playing doctor :) with stitches : P

One day i saw my daughter using these bizarre flame ribbons with  velcro, i think were part  of a mcdonalds happy meal toy, as bandages for her beloved puppy dolls : ) So as im still experiencing and learning  the  embroidery sewing machine my Sweet and Wonderful mother in law just gave me recently I thought id make some red cross bandages to add to her doctor/vet kit.

what you'll need: white felt like fabric, red thread, velcro
*if you have an embroidery machine here is the pattern  i made for 5 bandages in two sizes you'll use in a larger hoop.

I did not use a stabilizer so as you can see it skewed a little, but with the nature of the project i'm happy with it :)

So after you cut them apart (the longer is about 6.5 inches long- and be sure to have the cross in the middle!) you sew on some velcro at the ends and your little doctor in training is  ready to patch up some stuffy owies!

Or as we say in our house, "booboos happen" : D

pumpkins for winter

Have any pumpkins lingering around still? Just today I finally took the orange ones off the front porch (I may do something w/the lg white one) and adorned the tree behind our garbage can with them, lol, they made it bright and pretty back there! : ) Since my kids are little I cant help picking up little pumpkins for them throughout fall. Especially the white and green. They dont go bad for a long time and my conscience doesn't want to toss them but I came up with an idea for turning that bit of autumn into winter.  A Pumpkin Snowman! The little guy came out soooooo cute! and it was a Really fun project!

We went from this:

To this:

I used construction paper, green fleece, buttons, beads, and sticks. For decoration on the hat: feathers, a lg. sequin, and some faux mini holly berries too.  Use what you have, I say! : ) That's what makes it individual, doesnt it?
Other materials used were: hot glue and gun, glue stick, scissors, small branch pruners, compass, and white charcoal pencil.

First, I cut the stems off the pumpkins and found a 'balance' for them, mostly at this point to know which would be the head. Then,  using my compass I determined what the width of hats brim would be.  The circle was drawn on black construction paper and from the same point another smaller circle was drawn inside and then cut out.  I probably would've used a stiff black felt if I had any. 
To get the height of the hat I cut a long rectangle roughly 3.5 times the diameter of the smaller circle to have glueing room for the cylinder.

Here you see the arm branches cut, the fleece cut for a scarf (which is twice the length of the black rectangle), the hat circles, and rectangle measureing 3.5 times the diameter of smaller circle.
The black rectanglehas been folded somewhat accordian style and slits have been cut to the fold on both top and bottom perpendicular to the folds.

 the rectangle has been inserted into the larger circle and the seam glued to be as wide as it needs to be

the tabs have been glued to the underside of the brim

to attach the top part, smaller circle, i used the glue stick on the perimeter of the circle insted of on the tabs to make it easier

then the the details were added : ) honestly before this, i havent used a hot glue gun in probably 6 yrs or more, lol

Next, to make the carrot nose out of construction paper i cut a long right triangle the length of a page. It's height is only about 1.25 inches.

On one side I glue sticked : P

Starting from the wider end and with glue on top rolled the triangle like a making a paper bead but keeping a flat edge

Then came hot glue assembly : ) and snowman was complete ! and ready for his close-up : D

one hot dog : ) or warm anyway

My daughter Katie LOVES dogs : ) unfortunately us having one right now is not a reality. She compromises by taking wonderful care of her 'puppies'. She is a fabulous caretaker of these stuffed animals. This includes washing, dressing, and bandageing their booboos : ) She is a major sweetie and I'm really looking forward to seeing her with her new baby sis in few months!

One night she asked for some clothes for her puppies I had a thought! About a year ago when I sorted through my husbands socks he had a lot of loners : P of which I thought we could use and make some sock puppets one rainy day. We haven't done that yet but I discovered a couple cuts will repurpose a wool sock into a really cute sweater for a little dog, real or play : )

I personally think it's cute enough for a real dog. If I had a little doggie, they'd be sporting one in this colder weather : D
NO SEW! folded to fit and the scrap turns into a mini cute beanie : )  Too Easy!!!!!

falling for toddler art : )

I've decided to start sharing projects I do with my kids with the tag "art by little hands".  I think it is beyond important to Nurture Creativity and do things With our Children.

We did this the other day and had a lot of fun.  Mommy cut out a tree form from a cereal box : ) > glued it to the back of some wrapping paper  > cut some shapes with the cricut > handed the shapes and a bag of dollar store fabric leaves and a glue stick to the three yr old : D  
We had fun sitting on the floor together and Katie was so proud to show it to Daddy : )

Notice how it looks like the bird is carrying off the pear, and the baby squirrel is chasing the mommy up the tree?! These are the sweet things that Just Happen in the hands of a special little person!!! I think it's Special!  it now is hangs on the wall of her bedroom as a work of art : )

I hope you and yours can enjoy this project idea as well! I think the different textures and freedom for creativity can go beyond this and be adapted for different seasons too. : )

wrealthrifty

I couldn't bring myself to spend 20 to 40 dollars, or more, on an autumn wreath so I made this for a little under 6. I love the yellow flowers! and if you can tell from my other blogs I like simplicity! : )

I am a firm believer in the less is more concept often.