Our resident fairy...

Fidget Goblinshimmer is her name.  She is My Oldest's tooth fairy...thanks to the fact that she has now lost 8 teeth!!!  I am only going to briefly state here how much I am displeased with pulling my daughter's teeth.  She freaks out every time.  Even though, every time I get one out, she is amazed that it didn't hurt at all!!  Grumble.  How many more baby teeth can possibly be in her mouth?   So, I try to make the process of losing teeth...a bit better by making it fun. 

If your child is losing teeth or about to lose teeth, I would recommend giving their fairy a name.  There are many sites on the web where you can do this.   Just google it.  It's a fun personal touch.  My Oldest writes her fairy a question every time and leaves it on her nightstand....how old is she, what's her favorite food...and last night's what are you afraid of?  Fidget always leaves a reply.  She writes with her wand and so it is silvery and magical.

Fidget also leaves $4 for every tooth...but not just any $4...oh no, she only pays in gold dollars!!

The other nice thing about our tooth fairy, is she likes to have my daughter put her teeth in this special tooth pouch...and then under her pillow.  The tooth fairy does not like to have to fumble and fiddle under pillows with no hope of ever finding the tiny tooth that is left there.  Once she has retrieved the tooth, she then places the gold dollars back in the pouch and back under the pillow.  Easy Peasy.

Making a tooth pouch...is very simple.  I just take a bit of felt...and cut it.  Nothing terribly specific or particularly straight about it.  I just cut to what I think is a god size.  this was about...3 inches by 4 inches, I would say...give or take.

Then I fold the bottom half up, leaving a lip.

Then I fold the top lip down and pin in place.  I want to make this little pouch so that the tooth will have a harder time escaping, so that's why I'm enveloping it like this.

I chose to put a tooth on the pouch this time...we've already lost one of these pouches.  I wanted to make it homey and a little rough cut.  So...

Just cut a bit of white fabric until you've got what looks sorta like a tooth.  Make sure it fits on your pouch and use a bit of embroidery thread and tack it down. 

Again, I wanted it to be a bit homespun, so I didn't fold down edges and applique, I kept it rough.

Sew down both your sides at 1/4 inch.

I also sewed down the flap about 1/4" in from the edge as well...again to keep the tooth secure, but not so secure that the tooth fairy couldn't get things in and out.  I mean, it's so simple I didn't even back stitch.  It's perfect for it's purposes and only took me...5 minutes.  That's the kind of project this tooth fairy digs.

Thanks for reading...and make losing teeth fun...for you and the kidlettes.

Heather





Flower Magnets

This was originally a guest post for a member of my blogging buddies group.  But I felt like I'd revamp it a bit and post it here.

Do you have a birthday coming up?  Are you getting a head start on Christmas?  Are you just ready for some flair on your fridge?  If so, this is the post for you.

These flower magnets are the perfect thing to make because...they're super easy.  They're fun, and this....

...is not so cute.

But this...so much better.

Equipment Needed for Flower Magnets
Felt...just go for the cheap stuff you can get at the big box stores
Buttons
Craft Glue
Any pretty fabric that you like
Thread
Needle

Let me start this tutorial by saying...just have fun with this.  I did not use a pattern, I free-hand cut everything.  Just eye-ball it and if you think it needs to be changed, snip a little here and snip a little there.  Perfection is not necessary and it's so much more fun if you don't have all the pressure to make things with a pattern and make things exact.  This is also a good project for the kids to help with.   So, with that in mind...

Cut a flower-y shape using three different pieces of felt and/or fabric.  You can make it scalloped or just round.  Do what you like.  Don't worry about the quilting fabric fraying...even if it does, it's gonna look cute.  Don't fret.

See...I wasn't thrilled with the look of the red felt.  So...

...I fixed it.

Sew on a button.

You can even get fancy with your buttons if you so choose.

A bit of craft glue placed strategically over the knot and stitching. 

Stick a magnet on and let it dry thoroughly.  I put the ruler there just so you can get an idea of the dimensions.  Make them smaller or larger as you prefer.

That's it.  So easy and so cute.  Here's what I made in about 10 minutes flat...maybe less...

