hotel room crafting: hooded towels

hooded towels, cause boy is too big for his baby towels and thinks he needs to be completely wrapped up after a bath...
large bath towel, hand towel (both on clearance) cute flannel fabric (half off)...

cut the hand towel in half, cut a section of flannel about 1/2 inch bigger than hand towel...

fold fabric in half...

sew a seam across one short end...

sew a seam down the cut end of the hand towel...

turn the hand towel right side out (the sewn seam inside) put the fabric inside the hand towel hood...

turn up the fabric and pin all the way around (except the bottom!)...

sew a top stitch 1/8th of an inch from edge of fabric... make sure you don't sew the last 1/2 inch or so of both edges... or if you do like i did rip your stitches out! (see below for picture)

see, this is the part you shouldn't sew... instead fold over and under to "mieder" the corner... did i just make that up?

fold raw edge of fabric under edge of towel and pin... make sure to pin to center of bath towel, too!

once pinned sew a straight stitch across hand towel...

next cut two sections of fabric about two inches longer than the edges of the bath towel, and as wide as you would like... the strips for this towel were about 3 inches wide... for the second towel i made they were about 5 inches...

iron over the edge...

pin ironed over edge to edge of towel, you should have about 1 inch hang over on each end...

sew with a straight stitch...

turn towel over, iron down other side of fabric...

fold fabric over edge of towel and pin... when you get to the end fold excess fabric over...

then fold fabric over to "mieder" the corner...

sew a straight stitch all the way around the edge of the fabric...

and there you have it...

for the second towel i gave the hood a rounded edge instead of a point... after cutting the hand towel in half and cutting the fabric, i folded the hand towel in half and marked it with a rounded edge on the fold...

then cut it and the fabric (also folded in half)...

these are pretty big towels and the hood is good size, so boy shouldn't outgrow them any time soon...

gettin' crafty: sticker book

boy is getting to the age that he needs something to keep him entertained when we are out and about. the grocery store cart and high chair at restraunts are not places he particulary enjoys sitting for long. something about thinking he needs down to explore...

i'm always looking for things that will keep him happy sitting without buying a new toy or cookies...
so when i saw this tutorial from samster mommy for a sticker book i thought i'd give it a try. after all, boy likes to take the stickers off the produce while we are shopping...

he was pretty impressed. and if you get tired of sticking the stickers on the book then taking them off to stick on again you can always stick them to your foot...

gettin' crafty: matching game

while boy was taking a nap today i made him a little something to entertain... a really cute, non-destructible, take-along-anywhere, matching game (he can play memory with it when he's a little older)...

basic supplies:

wooden tiles
(i couldn't find any the size i wanted so i cut slats)
mod podge
paint and brush
craft paper
animal stickers- two of each animal
(you can use any stickers, clip art images, etc..)

to cut my slats i laid one over the other and traced a line to make squares...

then i snuck out to my honey's shop and used the big scary saw...

brought them in, cut craft paper to fit over one side, painted a layer of mod podge, laid paper over, smoothed down, and let dry...

painted sides and back of tiles. added cute animal stickers...

mod podge over animals, making sure to press out air bubbles as they dry...

it takes several coats of mod podge and while tiles were drying between coats i made a little pouch to hold our pieces...

what you need:

fabric scrap

(mine was about 18"x11")

scissors

sewing machine

cord

cut fabric in half and pin right sides together...

sew a straight stitch down each side with about an inch seam allowance. start seam about 1 1/2 inches down...

press seams down...

fold each seam allowance under and press... the top 1 1/2 inches should be open...

sew a straight stitch down each side of the folded over seam...

fold the top of the pouch over, pin well. each end of your fold will be open, creating a casing for your cord...

sew a straight stitch across the bottom of your fold...

sew a straight stitch across the bottom of the bag. i sewed a double seam for reinforcement...

turn the pouch right side out. use a safety pin to thread the cord through the casing at the top of the pouch...

cut your cording, leaving enough to tie off...

tie off the end and melt with a lighter to keep from unraveling... and done...

can't wait for boy to wake up and play...

i think this would be really cute with pictures of family members, pictures of boy's favorite things, toys, satch, horses, boots... the possiblities are endless...