way down one direction of the board. Then, repeat going the other way, making a criss-cross pattern on the front of your board with your ribbons/elastic. After the pattern is secured (and you like the way it looks), flip your board over and using your stapler, secure each of the ribbons/elastic. Again, you want to pull them so that they are taut, but not overly tight.

6 - Add your buttons, brads or other decorations (if desired), where the ribbons/elastic meet. Since I was using buttons, I decided to sew them in place, but glue could work.

7 - Add a ribbon loop or a picture hanger to the top of the board.

A memory board can be used to house a select set of pictures, an ever changing array of pictures, Christmas cards, mail, etc. By choosing different types of fabric and embellishments, they can be made to fit in any room.

This post shared at Frugal Friday.

DIY - Gingerbread House

Last year, we got a Gingerbread House Kit as a gift in a gift exchange. It was the first time that we had decorated a Gingerbread House. The kids really enjoyed decorating it and enjoyed eating it. Unfortunately, to me, the Gingerbread was dry and too crisp.

Wanting to recreate the experience in a more edible fashion this year, I undertook a new adventure. I made my own!

I started with a boxed kit for Gingerbread. I followed the recipe for making the cut-out cookies on the box. I rolled out the dough and cut the sides and roof pieces at 4" x 6". Then, I cut two ends. I'm sure there is a fanciful mathematical name for the figure I cut, but it is not coming to me right now - it was a rectangle with a triangle on top. I cut the sides at 4" and the angles of the triangle at 4". The base was about 5", that was what it worked out to be.

I placed them on the cookie sheet and baked. I had extra dough, so I made a few Gingerbread Men to go with the house. I also cut out two rectangles for doors and a circle for a window.

After baking them and cooling them, I used a tub of frosting and assembled my house. I started by placing some frosting on the pan I was using to hold the bottom of the walls. I built the four sides first and let them sit for a while before adding my roof. I "mortared" the corners on the inside to make them stronger. I added the roof pieces and let the Gingerbread House rest overnight uncovered so that the frosting could dry.
Then, today, I pulled out the candy that I had gotten near free on recent deals at the drugstores and gave them to the kids with some more frosting. The kids decorated the house and had a great time. They thought it was cool that they also had Gingerbread Men to decorate and eat as well.
We each had a decorated Gingerbread Man for a dessert this evening and they were good - not like the kit last year, they were so flavorful and not dry or overly crisp.

Those kits like we made last year, seem to retail around $10. By making our Gingerbread House on our own, we were able to have a better experience (there were Gingerbread Men! and they were more edible in my opinion) and at less of a cost (a couple of bucks for the mix and frosting and near free candy for accents).

This post shared at Frugal Friday.