tutorial: dotty valentines

Every year, I'm amazed by the thoughtful Valentine's cards that the kids' friends give -- sweet photos, sweet puns, sweet sweets. It gets a bit stressful trying to think of something with the same wow-factor to give in return, so this year, we've just kept it simple and handmade -- plain card, stickers and a hole punch. A card that is easy to make in large quantities -- and easy for little hands to join in making, at all stages.

You'll need: 
plain card
a hole-punch
glue
scissors
string
a paper cutter (optional)
stickers or coloured pens
 

I told Tilly what I was writing on the front of each card, but in true toddler fashion, she insisted the saying was, "I'm dotty JUST LIKE you." So we put that on a couple of cards, too, to give to her unashamedly crazy friends!

{in progress: 'not a lotta sleep' quilt}

With a few small pieces of my favourite Lotta Jansdottir prints left over from making cushions, I had the idea of patching them together to make a little modern runner for our dining table. 

The scraps were arranged, sewn together... but then, as I laid it out, unfinished, on the table, the very thought of crumbs and curry and bolognaise and all the rest of our eating-time mess and mayhem splattering on these delicate little prints, the plan changed.

The table runner grew and grew, using up the few larger pieces of Lotta fabric I had, plus a couple of Justin's shirts, of course, and some long solid panels along the sides. It grew to be an over-sized twin-sized quilt (large enough to cover our guest bed completely, so that it doesn't look too blanekty in the day, but can be slept under at night).

As the guest bed is in what will be the new baby's room, I like to imagine having this nice big quilt to cuddle up with/collapse under during the long winter nights of newborn nighttime fun. The calming colours -- greys, whites, a touch of turquoise -- seem perfect for creating a little calm when sleep is in short supply. It'll be a Lotta sleep, if not a lot of sleep.

Now fully-quilted with many many long, straight lines, I have yet to add the binding, but have in mind a scrappy modern binding of black dots, IKEA houses, and a touch of red (well, there needs to be some red in there somewhere!)

Deadline: December. Though we'll see if I can keep myself from using the quilt before that -- how nice it would be to save it as a special you've-just-had-a-baby treat, but then what a waste of cosiness to leave it unloved for all those months!

{b is for birthday}

This week, we celebrated Justin's birthday, with an all-day tribute to his favourite foods, and a few little handmade surprises. 

Tilly got in on the fun, and completed this "portrait" card of Justin -- multi-coloured eyes and a shining orange halo. He loved it! 

She also dictated her message to him -- I tried to convey her intonation as best as possible, but she felt that some words needed a little colourful emphasis. 

And, as a little last-minute pressie, I put together this alphabet T-shirt. It makes more sense if you know that earlier that day, Tilly had been fixated on trying to read Justin's "Run for Compassion" T-shirt -- the text on which is curled and slightly gothic. She couldn't make out any of the letters, and Justin remarked that he'd like to have a shirt which simply had the alphabet printed on it. 

One trip to the craft shop, twenty-six iron-on decals, and four hours of ironing later (yes, the "60 second" recommendation in the instructions was a little off), voila...

Although it is primarily for Tilly's benefit, Justin loves the fact that it brings them closer... literally, as Tilly leans in, peers at the letters, and then proudly exclaims "A!" "A!" "A!" while poking Justin in the chest! So, happy birthday to Justin, who fills our lives with love, happiness, and now, the alphabet.

{write on: an easy handmade gift for men}

I'm rubbish at thinking of presents for men. And men who don't use electronics are even more of a challenge. What can you make them a cover for?

Inspired by my friend Terri's crayon rolls for kids, this grown-up version gets its modern style from all the grey felt accessories I keep seeing this year, like this glasses case. With a little personalisation, it makes a lovely gift for the writer (or crossword-puzzler) in your life.

Want to make one yourself? Here's how.

Materials:

Grey felt

Small strip of twill tape (to stamp on)

Rubber stamps and ink

Thread

From the grey felt, cut two rectangles 8" by 12", and one rectangle 4" by 12".

Onto a 3 1/2" strip of twill tape, stamp the lucky person's name using permanent ink (I use StazOn). I couldn't bear to pass up the rhyme for my granddad, Kenneth, and I hope that if you've got a Ben, Glen or Sven in your family, you'll make them a pen roll, too.

Sew the twill tape along one short edge of the small felt rectangle, using a zig-zag stitch around the edge.

Pin the small felt rectangle to the bottom side of one of the large felt rectangles, lining up the edges. Make sure your twill tape label is visible. Sew straight lines, using running stitch, across the width of the small felt rectangle, about an inch apart. These will hold the pens in place. Sew a couple of backstitches at the start and end of every row, to prevent the stitches unravelling.

Tip: Between rows, lift up the needle and foot, but don't snip the thread -- just begin the next row. You can go back and do all the snipping later, and save time and thread.

