Easter Hand Stitching {From the Invention Box}

 

{This Little Project} is courtesy our Invention Box.  We've done some stitching like this before.  But this time we had an egg design in mind as we practiced our sewing skills.

 

Chenille stems make great kid-friendly "needles" for sewing.  

Just knot the yarn to the looped stem on the back side and the kids don't have to worry about it slipping from the "eye" of the needle.

 

I used an avocado bag for Jay's stitching and a clementine box wrapper for Kay's.  

Both worked really well.  

 

Easy and fun--to see the patterns through the materials.

 

 

Little Man Ties {easy remake}

If you like to dress your {little} man up

{this little project} is for you!

I know there are a ton of DIY tie ideas out there for little boys.   

But they still require making the tie. 

These {little} ties are WAY EASIER!

 

These {little} man ties would be perfect for Easter, dressing up like Dad on Father's Day, etc.  

I was wandering through a consignment shop and happened upon a basket of ties. 

I thought: I can chop the end off to shorten this tie and be done with it!

If you put a man's tie on a boy the tail is too long right?  Well, so cut it off and you have your tie.  Done!  I'm pretty sure that most of our hubbys have ties that aren't their favorite anymore.  So now you can give them a new life!

So I bought them ($1 each), had my husband tie a knot in them closer to the front end, adjusted the size for my little Jay to wear, CHOPPED the end off, and hemmed it.

easy!

 

To make these ties {little} boy friendly, we just leave the ties tied.  He just slips them on and tightens them up.  And loosens them when taking them off.  Easy.

Jay was 5 years old when I made these for him and they will last for a long time since they adjust just like Daddy's ties do!

And what do you think I'm going to do with the tails?  I think I'll sew them onto Baby M's shirt to make my two {little} boys match:)

There you go!  A handsome {little} man tie. 

 

Have fun dressing your {little} man up!

Scripture Power Book Cover

This year Kay wanted to be able to take her own scriptures with her to church so she could have her "Scripture Power."  

At our church, the kids love the song, "Scripture Power." (If you want to hear this amazing song, here is the link-scroll down-they are in alphabetical order) 

Kay was sure that she was a big girl now and needed to take hers just like her big brother takes his to church each week. 

{This Little Project} turned out like this:

Front:

Other side:

I decided to make just a book cover-no zippers to try to sew in.  No loud velcro to open.  Just a simple cover to keep her scriptures safe and easy to carry for her.  She's been using it now for a few months and still loves it.  So it's safe to share {This Little Project} with you!

{This Little Project} is mostly repurposed! 

The pink outside is a "sweater" baby blanket that Kay had when she was a baby. It got a little hole in it but I just couldn't throw it out-I new it was destined to turn into another {Little Project} and it's meaningful to have it carrying her scriptures since I used to carry her in it.

The lining is from a shirt and the outside brown pocket is from a pair of pants. 

One of my favorite things

about sewing {Little Projects} with

repurposed materials 

is that they actually are 

easier to make!

I didn't have to sew that pocket! 

I just cut it out and put it on! 

The pocket is Kay's favorite feature!

See how I used the edge of the blanket?  That way I don't have to make it look good. It already does :) It's less work that way. When I do things like this I always wonder if I'm being smart or just LAZY!!

The polka-dot (from the shirt) is the lining.  I cut it from the bottom of the shirt-you know, the part that is already hemmed-so I didn't have to finish the edge that wraps over the edge of the book.  It already looks great!

I measured the lining longer so I could fold over the fabric to hold the book in place.  To put the outside and inside lining together, I sewed the outside and the lining right sides together and then turned it.  Just like you would if you were making a pillow.  Then after I turned it right side out I stitched around the edges again to hold the two pieces in place and give it more stability.

Decorating it was the most fun!  

I used nylon (invisible) thread to add the other details.  

And, if you are thinking, "But wait!  I have a BOY!"  

Here is how Jay's looks after 2 years of use!  I used wool felted from some wool pants for his and it's still in great shape after using it every day at home and each week at church for 2 years!

Jay likes his.  But, I must admit that being a girl sure looks more fun to me!

Now Kay's got her Scripture Power too!

Do you have yours?

