I am delighted to be partnering with Fairfield World on this post. Making stuffies has always been my first love and now with grandlittles to sew for it is even more fun! I designed this Plush Stuffie Sloth for sleepovers at Mimi's house. I have been using Fairfield World Poly-fil forever and now adding the Poly-Pellets for weight. The sloth can sit when not being hugged and the paws are squishy. (So I am informed by a four year old expert :)
1. Plush felt has a nap. Cut out pieces with nap running down when you brush it. For body pattern piece tape paper together to make a piece 13" by 17". Fold in half and draw a curved oval from center point at top and to 6" width at bottom. Cut and you will have a curved body piece 12" wide at bottom. Print off pattern page and cut out pattern pieces.
2. Fold plush felt in half wrong side out. Draw pattern as shown. TIP: Cut out larger than needed around pattern pieces. It is easier to sew plush pieces this way. Use clips to hold pieces together.
3. Cut face pieces out of felt and glue in place on sloth face.
4. Sew around arms and feet for sloth. Cut out and turn right side out.
5. Fill feet and arms two thirds with pellets. Glue feet at this level inside. Sew top of arms tightly shut.
6. Insert feet 1" from either side of lower edge of body and clip in place.
7. Sew around body leaving 3-4" open in center of body.
8. Stuff body with Poly-fil. Fill last two inches with Poly-Pellets. Turn upside down. TIP: Easiest way to sew this flipped upside down, hold between your knees and use a back and forth ladder stitch to sew tightly together.
9. Plush felt is very forgiving, when you pull the stitches tight they disappear!
10. Glue on that cute face. TIP: I like to position the face first before adding the arms. You can then adjust arms to the right level.
11. Place arms on side seam and stitch in place. This plush Sloth is going to get a lot of loving so the arms need to be very secure.
12. I added a bow cut from a 6" square, folded in half and sewn leaving an 1" opening. Turn right side out. Tie strip around center. Cut a fleece blankie 12" square.
The plush Sloth well as you can see these grandlittle girls love her. Me, I get to partner with my favorite brands and create what i love for those I love. What could be better!
There is something special about baking and the warm aromas that come from the kitchen. It is just so welcoming! "Baked with Love", gifts from the kitchen are some of the best! I love baking for family and for my guests at our B&B. This week a special package arrived with a stamp from Expressionery designed by my creative friend Laura Kelly. I am very happy to share some of her very fun products. This stamp is perfect," Baked with Love from Quartermain House."
I also enjoy baking with fun bright kitchen items, my polka dot mixing bowl and colored whisks, teal and red my favorite combination. I usually mix up a basic muffin mix using the best ingredients. I always use butter and lots of fresh fruit.
Cranberry and orange muffins with a crumb topping warm out of the oven were served this morning to the guests. I like to have warm muffins, fresh juice and hot coffee in the dining room to greet them when they come in.
Of course we also have to have fresh cookies for the guests and the grandlittles. I baked a batch of salted caramel chocolate chip cookies and added each one to a special stamped treat bag. The felt hearts are a cute addition for Valentines. I die cut hearts from felt and added embroidered letters, decorated a stand with pom pom trim and put together this sweet treat display. I appreciate the brands I work with that have wonderful creative products, JOY SA Letters, Kunin Felt and Trims by the Yard. Thank you Laura for the special stamp, it will be well used between Quartermain House B&B and the grandlittles!
Who doesn't love a great pillow party! Especially one that involves talented bloggers and designers, great companies and an awesome giveaway plus the theme "Holidays!" What could be better! My favorite time of year. My pillow reminds me of my childhood going to pick out an tree and seeing all the pick up trucks carrying trees home for the holidays.
In deciding on the design for my pillow I was looking for holiday inspiration in one of my favourite magazines, Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts issue. (I have been fortunate to have some of my designs featured in the past.) It is such a festive issue and upon opening the magazine on the "from the Editor" page was a wood antique truck with string art tree designed by Dominique Russell. The truck reminded me of my childhood. I translated the pattern into felt and created a cozy pillow. This issue is available right now!
I traced the pattern, cutting out all of the individual pieces.
Scissors, measuring ruler, embroidery needle, sewing machine and matching thread (optional, can also be glued with Fabri-tac), paper and pencil.
STEP ONE: Cut out pattern from magazine or use similar pattern of choice. Cut out pieces from felt and layer in position. Take a photo to refer to. Cut a 21" by 44" of white for the easy envelope pillow. Simply fold felt strip overlapping the extra 4" in the center of one side. Sew down each edge and turn pillow. Smooth and flatten.
STEP TWO: Embellish applique pieces with embroidery stitches. I used a straight stitch on the truck and tree. Layer the tree on the truck and glue with Fabri-tac.
STEP THREE: Blanket stitch around wheels. Add to bottom of truck by 1/2". Glue in place. Add and glue bumper over wheels.
STEP FOUR: Blanket stitch top of truck back and straight stitch remaining pieces. Glue in place. Glue completed applique to front of pillow. Add die cut snowflakes or Holiday message. Insert pillow form.
