Turkey Lurkey

We are up to our eyeballs in turkey projects at our house. There are so many fun things to do. 

When one thinks of turkeys, one may think of painted handprints. To save my sanity, I traced A's hand instead. I have enough scrapbook paper to make twenty scrapbooks, so all I had to do was raid my stash for fun colored paper. 

For this one the feathers are hands and the body is her foot.   The foam stickers are from Target. 

Today this was our project:

A really wanted to trace her foot this time. You may notice the feathers are made from the same paper. I save everything!  I wrapped paper around the tp holder too. 

Also, A enjoyed playing with the cut out feet before we stapled them to the tp roll. 

Stay tuned for some more projects. 

Buffalo Bills Taggie Blankets

I always try and make a taggie blankie for any of my friends who have a baby. Since we live in Buffalo a lot of my friends are Bills fans. I got this fleece a few years ago and it works really well with red minky dot fabric. 

First, I chose the ribbon and sewed that to the front of the fleece. I make sure to triple stitch the ribbon. It is important to choose baby safe ribbon. 

Then the ribbons go on the inside and I sew the front to the back. 

Since both fabrics stretch a little bit, it is important to pin it. 

After seeing them together you turn them right side out. Blanket stitch the opening, then sew a border. This is kind of tricky, but with the Bills fabric I was able to hide It in the white helmet. 

A's Second Birthday - Under the Sea

 

For A's second birthday, I really wanted a fun, creative theme.  I searched Pinterest for a while.  I thought of strawberries, Elmo, or Finding Nemo, but none of them really seemed right.

When I saw this dress:

I knew what the theme would be.

It is from a company called StellyBelly.  They feature smocked dresses and outfits, and this dress has two seahorses and an octopus on it.  She loves Finding Nemo, and her daddy's saltwater aquarium.  We have a book called Secret Seahorse, and she loves that too.  It was a perfect theme!

The first thing that A and I did was paint two 16x20 canvases with blue, green, and white paint.  Granted, A ended up with a lot of paint on her hands, and stomach, but it was a fun project to do together. This is what they looked like after they were painted. I used scrapbook letters to put the words on them.

 

I got the idea for the "So happy to SEA you!" sign from a website linked to pinterest.

What I really liked the most about these signs is that A was able to help me with them.  The next step was putting fish on the signs.  These are stickers I found at the craft store. A made sure each fish had a bubble to eat. It was adorable.

 

To decorate the table I used a glass vase that was my husband's Grandmother's.  I also used some antique blue Mason jars.  In all three of these I put sand (from the sandbox) and some seashells I borrowed from my mother.

 

 

I found the starfish dish at Party City on clearance.  The silver wear was wrapped in raffia with a lifesaver attached.

On our front and back storm doors, I created an aquarium with fish I got at Party City and crepe paper.

 

The sign says:

 



For the meal we had pizza, but there was also, "Fin-tastic Veggies," "Sea Sponge Candy," "Sea Cucumber and Tomato Salad," "Fish Bait (gummy worms)," and my favorite, "Fruit of the Sea." It was served in a watermelon shark which my mom made. It was the best thing on the table by far.

 

The cake was fun to make also.  I got my idea from a website called My Cake School. I followed the directions step by step, with a few exceptions. I used different color food dye, my background was different, and I used a cake board that my husband made me.  On the cake table I had coral that my husband bought for his aquarium. When it came in the mail I told him he could not put it in there until after the party!

 

 

 

This was a really fun theme.  I think the best thing about it is it made me feel very calm through the party.  Even though it rained and we were inside instead of outside a good time was had by all.

 

The day after the party, my friend told me her teenage daughter went into the bathroom and told her mom, "This is really a theme party. There is a Nemo in the bathroom!"  Success!!!

Lift the Flap Number Page

 

My daughter loves counting, so I had to have a number page in her book.

 

I used the Ellison die machine at my school to cut out the numbers.  I did this because my attempts at using a pattern or free form cutting numbers turned out terrible.  Due to this, the numbers were bigger than I wanted them to be. 

 

I actually sewed the numbers on the black felt, and then the felt squares onto the page.  Then I worked on another page while I decided what to put under the flaps.

 

DD loves buttons and we have a pretty large collection. I found all of these in her button bucket.  I tried to do as much similar shapes or color as possible.

 

Under the two there are two red triangles, and under the 3 there are three orange ovals.  Once again, I chose buttons based on the buttons I already had.

 



This page is definitely not my favorite, but I know my daughter will love it.  She loves to lift the flaps, and she loves buttons, shapes, and colors.

Under the Sea Quiet Book Page

I have become sort of obsessed with toddler busy books lately.  Some call them toddler quiet books, and they range from simple fabric books to extremely intricate interactive masterpieces.  I am not even sure how I got interested in them, but as soon as I saw a few on Pinterest I was hooked.

A few months ago I began a busy book for my daughter.  I needed a project, and I had already crocheted all the hats and blankets necessary this winter.

This busy book was completed only on the weekends, mostly during nap time. A few days my husband took our daughter out for a few hours so I was able to work then.

After gathering ideas for a while, I needed to jump in with something. My first page did not end up in this book, but this is the first page I added.

My daughter loves Finding Nemo, and we have a saltwater aquarium, so an under the sea page was a natural place to begin.

I found the outline of the clownfish online, and then traced it as I cut the felt. 

For the other fish, I also found pictures online and used them to know where to cut out the felt.

I may decide to add more fish to this page later.  They do not have any Velcro on them. Felt sticks to felt pretty well.

Before my daughter A arrived, I created about six crocheted hats for her.  I believe there was a strawberry, a frilly purple thing, and two owl hats - one newborn, one 0-3 months size.  I also sewed her quilt.

The hats are in a box, and the quilt is on the back of her rocking chair. I believe most baby quilts end up there.

Since her arrival about 21 months ago, I have made many more things.  I feel like I have forgotten many of them, and that is why I am creating this blog.

It will be a chronicle of projects and activities.  It is a way for me to keep track of the hats I make, what patterns I use. What sensory activities worked great, and which ones I want to completely forget about.

I am not sure who will read this, but I know it will help me, a forgetful mom, remember that I do love to be crafty and creative.

Today I made a hat based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar (hence the name of the blog), that A does not need at all.  You can see some of the stitching in this photo, and I might go back and fix it.