Playdough Party Time!

I did a guest post for Kierste at Brown Paper Packages awhile ago and want to share it with you too!

Are you looking for the perfect {Little Project} to chase away winter boredom?

Try a Playdough Party!

Note: this is NOT the regular stuff.  

This playdough  

smells  

delicious, 

and SPARKLES!

{This Little Project} actually started out as a bribe (did I just admit that?) I told my kids that if they finished a (big) chore we would have a playdough party. It took a few days, but it worked! And we've had three parties now. The first time it was just us. The word "party" automatically makes something more fun-right?

But we had so much fun that first time that I knew we needed to share it with friends. Right now it is sooo cold where we live and I thought that a playdough party would be the perfect indoor playdate. But, a bigger group meant we needed A LOT more playdough. 

I felt like a kid doing a science project trying a bit of this and that for recipes and made a bunch of different kinds (including chocolate and SPARKLES!) and ended up with some favorites that we used for our playdough party to share with you!

Plus, to go with {This Little Project} I made some easy party favors so the kids could take some playdough home too.

First, the playdough!

To make {This Little Project} you need:

cream of tartar

salt

flour

water

vegetable oil

Plus the "mix-ins" of your choice:

food coloring

glitter

extracts (peppermint, orange, lemon, coconut, almond, etc.)

cocoa powder

kool-aid

and printable recipes below

Here are the details of how to make FOUR different kinds of playdough!

Below, are printable recipes for:

   

Sparkle Playdough,

Scented Playdough,

Chocolate Playdough, 

Kool-aid Playdough. 

Plus, you can combine them and make your sparkle playdough smell like peppermint or oranges!

Chances are you either have little ones at home, grandkids that visit, or little people for neighbors that can appreciate all the squishy goodness of scented and sparkled playdough 

so feel free to share them with a friend!

And here are the Party Favors!!

I love to repurpose things and {This Little Project} came right from my "invention box." These party favors are perfect for sending home some of their favorite "flavors" of playdough. 

Plus, the monogram makes it personal. Oh, and I'm in love with tulle right now! Did I mention these are EASY and INEXPENSIVE to make?

To make {This Little Project} you need:

Stickers or Stamps to make the monogram

paper bag (like from the grocery store)

circle punch (size 1.75" or 2")

tulle (3" by 11")

Tape

Baby food jars (I used the larger jars for 2 or 3 "flavors" or dough. But you could use the smaller jars too.)

To assemble the Party Favors:

Punch your circles out of the bag. Then add the monogram letter for each child coming to your playdough party in the centers of the circles.

Use a little tape under the circle to stick it to the baby food jar.

Then roll up a few balls of playdough to fit inside, tie your tulle around the center, and you're done. With these and the printable recipe cards above, you are ready to PARTY!

These baby food jars (the plastic ones would work too)

keep the playdough from drying out but they are

so much cuter than a ziplock bag :)

Let me know if you have a Playdough Party!

Cinco de Mayo

My husband graduated this week! It's been a lot of fun to have family in town and so many festivities. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with some friends we will miss when we move in a few weeks. The {Little Project} we made to celebrate was this penguin pinata.

To make {This Little Project} you need:
a balloon
newspaper or a magazine ripped into pieces
yarn
paste made from 2 parts water to 1 part flour (with a pinch of salt)
paint
xacto knife
treats or prizes
1)Tie the yarn so that it fits over the inflated balloon with a little extra to hang it by.

2)Then wet the pieces of ripped paper in the paste. Put a layer under the yarn and a layer over the yarn as you go.

3) Cover the entire balloon this way.

4) Let dry overnight (we used a fan to speed the process).

5) Paint the character on and let dry.

6) Use a xacto knife to make a small opening in the balloon to put the prizes in through. (This will pop it.)

7) Add paper wings, beak, and feet, etc.

8) Put treats/surprises inside and tape the whole closed.

9) Use this fun day to teach your children about the Mexico culture.

