Happy Halloween - bendy doll witch!

Here is my teeny tiny, little bendy, bead head doll, inspired by the witch from the story Room on The Broom by Julia Donaldson - one of my favourite stories, complete with tiny, twiggy broomstick....perfect for supporting story telling!

 

PS....Don't use felt marker pen on the face as the inks bleeds on the wooden bead, which is why she has one eye slightly covered!  

If you want to try making bendy dolls there is a good tutorial here .

Toddler Owl Costume

I had already put this old jacket in the recycling bag when I decided to pull it out and try to change it into something else......

......and this is the result - a cute owl Halloween costume for my (almost) 18 month old. 

I started with the jacket and cut off part of the front panels and also made the pleat at the bag a little bigger to bring the jacket in.  

The sleeves were short anyway so I didn't touch them at all.

I searched in the house for suitable fabric for the feathers but couldn't find much so bought a couple of packs of pillowslips and cut them up into feather shapes.

Then I just tacked them onto the sleeves.  The jacket ties with two short lengths of ribbon.  

But the jacket still looked too long so I cut quite a bit of the length off and curved the front edges to look more like a cape.

To complete it I cut some fleece for the hat the same width as a hat he already has and then cut two big circles and two smaller circles from the pillowslip fabric and tacked them on.  Then I stitched on the buttons that were originally on the jacket to complete the eyes. Then I just cut a triangle from yellow felt.  

I finished the hat with some feathery ears.

And here he is!  It was almost impossible to get a decent picture so I'm going to try again in the daylight although I don't think he'll stay very still.

Super cute!!

Spook's Nook!

Turn your book nook into a spook's nook for Halloween, complete with light up pumpkin, spider web and spooky stories.

All you need to create your spooky story cave is a big box, a black sheet and a few Halloween decorations.

Happy reading!
 

Spooky Spider Hide and Seek

We had so much fun playing hide and seek with this sensory tub this morning that we were running late to meet friends for a walk. 

Can you spot the rats and spiders?

Here they are!

It's easy to make and takes no time at all!....

Cut up some black tissue paper and put it in the tub with  a few pine cones, leaves and any other suitable bits you have and then add the spiders and rats, hiding them under the leaves and paper.  
I also meant to add some sticks/twigs but totally forgot.






The creepy crawlies are really difficult to see among the black paper which makes it even more fun as you have to dig around and lift things/turn them over. 

Monty is only 17 months and had fun hiding the rats and spiders, but I'm sure if I took this tub into my class of 6 year olds, they would enjoy it too - on a completely different level.

If you want to have a go at this, look in the Halloween aisle at the supermarket for the creepy spiders and rats.

DIY Doll's House

I'm always reluctant to throw away cardboard shoe boxes as there are so many things you can reuse them for.  Recently I have been making a little bed for a tiny toy mouse - as yet unfinished, and at school I've been helping the children to make a treasure chest as part of our pirate topic.

But today I am sharing a little doll's house I just finished, made from two small shoe boxes and some scraps of paper.

Here it is with a rough guide to how I did it.

You will need:
2 shoe boxes (these are 'First Shoes' boxes) 
Scraps of paper
Glue
Sticky Tape



First I taped the boxes together with masking tape and lined the 'walls' with some patterned paper I got free with a magazine.  

Then I did the same on the 'floors'. 

You can draw around each side and the bottom of the box as rough templates for this.  

I just used a bit of clear (tube) glue to stick it all down as it's super sticky.

Then I cut up and taped the two lids together to form a roof shape which also created an attic room. 

I covered the outside with plain white paper and cut strips in red for the roof to look like tiles.

I've just used plain wooden blocks as furniture for the
moment.

If you want to make the bendy dolls too, they are just made from pipe cleaners and a large bead for the head.  

I found a great site here where you can learn to make these dolls.

These are the first I have tried so they are way from perfect but I can work on it!  

I can't decide if I want to give them faces or not yet, so the boy is without a face...and clothes too (so you can see what they look like and how easy they are to make).

Monty is too small to play with these yet - maybe the children in my class would like the house and dolls or maybe I will keep them safe for him until next year?  I could make loads more dolls by then and some furniture too!

Red, white and blue cushion.

I've been making a few different cushions recently when I get some sewing time, which isn't much at the moment.  

Here's one of the latest......

It's a Scandi print with coordinating fabrics and a white pom pom trim.   

More to come soon, but in the meantime, this week I am determined to get my circle quilt finished!

Halloween goody bag with glow-in-the-dark cobwebs!

A little bag to either give treats or collect them!

This is a glow in the dark cobweb fabric, lined with bright orange cotton.

On the front of the bag I stitched a spider body with pipe cleaner furry legs and then just glued on googly eyes instead of sewing them - as I was feeling lazy.

When you're done just fill with goodies.....Happy Halloween!

Gift for a new baby

I've been so busy with work and just being a mum recently that I haven't had much time to do any sewing at all.  

But when a new little one comes into the world it's always nice to make a wee homemade something. 

Before my little one was born I made a couple of hotch potch changing mats and then when he started on solids I rustled up a few colourful bibs - both have been extremely useful and have washed really well, so this is my useful and practical gift to another little brand new bundle.....

Both the changing mat and bib have cotton print on one side and towelling on the other. The towelling is soft and cosy for a changing mat and for a bib it absorbs well. 

Initially I cut up some unused cheap spare towels I had in the house as they were a lighter weight than more expensive ones, therefore easier to sew and not too bulky.  They worked well, so now I make sure I pick up a couple now and again as they're handy to have. Ikea and most supermarkets have a value range.

The mat is finished with a little red lace and white ric rac and the bib fastens with Velcro.

Hope the new mummy likes them.