Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

{getting crafty} DIY Headband Organization (and Tutorial)




I swore I'd never be one of those parents who decked their daughters out in tons of flowers and bows.  




But that was before I had a daughter.




Now, I want her to have ALL THE HAIR DECOR.  It's a difficult feeling to explain, really.


But, I needed a way to organize these things so I can see each one. Cue the Pinterest search. I found several methods that involved wrapping scrapbook paper around various canisters, and this is just my take on those.  This craft is easy enough for beginners, and I was able to make both canisters in about 45 minutes. 

Here's the tutorial if you'd like to play along.




{what you'll need}
  • empty food canisters with lids (I used oatmeal and soy protein containers)
  • scraps of fabric
  • quilt batting (I had medium loft)
  • ribbon
  • other embellishments (buttons, gems, brooches, etc)
  • hot glue gun


{what to do}

Start by wrapping your clean, empty canister in quilt batting. Cut a strip long enough to wrap around, and make it just a bit shorter than the height of your canister, so the lid will still fit.


Secure with hot glue.


Repeat this step with your fabric, but make it just a bit longer than your canister (see picture). A half inch on either side should do.



Secure with your hot glue, wrapping extra length around the top and bottom of your canister, as pictured.



Time to decorate the lid. Start with a strip of fabric as wide as the radius of your lid (see photo). Mine was 30 inches long. If you don't have 30 inches, you can always attach two or more strips while you work.

That really faint pencil line is the radius.




Fold your fabric to make a pleat on one end, making the top of the pleat wider than the bottom. Secure at the bottom with a drop of hot glue.



Make a second pleat on top of the first. Secure again with glue.


Just keep doing this. 


Eventually you'll have a circle. Trim that extra part off of the top and tuck the edge under.


Take the remainder of your fabric strip and trim off a good 1.5 - 2 inches so you have a narrower strip.


Start a fan fold at the end of one strip. Stop after every fold to put a small dab of glue in each little pocket on ONE SIDE ONLY, as pictured. 


In my example I'm using the left side. You can see a small dab of glue toward the top, in an open pocket.


After several folds, your strip should look like this. I made 15 folds.



Once you've made several folds, bring the open ends together and secure them using your hot glue. 



Glue this on to your big circle, and glue the big circle on to your lid. 


Embellish the center.


Almost done!


Measure a strip of ribbon about an inch longer than your canister. Cut 4 strips this length.


Might as well cover that seam while you're at it. 


Wrap one end of the ribbon over the top of the rim and secure it down with glue. Pull it taught over your canister, wrap the other end around the bottom, and glue.


Repeat this step with your remaining ribbons, gluing them at approximately 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 on the canister.


Besides covering the seams, these are great for pinning barrettes and hairpins.


Add another embellishment on the center of each ribbon strip, and you're done! 


You can wrap headbands around this, pin clips to the ribbons, and use the inside of the canister for small hair ties or other accessories. 



Or in my case, all the other headbands I didn't have room for.





Flower variation for the lid:  

For a different look, I traced my lid on to the wrong side of my fabric, then cut out random cloudlike shapes to make a piece that's larger than the lid. 




I did this again, but made my second little cloud about the size of my lid. 

Repeat until you have 5 little cloud shapes, each one smaller than the last. 





Layer them on your lid, starting with the largest cloud, and finishing with the smallest, gluing each layer down as you go. Embellish the center, and you're finished. 




Now, throw some headbands over these puppies and get ready to feel a bit more organized!


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Melissa And Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway!




Let me start by saying how much we love Melissa and Doug toys up in here. Almost a year ago, we gave our one year old this Frolicking Frog Pull Toy, and he still plays with it every day. Whether he and "Froggy" are running circles in the kitchen...


 Waiting at the front door for daddy to come home...


Or exchanging a little kiss before naptime, "Froggy" is always close by. 

November has snuck up on me suddenly, but this means holiday gift shopping is right around the corner! It also means the little guy has a birthday in just a few weeks (four weeks if you're counting, but I don't want to talk about it). I've always loved educational toys, but with a new baby on the way, we decided this year's gifts need to not only be educational, but QUIET and engaging. I can't think of a better place to look than Melissa and Doug, who recently released their top 20 holiday gift picks, or the Terrific Twenty, as they call it. Our holiday wishlist for the little one already includes their Latches Board, Wooden Play Food, and Wooden Big Rig Trucks Set, so I was excited for the chance to check out the Terrific Twenty list and to give you two different ways to win a toy from this list!