Thank you to Fairfield World for providing the pillow forms, they are so soft and make a cozy pillow! They support "Stuffed Love" and feature Crafters who create for a cause on their website.
Enjoy the pillow party and check out all of the fabulous Holiday pillows here! Enter to win a $100 Gift Card from Michaels and 10 lbs. of polyester stuffing from Fairfield World on my Home Page. Watch for the hashtag #FFWPillowParty2019.
I have always loved aprons and have made many. There is something about wearing a pretty or sometimes saucy apron that just adds some attitude! This is Lucy in an apron I made for her and the attitude is all hers! Being Mimi to the grandlittles has taught me a lot! More than that, about life in general, about being more present, embracing magic, mayhem and messiness often all at the same time. This past year of being 65, I would say in my sixties I have felt a more youthful, lighter sense of spirit. Life is filled with much laughter and many hugs. I know I am very lucky and that attitude is for any and every age!
Baking requires cute aprons, mixers and lots of colorful sprinkles! On the practical side an apron does keep most of the clothing mess free. These matching aprons also a requirement by the girls were made from a tablecloth so very washer friendly. If you want to make an apron for a little. Here is the link to a full tutorial.
I grew up with a Mom who wore an apron and my grandmother did too. The history of the apron has been a practical one of keeping clothing clean. In the days when wardrobes were limited, a piece of fabric was much easier to wash. For hundreds of years aprons kept clothing clean for both men and women, tradesmen and maids. Certain periods in history it also denoted class with more elaborate aprons and during the Puritan Era, long white aprons from neck to floor were worn by women and girls.
These days with the interest in cooking for pleasure, the era of Instagram and foodies, aprons are both practical and stylish. Here are some of my favorite apron designs, all with an ATTITUDE of fun, fashion and flare! (and yes a lot of pink)
This apron includes some of my grandmother's recipes transferred on to fabric. Wearing it reminds me of her and seeing her in the kitchen next to the old wood stove that always had something simmering.
This apron I upcycled from a sundress making ruffled flowers from the fabric. Definitely a summer party apron!
Oh and then there were these Shirt Tale Aprons I designed, modelled here by two lovely WBN members. Upcycled from mens shirts each one had a special story in the pocket about where the shirt came from, slightly saucy and a little spicy. My favorites. Ah might be time to bring back that Apron with serious ATTITUDE!
Aprons and Attitude wear them both with great style and flare!
Hooray for Spring and gardens, gnomes and bunnies! I love making crafts with socks and this DIY Sock Bunny Gnome is super cute and easy to make. There is also a great giveaway too, check it out at the end of the post. Let's do it!
You will need:
9" x 12" craft cut Kunin Classicfelt: 1 White
9" x 12" craft cuts Kunin Co-ordinates: Pink White Dot, Lagoon White Dot
Poly-Pellets and Poly Fiberfill Fairfield
Pair of Socks
Fabri-tac by Beacon
Plastic water bottle
12" Fluffy yarn
Assorted Buttons
Pom Poms, 1 white, 1 pink
Thread
Scissors, Ruler, Pencil, Clip
1. Fill bottle half full with poly-pellets. Stretch one sock over bottle and tie over top of bottle.
2. Turn second sock inside out. Draw line at angle to create hat. Cut along line and glue along seam. Let dry and turn right side out. Cut out a 4" by 2" pair of ears and two inner ear pieces slightly smaller.
3. Pull a thin strand of yarn and tie around center of remaining yarn piece. Glue inner ears to outer ear pieces. Fold bottom edges of ears together and pinch. Glue and clip until dry.
4. Stuff top of hat. Insert over bottle and pull down. Fold over brim and glue into place. Insert ears into brim and glue. Glue beard to center of gnome just under hat brim. glue on nose pom pom. Glue buttons and top pom pom on hat.
5. Bend top of hat into shape.
These bunny gnomes are so easy to make and super cute for Spring and Easter decor! What is even better too is this great giveaway with Laura Kelly Designs! Enter below!
I have been making costumes since my daughter’s first Halloween. Thirty plus years later I am still designing and making costumes for her and the grandlittle girls too! This is one of my very favourites and hers too. The fabulous make up adds to the Queen of Hearts costume.
This costume was so easy to make, basically two pieces of felt by the yard and ribbon plus a striped tshirt. The rest of the family were dressed as Alice, the White Rabbit and one of the Knights.
Last year the family costume theme was the Circus. Anna at three wanted to wear a tutu. What a cute clown she was! I made a clown hat from polka dot felt. A paper birthday hat made a great pattern for the cone shape.
We also had a very fun Witches birthday party last year! I made these cute brooms with Kunin Felt and set up a corner to surprise the grandlittle girls with witchy attire!
Creating for my girls and grandlittle girls is such a treat and I think of all of the memories we are making too! ❤️
The best thing about making costumes is the fun of deciding on a theme and then putting it all together. DIY different pieces, add some thrift store finds, glue on buttons, trims and make up. Let the Trick or Treating begin!
So excited to be part of another Craft Lightning monthly challenge!
