Have you noticed the new craft blog on my sidebar? One of my very besties, Sam, has started a blog to showcase all her crafts, called KaleScrap. I've been trying not to be jealous of her artistic and creative abilities pretty much since we met. (Love ya, Sam!) You should totally check it out. Prepare to be impressed!
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Another attempt at keeping my kid's attention away from all the stuff he wants to climb and get into at church. (His is the fish. :))
I had to wait until we got back from California to post about these, because I made some for gifts and didn't want to spoil it!
I got the idea from this post on my go-to craft blog, Make It and Love It. I wanted to try my own shapes--because, really, how could I not make a butterfly for little Elle? :) (Remember the blanket I made for her out of this material, here? It's near the end of the post. I just like linking whenever possible because it makes me feel cool.)
Anyway, a couple of tips for you, if you'd like to try making your own:
If you do a more intricate shape, like the butterfly, you might not want to cut two of the shape to begin with. When you cut out the center for the window space, the "frame" that's left goes all saggy and loses its shape--without the middle fabric to keep it stable--so it won't match up with the other one anymore when you try to sew them together.
Does that make sense?
A-like so:
How ugly is that? Ick.
If anyone is actually curious enough and asks me to clarify what I'm trying to say, I'll take a picture of a saggy frame in order to better explain it.
So I suggest, if you want to do something that will have a thin frame, just cutting one piece, cutting out the middle, sewing in the clear vinyl, and then sewing that to a larger piece of fleece.
Then you can fill it up, sew the opening closed, and trim the bigger piece using the shape (that it's conveniently sewn to) as your guide. It comes out great!
See?
***Added Aug. 20*** For what to put in these, I called my mom and asked if she would send me any buttons or other little interesting things she wouldn't mind parting with. I also used stuff from my own stash, and couldn't resist buying a few other things.
Most of the fillers were either buttons of various shapes, or beads. There were planes, trains, and automobiles, cats and butterflies, flip-flops and stars (buttons, and also the ones that are like sequins), a couple of seashells, some Peter Rabbit buttons (I couldn't resist buying those), a couple of ribbon flowers, and some bright-colored alphabet beads that I WISH I had bought at Wal-Mart instead of JoAnn, because they were cheaper there...
My mom's help was very much appreciated! Buttons aren't as cheap as they ought to be, in my opinion.
One more thing: if you want to use the poly-fill beads like I did, be sure to use a Jo-Ann or Michael's coupon. At $7 a bag, you don't want to pay full price! And believe me, you'll have plenty of leftovers. (Any suggestions for using these? Lol.) (Oh, and yeah, I think I made the "windows" too big. Whatev. It works!)
My mom thought these were so cool. Jamie looks at his for about 2.5 seconds, then tosses it aside and commences his usual running around like a cute little nutcase. I'm hoping he'll grow into it!
My mom thought these were so cool. Jamie looks at his for about 2.5 seconds, then tosses it aside and commences his usual running around like a cute little nutcase. I'm hoping he'll grow into it!
I sure had fun making them and then giving them to people I love. I hope your little ones are enjoying them!