All felt on this one.

Really teeny.

Who's looking at the magnet when you can look at that face?

There's just something about the gingham that adds a sweet flare.

Throw a few of these magnets in a cellophane bag, tie with a pretty bow...maybe add some garden twine for a little homey pizazz and you've got an elegant present sure to please.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Doing it YOUR way.

No sense leaving well enough alone if you ask me.  I gotta be me and my girls gotta be them.  So this means me encouraging them to like what they like and me trying to accommodate things if maybe they're not exactly...girlish. 

My daughters like dinosaurs.  They really like them.  My Oldest will spend hours looking at dinosaur bones on PBS Kids and reviewing their characteristics.  My Youngest also really likes the show Dinosaur train, but she's not as adept at working the interwebs as her big sis.

I encourage this because I really really really want them to like science and math.  This is because I didn't like science and math and really wish I had.  Maybe if I had been more into the sciences, I would have finished college. 

As it is, I feel that my girls are getting a well-rounded childhood from myself and The Mister as we are both knowledgeable in opposite spectrums.  He helps them with the math and science bits and I get them interested in history and reading bits.  So, we really do have it covered between the two of us.  Yay!

So, I am actually going two places with my intro.  One is...if your girls are into something that's typically made for boys...then fix it so it works for them...this works better for girls than boys just because it's harder to make things that are pink and purple boy-ish.  But, if your boy doesn't mind pink, go for it.

I know it's a bit late, as this was My Oldest's Easter basket, but it works on many levels.  You can do this to almost anything.  I didn't want My Oldest to feel bad that her basket was a boy basket.  My Youngest tends to call anything with boy colors handsome and it makes My Oldest sad if anything handsome is said about her.  So, Mama couldn't let it happen.  So I just took some felt...one of my favorite sewing mediums and some markers and I made the boy basket a girl basket.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey.

Felt Needle Book Part Deux

Luckily?  My family doesn't read my blog, so that leaves me free and able to post about the projects I make for them.  Here is my mom's needle book.  I've used her two favorite colors, orange and yellow.  A couple of choicely added French knots finish it off just right.

I added a ribbon back binding to this one for fun and signed it with love.

A shot of the innards!  Hopefully my Mom and Mom-In-Law will love these little books.  They're a handy way to be able to take along your stitching or quilting and not have to worry about where to put your needles and pins!  My Youngest has declared both of them hers!!   So I guess I will be making at least two more of these, one for me and one for her.

@#$%& Pleats

Deep breath.  I need to find a happy place...

I finally have a flower in bloom!  Yay, I feel slightly better now.   I'll get back to the pleat situation when I think my blood pressure can handle it.  They've really put me off sewing for a while.  Unfortunately I have the mentality of my 5 year old...I just want to be able to do something, the first time, perfectly!!   So I had to do something else, completely different.

Felt needle books!  Pretty darn cute if you ask me!  Besides some slight anger issues towards this project, it pretty much went swimmingly!  I was able to free-hand cut out felt flowers and arrange them as pleased me and then I got to try out my new embroidery hand book for the stems.  It's always nice when you can just be creative and not have to worry that you're going to screw up an entire project (like with pleats)  because if you cut out a small flower and it's hideous, you can just toss that scrap and start over.  No biggie.  Just what I needed to kind of refresh myself.

I made a length of cording to wrap around the button to close the book.

Perfect for me and my Oldest who has a bad habit of putting her needles back in her fabric rather precariously!  With this sweet setup I am perfectly capable of sewing outside while the babies play and I can just stab whatever pointy objects I have right there!  No stepping on misplaced needles anymore...I hope.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.  Tres leches cake courtesy of Alton Brown "I'm Just Here For More Food".  I added the raspberries as my own special touch.  Very yummy!  I personally think the raspberries made the cake.  It is almost overpoweringly sweet and so the tart berries simmered the sweetness down. Very soggy too!  So, if soggy cake isn't your cup of tea, don't make it.  My dad on the other hand would LOVE it.  He'll take a slice of cake, put it in a glass and cover it with milk and then eat it with a spoon...Graham Crackers too!