The Polka-Dot Umbrella

I love this "Fun Jar" idea over at The Polka-Dot Umbrella blog!!!  I have been needing to do this for months now!!!  Now that my oldest is in kindergarten, I find myself struggling to find things for me and my 3 year old to do...especially during the cold winter months!  This fun jar idea is the perfect way to help me out...I can't wait to give it a try!!  Check out more great ideas over at The Polka-Dot Umbrella!

Arrrrr....Me Pirate Ship!

While I was home for Thanksgiving my dad wanted to show me something in the crawl space. The "crawl space" is behind the stairs and below a part of the house...and yes, you have to crawl to go in there. Anyway, there was a bunch of stuff under there, but what really caught my eye was this:

I asked if I could have it. I have a certain 4 year old boy who would love something like that. So, I took it home, threw it in the dishwasher, made a couple of flags for the masts and voila!

A cool pirate ship!

Then my hubby found some cool pirate guys to go with it. Oh, and sea creatures to attack the ship came from grandma. Now it's one of the coolest toys in the house!

Oh, and yes I learned my lesson to post gifts AFTER they are given,

 so that certain little 4-year old won't see!

Do you like my new signature?? 
Becca over at Blue Cricket Design can 
show you how to make one too!!

Playroom Makeover!

It all started with this mirror.

I found it out on the curb a couple houses down from ours.  I wasn't sure what to do with it at first.  Then I had an idea.  How about a dress up mirror?  Oh, and while we are doing that, we might as well redo the whole playroom, right?!!  And that's what we did.  Here are our before and afters.

PLAYROOM BEFORE

PLAYROOM AFTER
 
We hung a tension shower curtain rod and some curtains to create a fun entrance (I think this might be my daughter's favorite part!)


The dress up mirror has some vinyl words on it, as well as rope lights and a feather boa.  We hung hooks on both sides of the mirror to hang costumes up.  



Here's the cute little table and chairs where they can "create"


The "magnet board" is just a piece of sheet metal screwed into the wall.  The magnets are small toys of my kiddos that I hot glued a magnet to the back of (we seem to have tons of these random small toys around).



Oh, and a mirror ball just for fun (or if I want to have a late night dance party :)

We did almost all of it on Christmas Eve night, after the kids were in bed.  We left it as one last surprise after we ate breakfast and they LOVED IT!!!  Oh, and Santa brought lots of fun dress-up costumes too!

They loved 'em!!!

The kiddos loved the snakes that I made for them!  My hubby put them slithering out from under the tree.  They were so excited when they saw them...success!!!  I sent one to my little nephew too...look how cute he is!

RTT - sssssSSSSSNAKE!!!

I wanted a few things for my kiddos Christmas gifts that were handmade.  For some reason, a long stuffed snake popped into my head!  I looked around for some ideas and then came up with these:

I love them!!  I sure hope my kids love them too!  My 4-year old boy has recently switched his obsession from all things scary to all things "cute", so I'm questioning my snake decision ( I just might end up making a smaller "baby" snake for him as well).  But, anyway, I'm smitten with the orange and pink one with a polka dot belly.  I think my 2 year old daughter is going to love her!  The boy snake is made out of fleece on the back, which amazingly resembles snake skin, and soft minky underneath.

So, in case your kids want a giant 60" long snake for Christmas (or anytime!), here's how I made it.

5 FOOT LONG ssssSSSSSSNAKE Tutorial

supplies needed: 1/4 yard of top fabric (I used fleece) , 1/4 yard of coordinating bottom fabric (minky, flannnel, fleece), yellow scrap fabric, black scrap fabric, red scrap fabric, white scrap fabric, stuffing, jingle bells, sewing essentials (machine, thread, needle, scissors, etc).

1.) Cut out snake shape from top fabric (fleece works best).  Use the snake head shape to cut out the head and beginning of neck.  The snake will run the width of the fabric (which is 60" with fleece).  Fold fabric in half length-wise to continue cutting snake shape.  From neck, continue cutting snake out, gradually getting larger in the middle and narrowing down toward the tail.

2.) Make the snake's eyes.  Using the yellow scrap fabric (again, fleece works well.  If you use a thinner fabric you may want to iron some interfacing to it to make it sturdier) cut out two circles, each approx 2" in diameter.  Then cut out two of the "pupil" shapes from black scrap fabric (I used leather for this).  Sew on the black "pupil" to the yellow eye.  Do this for both eyes.

3.) Sew eyes on to snake head.  Position them about halfway down head.  Sew around eye stopping about 1" from where you started.  I used a blanket stitch or applique stitch.  Leaving your needle in the fabric, put stuffing in the eye to poof it up, then continue sewing the rest of the eye on.  The top part of the eye doesn't have to be pretty b/c it will be covered by the eyelid.  The snake will look pretty silly right now, don't worry he'll look much better with eyelids!

4.) Eyelids.  From the top fabric, cut out two circles, each approx 2 1/2" wide (these need to be a little wider than you cut your eyes out to be).  Fold the circles in half and place them on top of the eyes.  It will cover the top half of the eye.  Sew these on top of eye, stretching as necessary.  Make sure to secure the ends well.  You can snip any extra fabric there may be after stitching it down.


5.) Nostrils.  Cut out two small circles out of top fabric.  Fold in half.  With straight side towards front of snake, stictch nostril down.  When stitching down, you will want to scrunch it together a bit under your sewing machine foot to make it stand up a bit as a "nostril".  I hope that makes sense, i'm having a hard time explaining, sorry!  Do this for both nostrils.


6.)  Tongue.  On red scrap fabric, with right sides together,  sew a forked tongue shape.  Make it simple so you can turn it right side out easily.  Turn right side out and iron.  Sew it on to snake head like this: 

7.) Fangs.  On white scrap fabric (I used pleather) sew fangs.  These are too tiny to turn right side out, so i just cut them out and left the stitching visible.  I've found that fangs look best if they are kept rather small.  If they are too large, you may need to place a stitch in them at the end to keep them laying flat. Sew fangs on both sides of snake head like this:


8.) Now all the hard work is done!  Take the top of the snake and lay it down on your bottom fabric right sides together (I used fleece, minky, and flannel for the 3 snakes I made).  Pin snake to bottom fabric.  Sew together leaving a 3-4" hole in one side of snake approximately half-way down snake (you'll want the hole about 1/2 down to make stuffing the snake easier).  Cut excess fabric off after sewing together, but leave it wider where your hole is for stitching it up later.  Clip any curves or corners on head.  Turn right side out.


9.) Stuff the snake!!  I used this stuffing and a dowel rod to really get him stuffed!  Oh, and if you want to add a little spunk to your snake, throw a few jingle bells down in his tail to make him rattle!

10.) Using matching thread or invisible thread, stitch up hole on side of snake with small, uniform stitches.  Make sure to secure ends of stitching.  And you're done!!!

These snakes are super cute!!  They are sure to be any little kid's new best friend!   Have fun with them...use funky fabrics, make them accessories (like a hairbow if it's a girl snake), customize them to your kids likings....do whatever!!  If you use this tutorial I would LOVE to see what you make!  Feel free to email me with any questions too! 

If you love the snakes, but don't want to bother making one, check them out at our ETSY shop!

Happy Holidayssssssssssss!!!