The first way to win is to visit Melissa and Doug's Facebook page where you can enter daily to win a different item from their Terrific Twenty list.

The second way is to participate in my rafflecopter giveaway. My Z loves to stash all his "treasures" and bring them with him all around the house. Combine this with his love of "horse ride" -ing anything that he can sit on, and I think he would absolutely LOVE to get his hands on a Trunki. What's more, I think your little one would too!





















To win the Trunki, simply follow the directions in the rafflecopter. Good luck and happy holiday shopping!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, October 6, 2012

{The Big Boy Room} Part One- Child's Name Bunting with tutorial.


Since we're expecting our second baby in January, it's time to clear the nursery! Accordingly, I've taken on a new project: decorating the toddler's new big boy room. Unfortunately, this also means giving up the momcave (AKA my sewing room). So before we paint or make any major changes to the room, I want to get all of the sewing projects done before my machine gets evicted and relocated to the chilly basement. So far, I plan to do a set of coordinating flag pennants/buntings to hang from the ceiling, this name bunting for the wall above his bed, and a matching bean bag (photos coming soon!). 

I started choosing my fabrics and colors with a trip to IKEA. Z picked this bedding, and since we got a smokin' deal on it, I bought a second set to use for bunting/beanbag fabric. We picked some coordinating curtains that were (lucky me) way too long, so I was able to hem them and use that spare fabric as well.

If you'd like to make yourself a snazzy bunting like this, you'll need the following:
  • A few different coordinating fabrics (good project for scraps)
  • (Optional) White fleece or felt for backing.
  • Black (or your choice) fabric for letters
  • A computer with a printer (unless you're lucky enough to have a silhouette machine or cricut)
  • Paper/cardstock/cardboard/etc and a pencil to make your pattern
  • A ruler 
  • Fabric scissors and (optional) rotary cutter.
  • Heat 'n Bond or Wonder Under (to attach letters)
  • 2-3 yards of double fold bias tape or quilt binding in white. (Can also make your own bias tape from fabric or ribbon)
To make the pattern:
  1. Decide what size you want your pennants to be. I went with 6" wide by 9" long. Using your ruler draw out a triangle according to your measurements. This is your pattern. Cut it out.
  2. Choose how many flags you want of each color, and trace your pattern on to the wrong side of your fabric. If you turn the pattern upside down every other time, your triangles should fit next to each other with no fabric wasted in between. Cut these out using your rotary cutter or fabric scissors and set aside. 
  3. Iron a sheet of heat n bond or wonder under onto your black fabric. The size you need will depend on the name and your font size, but 8.5"x11" worked well for me. Leave the paper backing on for now.
  4. To create your letters using a computer, open up your word processing program. Choose a font you like, and type in the letters of the name. If your name has repeat letters, you only need to type one of each letter. I used a font size of 200, but you might need to experiment and see what you like best. Once your letters are printed, cut them out and trace them **BACKWARDS** on to the heat n bond paper (see below).


Don't forget to trace it backwards!




   5. Cut your letters out carefully, leaving the paper backing on. You should have something similar    to this:




      6. Once you've cut out all your letters, lay out your pennants in the order you'd like them. Peel the paper backing off each fabric letter,  and place them in the center of each flag, leaving enough room on top of the pennant for your bias tape to overlap.  Iron them on one at a time.




      7. If you've opted to put a layer of backing on your flags, now's the time to attach it. Pin flags and backings, wrong sides together, and sew around your flag using a 1/4" seam allowance.

      8. You're almost done! It's time to attach the flags to your bias tape. Place flags in desired order, end to end so that corners are touching, but not overlapping. Unfold your bias tape once, and place flags in order at the crease of the tape. Be sure to leave a few inches of spare tape at the beginning and end of your bunting for hanging. When you fold your tape back over, you should have the same width of tape overlapping the front of each flag as the back. Pin in place, then stitch the entire length of your bias tape at the open end.

      9. Hang in desired location to make an extremely adorable space.


Monday, March 12, 2012

{kitchen adventures} Homemade Baby Food Pouches With Fruits and Veggies.

