Here, Lately

Ah, September. We meet again. The weather is cooling down and the autumn equinox is upon us. You know what that means? 

The Holidays are coming. 

Halloween decorations are already out in stores (and have been since July?!) and we're starting the quick descent down the Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Christmas/New Year slide. This also means that orders are starting to rev up in my little Etsy Shop (as evidenced by the felt pieces taking over my dining room table above). Since I have never run a toy store during 4th quarter, this may prove to be an interesting (and hopefully busy) experience. It is also likely that I will not have quite as much time to work on this blog or create new items when I'm swamped sewing old ones.  But fear not, I still have a few ideas rattling around in my mommy brain so keep an eye out for a couple holiday themed crafts. You may have also noticed the quality of my photos have not been the best. Our digital camera went to the big lens cap in the sky and we are currently researching new cameras, hopefully something in a DSLR. Everything has been relegated to slightly blurry Iphone pics, which really don't cut it for tutorials. In the camera hunting meantime, I wanted to share a few crappy pictures of  recent projects in case you missed them on the Mama's Felt Cafe Facebook page.

This bottle cozy was made for a friend who was pumping milk for her new little guy but wanted a way to show he was still getting liquid gold in his bottle. It's also great for moms who use donor milk with their babies. By the way, World Milk Sharing Week starts this Saturday, September 24! Human Milk 4 Human Babies~Nevada is looking for milk sharing stories. If you have donated or used donated breast milk, you can share your story for a chance to win a Mama's Milk Carton or a Mama's Milk Bottle Cozy. Find out how to win HERE. 

Since the aforementioned Fall is on it's way, I felt festive making this felt Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake for a scrumptious pretend dessert. For a real pumpkin swirl cheesecake recipe, see this one. For pie/cake/quiche felt food making basics, please check out the spinach and mushroom quiche tutorial.    

I was very excited to learn this delicious looking platter of tamales and enchiladas was heading off to The Children's Museum of New Hampshire for their Kids' World Cafe exhibit! Since it is not everyday that something you make by hand ends up in a museum, I celebrated by making the two kid sized felt food Flan desserts. 

I believe this flan is an Etsy first! I hope the little ones in Dover, NH enjoy the felt food!

Lastly, this carton of Mama's Milk is headed all the way out to Spain! That is the farthest from home one of my items has traveled. Thankfully, felt milk won't spoil on the journey over the Atlantic!

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany

Sand and Water Toys-- Terry Cloth Stuffed Starfish Tutorial

My parents got my son this awesome sand and water table for his second birthday. He's pretty much played with it everyday since he's had it. I was intrigued by the idea of soft sand and water toys, something machine washable. 

I thought terry cloth would be a good medium for water toys. I marched down to the fabric store and got some blue and yellow terry. 

I settled on some nautical themed toys and wanted to make a starfish and some sea shells. Here is a quick tutorial for making your own terry cloth starfish toy!

The Ingredients: 

-2 pieces of yellow terry cloth for the starfish

-matching thread

-polyfil stuffing (this is machine washable)

The Recipe: 

The first thing I needed to do was find a starfish to trace. I did a Google image search to find a picture I thought would make a good pattern. I found this guy on a website that sells Hawaiian treasures. I opened the picture in Picasa, scaled it to print on an 8X10 page and printed it in black and white to trace. 

I wanted my starfish to have a little personality, so I stitched a little face on the center. Nothing thing fancy, just enough to give him a little smile. 

Next, I whipped stitched around the first arm of the starfish. The terry hides the stitches really well. Keep your stitches close, though, as terry tends to fray. 

As you sew, stuff the arm as you go. If you don't it will likely be a pain getting stuffing all the way to the ends. Keep sewing and stuffing until you get back to the place you started and knot off. 

That's it! Now you have a cuddly starfishy friend, perfect for the bath or the beach!

Happy Sewing!

~Brittany

Summertime Root Beer Float Felt Food Tutorial

Summertime will soon be waning away but there is still time for frosty cold treats before the sun disappears again. A pregnant friend of mine suggested a felt food root beer float and far be it from me to deny the whims of  a gestating lady. 

The Ingredients: 

In dark brown felt you need:
-base circle, 2 inches wide
-top circle, 2.5 inches wide with a .75 wide circle cut out from near one side. This is where the straw is going to sit in the root beer.
-body of root beer, a trapezoid shape with a base of 7 inches, sides 5 inches tall and the top side 8.5 inches long
-2.5 by 1.5 inch rectangle for the sides of the straw holder
-.75 inch wide circle for the straw holder bottom

In cream felt:
-8.5 by 1 inch scalloped piece for around the top of the root beer body
-2 inch wide wavy piece for the cream on top of the root beer. Be sure to leave a notch for the hole for the straw.
-4 inch wide wavy circle for the ice cream

-4.5 inch long by 1 inch wide piece in white felt for the straw
-scraps of red felt for the straw stripes

for the glass:
-another trapezoid shape with a 7.5 inch base, 6.5 inch sides and 10 inches long on top in either vinyl from the fabric store or I cut up a clear plastic sheet protector that goes in binders.
-2.25 inch wide clear circle for the glass base

-matching embroidery thread
-stuffing

As a note, when sewing side pieces around circles, I usually allow extra length in my measurements. It's easier to trim the pieces up as you sew than cut them too short in the first place.


The Recipe:

First, we'll start with the straw. I laid my red felt pieces in diagonals and running stitched them to the white straw piece. Be sure to knot off your thread after each red piece. I tried to be lazy and keep the stitch going but when you fold the straw over in the next step, the stitches are too loose.

Whip stitch the straw seams together. . .

and our old timey looking straw is complete.

