over the playdough rainbow

How can you NOT love playing with playdough?  It's been around for years, appeals to boys and girls of all ages, and is a great activity for imaginative play.  I got this homemade playdough recipe from my friend Kim's blog a couple years ago - and I tell ya, it looks, smells, and feels like the real stuff!  The first batch I made lasted for almost 2 years in an airtight container.  It's super cheap to make (you likely have the ingredients you need already in your kitchen with the exception of cream of tartar), and a fun activity to make with your toddler.  One batch makes about 3 fist sized balls, and it's so fun to mix the food coloring to make different colors.  I did batches of this for the gift bags for Lexi's birthday party this past spring.

Homemade Playdough Recipe:

1 cup of white flour
1/4 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (can be bought with the other spices at the grocery store)
1 teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil
1 cup of warm water
food coloring

Combine ingredients in a large pot on medium heat on your stove, and stir, stir, stir!  Allow to cool and add food coloring.  I have found that working the dough with your hands a lot works in the color and improves the feel of the playdough.  I store it in tupperware airtight containers, or plastic baggies work well too!

HAVE FUN!

minky love (and hate)

Minky is something you've probably seen (and fondled) before, but had no idea what it's called.  It's a super soft, fleecy type fabric that you see in many baby projects these days, mainly blankets.

A few months ago, I bought some minky in order to try my hand at sewing some ribbon sensory blankies.  Man, this stuff is NOT fun to sew with.  It is slippery and stretchy at the same time - and once perfectly lined up seams pucker and drift apart easily.  So while I love the softness of the fabric for babies, sewing with it is a pain in the butt.

This the ribbon sensory blanket I made for my little man a few months ago (the minky is the brown dotted fabric you see on the back).  You can buy minky plain or dotted.  Babies seems to love the dotted texture for blankies.

This put together this cute pink number for a friend who recently had her second little girl.  I used plain white minky for two of the squares on the front, and the brown dot minky on the back.

I also got really ambitious and made a minky change pad cover for the change table.  Lots o' work, but love the result.  Have to make another since the fleece ones I used for my daughter are all a) girly colors and b) washed and worn to within an inch of their lives.

The possibilities for minky in baby sewing are endless - bibs, blankets, burp cloths, stuffy toys, sheets (now THAT would be some work).  Any other fun ideas you'd like to see in minky?

cute crayon roll up

Anyone who has toddlers knows that you need something to entertain them when you're out and about - restaurants, waiting at the doctor's office (which I do a LOT of lately being over 38 weeks pregnant!).  My girl LOVES to color and draw, and up until now, I've been throwing her crayons into a ziplock baggie in the diaper bag and heading out the door. 

I made a few of these super simple crayons rolls over the last week and L loves hers.  It has spots for 16 crayons (or slim markers, pencil crayons, etc), and she is able to open and close it herself with a simple, colorful elastic closure.  It's completely machine washable as well.  I'll be adding these to my etsy shop soon, and will try to put up a tutorial in case you are interested in making some yourself (including cutting fabric, I can whip one up in under half an hour - a perfect naptime craft!)

 

make your own labels

When I started selling my handmade cards several years ago, I had a custom stamp made up with a logo and my email address on it.  This stamp still gets lots of use, although I'm starting to think the logo could use a re-vamp.  I had a custom return address stamp made up by tickled pink paper ink on etsy and love it (and love her aesthetic) so I'm thinking of getting her to do a new one for me.

Anyhow, now that I'm starting to make other things, I was trying to figure out a way to put my name on them.  I love the natural look of cotton twill tape, so I looked into having some personalized for me.  Yikes, expensive.  My good friend Mr. Google led me to this fabulous tutorial about making your own.  Luckily I realized we own a laser (NOT an inkjet) printer BEFORE I put the transfer paper in it, so off to Mom and Dad's I went to print there (and Mom made me a childhood favorite for lunch to boot - thanks Mom!)

They turned out really well!  I still need to try the 'parchment paper re-iron' trick to get rid of the bit of shininess, but alas, there is no parchment paper in this house, and I am MUCH too lazy (and pregnant) to go to the store JUST for that (although it's always a good excuse to buy more ice cream... hmmm....)

Felting Wool 101

After my doctor's appointment this afternoon - I'm in my 36th week - yikes - how did THAT happen - I wandered into the thrift store across the street.  I had heard some of my crafty friends talk about felting wool before, and my interest was piqued.  I only had time to check out the sweater section (mens and womens) and scored two 100% wool sweaters for 10 bucks.  I actually considered keeping one for myself, as it's 100% cashmere from Barney's and cost $5 (and like I'd EVAH be able to afford whatever that cost retail), but it's a turtleneck, and just not my style.  The other is a lovely brown wooly men's sweater.

My understanding of how to felt wool is basic - throw it in a hot wash with something abrasive like a tennis ball, and then dry on high heat.  I'm sure many people do this as an oopsie (or perhaps innocent hubbies trying to be helpful have accidentally felted their wives' cashmere) but I'm gonna chuck them in there on purpose (after a trip to scour my local SA around the corner as it's much bigger and I expect a better score).

What can you do with felted wool?  I plan on trying my hand at making some accessories - flowers for hair clips, hair bands, or necklaces.  With larger pieces you could do a little clutch bag, or even cute stuffy toys for baby - the possibilities are endless.

Some inspiration:

                                        Marang Studios

                                           Atomique47

                               felt food by homemade by jill