Place the two felt rectangles that you've just sewn together on top on the third rectangle. Place a large elastic band (hair ties work well) in between the two large rectangle layers, half way down one of the shorter sides. Pin in place, so that a good 1/2" of elastic band is hidden inside.

Sew all the way around the outside edge of the roll, making sure to go through all the layers and the elastic band.

Now fill it with pens (or a single, special pen), and roll it up, starting with the end without the elastic band. Slip the elastic over the top of the roll, and you're ready to go!

P.S. In need of other gifts? Check out CMP's and WV's Holiday Gift Guides, and see if you can spot some familiar (Polaroid-framed) faces...

{matchy matchy}

Inspired by all the memory games I showed you the other day, I made this little animal matching game for Tilly. It's sort of cheating -- rather than make the whole thing myself, I simply made a board to go with a Clothkits Noah's Ark that I used to play with as a child.

What a relief to not have to make new animals! And it's sort of lovely to turn one toy into two toys. 

Maybe you've got a similar set of animals that could double as game pieces? Or, it could be fun to use household objects and have more of a scavenger hunt game -- make a game board that has spots for a fork, a hairbrush, a banana, the TV remote!

To make it was simply a case of drawing around each animal onto fabric (I used fabrics that roughly matched the colour of the animal, to make matching a little easier), cutting them out and sewing them onto a square of white linen.

Then, to increase the future educational value, I added freezer-paper-stenciled animal names.

Here's the board:

And here it is with all the animals in place:

Yes, there was quite a discussion about how to say 'zebra'. We're going to have one poor little confused baby when it comes to the letter 'z'.

The sheep seems to be Tilly's favourite. I wonder if all those grey fluff lines remind her of the sheepskin she can't sleep without.

The crocodile is Bella's favourite -- I always seem to be pulling him out from her jaws. Luckily, tooth marks only seem to give him more character.

Tilly was very excited by the whole thing...

...for a few seconds. And then off she went to tip over the furniture, empty cupboards, and rip magazines apart. 

How lovely that putting the game away is as simple as loading the animals back onto the ark.

I've got a feeling this'll be perfect if we ever have forty days of rain.

{three cheers for three years}

Today marks three years since our wonderful wedding in China. And to celebrate three special years together, we've immortalised ourselves onto china! 

Inspired by Donna Wilson's Meg and Beardy plates (which I wrote about here), we loved the idea of a more personal set, that we can eat off or hang on the wall as we fancy. I found Porcelaine pens on sale at the craft shop, and we used two plain white plates that a previous tenant had left in Justin's apartment many years ago. Nice.

Yes, this is Justin writing me a card in front of me. I've accepted that this is how he works. At 8:30am on whatever birthday, anniversary or celebration it might be, Justin runs to Walmart to pick a card. And then writes it while I watch!

We sketched out our designs for the plates on paper first.

And set about trying to make the silly pens work. We shook. And shook. And shook. We pressed. And pressed. And pressed. The brown worked well, for a few minutes. The black never really got going. And the red was only good for giant uncontrollable splodges. I'm not very impressed with Porcelaine.

But, we persevered, and really enjoyed it. Especially the splodging of cheeks!

Here's a photo of us for reference. I was drawing Justin as he was three years ago, i.e. with the facial hair. More of a Goatee than a Beardy. He was drawing me after a day of sunbathing, I think -- hence all the freckles!

And, just because I gave RoboPanda such a bad rap last time I mentioned him, here he is looking sweet. In truth, he's one of the funniest presents Justin's gotten me. And probably the most talked about. (But no, I don't want the big Mama Panda version, as Justin sometimes threatens to buy me!)

Thanks to all those who were there to celebrate with us in Beijing, and to all those who've helped us grow stronger over these last three years. We love you!

{inspiration: memory games}

There are some gorgeous designs for memory games around at the moment, from big bright animal versions for little children to personalised photo versions that serve as a fun way to look back at years past. Felt, cotton, wooden blocks, fancy Liberty prints... there's a medium for everyone. 

This beautiful game by Treefall Designs will help baby to recognise shapes, animals, and colours.

Lily's game at Block-a-day, using blocks affixed with favourite family photos, is a special way to celebrate shared moments. And we have no shortage of photographs around here...

The Student Teacher strikes again with this colourful game, made from wool felt and squares of patterned fabric. Plus, it's chewable, so would last more than five minutes in our house.

Moolka has a sweet wooden set to buy, which could easily be reproduced with wooden tiles and a bit of paint.

No Big Dill has another way to use your family photos in the game -- printing them onto transfer paper and ironing them onto fabric blocks.



And a sweet, simpler version from Just Enough Style (via Naptime Crafters), with clear shapes and bright colours for little minds. This one could be whipped up in a single afternoon, I bet.

Decisions, decisions. I'm not putting any pressure on myself to have a game of our own ready for Tilly's birthday (seriously, how many hand-sewn presents does one baby need?) but am letting the possibilities fester for a little while before jumping in.

Which one strikes your fancy?