This month's craft material is burlap
and time allowed 15 minutes! I live in a historic and very old house, 175 years old
and it has a lot of doors to the outside. The back storage has two doors
and was needing a little decor. A large burlap flower banner would be perfect!
Materials: 2 yards of 6" wide burlap ribbon
1 yard of 3" wide burlap ribbon
3" mason jar cover
Assorted black buttons
Hot glue
Needle and heavy duty thread
1. Cut burlap in two 1 yard pieces.
2. Gather thread along one edge of each piece.
3. Pull gathers tight and secure thread.
4. Glue the gathered edges around the mason jar lid.
5. Glue the buttons to the top of the lid.
6. Glue the narrow burlap ribbon to the back of flower.
Hang and enjoy! Change it up with different color buttons.
Make larger using more layers or a wider burlap.
Follow along and enjoy the whole round of Craft Lightning
this month!
It is time again for a Craft Lightning challenge with wood! Time 15 minutes, medium wood. A group of talented crafty bloggers show their stuff, hop along to see it all, link in sidebar. My inspiration, a collection of wood hoops and birthday party season for five of our grandlittle girls! Requested themes unicorns and princesses with lots of pink! The 8” wood hoop Unicorn would make a cute craft for the girls to make and take home as a party favor.
You will need: 8” wood hoop. 9” x 12” craft cuts of Kunin Felt Corduroy White, Coordinates Gold Dot. Felt scraps for ears, mane and cheeks. 1 yard Peapod pom pom trim White Expo International. Daisy or flower appliques. Fabri-tac Glue Beacon Adhesives. Scissors.
Insert corduroy felt into hoop. Tighten. Trim off excess. Glue pom pom trim around outside of hoop.
Cut a 2” by 4” triangle from gold dot for horn. Cut two 3” teardrops for ears from pink. Cut a 4” scallop piece for mane. Cut two 2” hearts for cheeks. Glue horn and ears at center top of hoop.
Glue on mane, cheeks and flowers. I give the little girls lots of extra flowers so they can personlize their own unicorn. Use a fabric marker or dimensional fabric paint to make eyes.
Crafting with little ones is so much fun, depending on their age a couple of helpful tips to make it the most fun and rewarding for everyone. With the younger ones I am preparing the hoop with the corduroy felt and pom pom trim glued on. They each get a little bag filled with all of the other pieces to glue on, suggesting where the horn might go but after that just encourage their own crafty style! Small bottles of glue are easier for little hands. Sharing markers and glue between each pair of children encourages working together. If one is having difficulty with the glue, help out by putting the glue on the pieces. The child can then place them. This is a quick and easy craft, make it into any animal by just changing the colors. Change the hoop size too. Crafty quick projects are the best! Hop along and Be inspired by the Craft Lighting wood challenge this month!
Easter is almost here and party time for the grandlittle girls! Of course we love bunnies but for this party I am making Unicorn Cupcake Holders from Clay Pots. The inspiration and the challenge being part of The Craft Lightning Blog Hop all week, a clay pot craft in 15 minutes!
All you need:
4” clay pot
9” x 12” craft cut Kunin Felt Gold Dot Coordinate
6” Daisy Trim Expo International Inc.
White metallic craft paint Testors
Fabri-Tac Beacon Adhesives
Black marker Tombow
Scissors, pencil, foam brush
1. Paint Pot, 2-3 coats. Let dry.
2. Pencil in eyelashes. Trace with marker.
3. Cut out two horn triangles from felt. Triangle measures 4” x 2 3/4”.
4. Glue horn pieces together. Glue horn inside front of pot. Cut and glue daisies to front rim of pot.
Bake and decorate some yummy cupcakes, place cupcake paper holder into pot and serve. Of course even more fun let the little ones decorate their own cupcakes. This was so much fun and turned out super cute, the grandlittle girls will love them! Check out other Craft Lightning Clay Pot ideas, “hop” along with us all week!
The firstSNOWFALL every year I still get that excited feeling I remember as a child. As the snowflakes fall they cover the ground in a sparkling white blanket, it is magical! Living in the season of winter I am inspired to design soft snowy characters. My favorite designs are my winter snowmen or often snowbabies like this little guy. You can find him in the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Issue. A baby sock and foam makes for a quick and easy craft!
(Photo courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts)
Along with the snowmen a couple of winter Gnomes appeared, this pair has lots of personality and are simply a foam cone wrapped with felt and some yarn! Make your own Snow Gnomes!
Then there are the sweet grandlittle girls and pretty winter things like this felt sparkly cape! A Frozen inspired birthday party and a birthday wish of snow in May!
Another sweet sock snowman I designed for Crafts 'n Coffee. The socks just stretch over foam shapes to make the cutest snow peeps! Check out this cutie here!
(Photo courtesy of Crafts 'n Coffee)
Here is the place where all of that inspiration does come from, our family home, where everyone gathers, where everyone comes home to.
Thank you for visiting, create a little of your own winter magic where ever you may live. Love to see what you create! Hands + Heart Create Magic!
Debra
Magical Mimi to Grandlittles, I love to create, decorate & celebrate. Sharing joy and inspiration from our 200 year old home, Quartermain House B&B on the east coast of Canada.