Don't have a baby or toddler like this one? You should get one; they're great! In the meantime, these recipes can also make yummy, healthy fruit yogurts and smoothies for grown ups.




Pink Puree and Green Puree. Yum!



 Recently, we ran into a big problem. My veggie-loving baby turned into a toddler and decided to boycott anything that isn't a cracker or a banana.  I tried making veggies look like crackers. They were thrown on the floor. I tried baking them into crescent rolls. Those got picked out. I added them to soups and chilis. They were eaten around, and (I know it seems impossible, but)  I got sick of having chili every night. Pureeing vegetables and hiding them in pasta sauce was working alright, but giving my kid noodles and pasta sauce at every meal wasn't sensible either. 

I started buying these pouches from HAPPYBABY Organics,  and he loved them! But $2 a pouch can really add up, and my granola-loving side was concerned about feeding him processed food that wasn't homemade. I tried to make veggie purees like I did when he was just starting solids, but he didn't care for the taste, and he wasn't interested in anything he couldn't easily eat with his bare hands. 
Then a friend mentioned that she makes fruit and veggie combo purees and feeds them to her toddlers in squeeze bottles, so I decided to give it a try. I was only able to find a couple different products made specifically for squeezing out purees, and eventually decided on "The Sili Squeeze" reusable pouch, after another acquaintance ordered some for her children. For the record, this thing is awesome, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to feed yogurt, purees, or smoothies on the go.

Now that I had the pouch, it was time to go to work. I started experimenting, and came up with these recipes, which all turned out to be big hits with the little guy. Every puree listed tastes like fruit rather than vegetables. And check out the colors! What kid doesn't love colorful food?

Pink Puree  (Loaded with Vitamin C,  Vitamin A, Iron, Potassium, and Calcium)
3 bananas
1 lb ripe strawberries
1 medium red beet




Green Puree  (Lots of Iron, Vitamins C & E, and Beta-Carotene)
5 medium pears
1.5 cups fresh baby spinach
2 mangoes

Orange Puree (A little bit of everything, rich in Omega-3s) 
5 medium yellow peaches
2 medium carrots
1/2 cup diced pineapple
1 banana
3/4 cup spinach
1 medium avocado





Purple Puree  (Tons of antioxidants, Iron, and Vitamin A)
4 bananas
6-8 oz fresh or frozen (no sugar added) blueberries
1 medium red or white beet








Prep: Once you have your ingredients, wash them. Remove peels, cores, and pits, and dice large fruits and veggies into 1-2 inch cubes. Defrost any frozen fruits.



Spinach, mangoes, and pears ready for steaming.

After 10 minutes, it's ready to go!


Steam: Spinach and anything firm (consistency of an apple) needs to be steamed. Any fruits that are very ripe should puree easily without steaming, but when in doubt, I just throw them in the steamer. Check periodically to make sure fruit isn't turning brown. Beets could take upwards of 30 minutes to steam, but anything else should be done steaming in 8-10 minutes.







Blend: After everything is steamed until tender, place fruits and vegetables into a blender or food processor and process until you reach a smooth, uniform consistency.


Pink Puree, finished and ready for storage.


Store: For food safety, it's recommended to immediately freeze any fresh purees you won't be using within 24-48 hours. One popular method is to make the purees into "ice" cubes using an ice cube tray, and transferring to a freezer bag within 12-24 hours. There are also products made specifically for freezing baby food, but I prefer 1/2 cup gladware containers. You can pick up 8 of these for about $2. I also like to transfer frozen purees into a freezer bag to save space. 


Feed! You've got several choices here, as there are lots of ways to prepare these.


For homemade baby food pouches: it's time to defrost these puppies and toss them into a squeeze bottle. *WARNING: Kids might ask to repeat this step multiple times. When I serve this as part of a meal, I just defrost the puree in a bowl and let him practice using his spoon to eat it. Either way, he can't get it into his mouth quickly enough.

Quick and easy smoothie: To change things up, mix 50/50 with some plain greek yogurt and your toddler's milk to add protein. Just leave the puree frozen and toss everything in a blender or food processor. For added carbohydrates or iron, toss in a few tablespoons of baby oatmeal. These are great for adult smoothies too, just try not to keep all the fruity goodness to yourself.

Healthy fruit yogurt: I've also stirred these into greek yogurt to make a healthy, homemade fruit yogurt for myself or the little man.