10) Play to get the treats out!
Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Earth Day Catch Project

In honor of Earth Day, {This Little Project} is about reusing. With some scissors you can turn a milk jug in to a ball catch. Jay is starting T-ball this weekend and I thought we could use some catching practice around here. This is what we came up with (courtesy of the invention box):

To make {This Little Project} you need:

a plastic milk jug

electric tape (probably not totally necessary so go ahead if you don't have it).

yarn

ball with lots of holes (ours is from dollar tree)

Just cut the jug in half below the handle. Use electric tape to cover the top. (If you are wondering what to do with the bottom half, we put soil in and are using it for a planter.)

Tie one end of the yarn to the jug and the other through the holes on the ball.

Now play ball with this earth-friendly toy and feel good about planting seeds in the other half! Happy Earth Day!

How to make a Sieve (via the invention box)

In anticipation of Earth Day tomorrow, let me share one of my favorite things:

the invention box.

{This Little Project} of a box has brought us lots of fun and given new life to the word "reuse" at our house.

Also, known as my "junk box," it's organized by categories: wood, fabrics/fiber, metal, paper, plastic, etc. Inside are things like thread spools, metal circles from cans of frozen juice, toilet paper rolls, fabric left from previous little projects, etc. To learn how to make your own, go HERE.

Today's {Little Project} comes from the insides of the invention box!

This Reuse Little Project is sieve made from the red plastic topper from a box of clementines and an old bracelet. The second sieve I made (I didn't want the kiddos to fight) was made from the white mesh wrapping that a toy came in. You will also need a needle and thread (I used 3 strands of embroidery floss.) If you are wondering what this sieve is used for, check out this post about our Sensory Box.
For the white sieve I used two layers of the "mesh." For the red one, just one layer. I simply sewed around the outside of the bracelet to secure the mesh to it and then trimmed the excess off.

Ta Da! These sieves will help little ones find treasure now!

Easy. Fun. Reused. Earth Friendly. Kid Friendly :) To see other things that have come from this fun box, go HERE and here.

Also, {This Little Project} was featured on the Family Education.com blog. Go check out the other great earth day ideas featured there with the crayon shavings project from This Little Project!

Carseat Canopy-Upcycling Project

I love the idea of these little car seat canopies for keeping baby out of the wind and away from germs and people. I decided to make one to match our carseat out of fabric I already had on hand-which included a medium sized pair of brown pants and a men's button-up shirt-since I am LOVING upcycling lately.

I had a great time with using the design features of the shirt (buttons, pocket, cuffs) and it's a fun way to use Daddy's shirt for baby!

Here's how to make {This Little Project.} I didn't put every detail in, so if you have questions let me know :)

Start by cutting the front and the back of the shirt from the sleeves of this men's XL shirt:

And from the neck:

Then cut the back of the shirt the same way. This photo shows that after it's cut from the sleeves and neck you cut it in half and sew one half to each side of the front to make the front panel larger.

Now I have the front panel of the canopy from the shirt-now to add the border from the pants to create the right size (36"x 42"). Reusing fabric is a great way to keep the cost of materials down for your projects :)

But first...look how perfect the cuffs from the sleeves are for loops to attach it to the car seat! I love being able to use the design features of the "old" in the new Project!

Just cut them from the sleeve, add some rick rack and move the button over so they are just the perfect size. Easy!

This is what the canopy looks like with the brown border on it.

The brown fabric came from this pair of pants-yes you can use fabric AGAIN! (bad photo-taken at night after my kids were in bed, since of course that's the best time for getting some projects done :)

I used the front and back of each leg to create the 4 sides of the border.

When I was done cutting this is all that was left-it feels good to use things well :)

After sewing the border to the shirt it looks like this (not ironed of course :)

Next use a yard of a coordinating fabric to back it, sewing right sides together. Then top stitch around the outside of the brown border.

I love how the buttons from the shirt go across the middle. It's a fun design feature-especially for a boy baby. It's hard to add fun without it looking girly sometimes, but this worked well. I sewed between the buttons so they would lie flat. Then sewed the cuffs centered in so it would hang like this:

You can see the front pocket from the shirt in the bottom of the photo below. I sewed some velcro to it so it closes. Now it's an extra "hiding place" for a binkie or nursing pad :)

This was a fun and useful {Little Project} that was fun to design as I went along. Now if the baby would just come so we can use it :) 3 days and counting......