Next comes the ice cream. About a half inch from the edge of the wavy  circle piece, put in a running stitch.

Add stuffing then pull your thread tight so the ice cream is closed on the underside and knot off.

Next, sew the cream piece to the top circle. Make sure to line up your pieces to not cover the hole for the straw. I just used quick running stitches for this.

To make the straw holder, sew the small dark brown rectangle to the three quarter inch dark brown circle. This will form the cavern the straw sits in. Sew up the seam so you have a little tube.

Then, attach the tube to the underside of the top circle.

Now, when I did this, I sewed the creamy part to the body of the root beer before I sewed it to the top circle.

 I ended up with some overlap, which I just tucked in as I sewed, but it would be neater to sew the top circle to the root beer body, trim as necessary, then sew on the cream part. Be sure to sew the top circle to the wider top part of the root beer body.

Once you have the top circle sewn on, stitch up the seam to make a big root beer tube.

I added stuffing as I went and pinned the seam to keep it neat. Be careful not to over stuff near the straw holder. You want to be sure the straw still fits in there.

Then, sew the bottom circle to the end of your root beer tube.

Lastly, the glass. I found the sheet protector page material to be pretty thin so be careful not to tear it. If you are using a thicker grade vinyl this might not be an issue but it may be harder to get your needle through for the stitches. I put the root beer in the glass as I sewed to help keep the shape. Try to keep your stitches as neat as possible since they will be visible, but this isn't an easy task.

Lastly, sew up the seam on the glass. I started at the top and worked down. I found that pinching the seam so I had a little ridge to sew through made this easier, but I still had a few wonky stitches. Trim up the glass side piece as needed.

All done! A four piece root beer play set for serving up a cool felt food treat!

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany

How Does Your Garden Grow? Felt Mini Veggie Garden Tutorial and Giveaway~Ends 8/12/11 CLOSED

I was starting to feel an itch to start a new felt food project yesterday but was lacking inspiration. I asked for suggestion on the Mama's Felt Cafe Facebook page, and my real life friend Helen responded that she would like to see a veggie garden. The wheels in my head started turning, and I envisioned the little planter box full of felt produce. I didn't take pictures to do a full photo tutorial, but I'll give a basic run down of what I did. 

I chose veggies that grew in or close to the ground and ended up with potatoes, cabbage, and carrots (the carrot tutorial is for a cut apart version. I just make a cone shape and fold in half instead of cutting into pieces). They would have given me a hankering for soup if it weren't 90 degrees outside. The potatoes are about 1.5 inches long, the cabbage a little less than 2 inches from leaf to leaf and the carrot is 4 inches from the tip of the root to the top of the greens. 

The construction of the garden box was the most challenging part of this project. 

~The top is dark brown felt, measuring 8.5X5.5 inches, as is the bottom, which is dark green felt. The sides are two 8.5X3 inch pieces and two 5.5X3 inch pieces. 

~The potato cups are .75 inch wide circles pieces with  .5 inch tall sides sewn around then attached to a .75 inch wide circle cut into the top of the dirt piece. 

~The cabbage bowls are holes 1.25 inches across, with a 2 inch wide dark brown felt circle sewn to them. Keep edges to edges so that the bigger circle pieces bows and give the cabbage a recess to sit in.

~The carrot caverns are made by cutting .5 inch wide holes (test to make sure your carrots will fit through, otherwise make them a bit bigger) in the dirt piece. Wrap a scrap of dark brown felt around the carrot, leaving a little room for the carrot to wiggle. Mine were about 2.75 inches long. Cut the scrap and sew up the seam, similar to making the root of the carrot. Sew this carrot cavern to the circles in the dirt. 

~Whip stitch the side pieces to the dirt piece and sew up the side seams. Add stuffing, being careful not to overstuff, then sew on the bottom piece of the planter box.

 The end was result was rather adorable and I decided I would like to share some felt veggie garden love. I'm giving away this mini felt veggie patch! Of course if you would like to purchase one, you can find it in my Etsy shop, otherwise enter to win below: 

Mandatory Entry: Follow Mama's Felt Cafe with Google Friend Connect (there is a handy button over to the right)  or sign up for the Mama's Felt Cafe RSS feed. Leave a comment letting me know you subscribed. Be sure to use a valid email address when you fill out the comment form. I cannot approve any additional entries if there is not a comment saying you follow the blog. 

Want a chance to enter more than once? Here are some ways to up your odds of winning. Be sure to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY, multiple entries in one comment will be disqualified:

1. Become a fan of Mama's Felt Cafe on Facebook (Of course you already are, right?)

2. Follow @MamaFeltCafe on Twitter

3. Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page or Tweet about it on Twitter. Be sure to link back to the giveaway in your post: http://www.mamasfeltcafe.com/2011/08/how-does-your-garden-grow-felt-mini.html Include a link to the Facebook post or Tweet in your comment.

4. Add Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy to your Favorites.

That's all you have to do! If you already a follower/fan/subscriber of  Mama's Felt Cafe, just leave a comment saying so. Each of these actions counts as one extra entry, so each person can have up to 5 entry comments (including the mandatory entry). Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. I'll leave this contest open for a week, until  August 12, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. I'll use random.org to pick the winning comment  from all the comments and contact the winner via email. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, I'll draw another winner. Contest open to residents of the USA and Canada with free shipping for the winner. If you have any questions, please email me, mama@mamasfeltcafe.com.  Please keep in mind that these pieces are small and could pose a choking hazard if swallowed by a child who still mouths their toys

Thank you for your participation and Good Luck! 

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany

Easy DIY Wool Dryer Balls

I have been wanting to try wool dryer balls for a while now. Fabric softener sheets are expensive, wasteful and covered in chemicals. Wool dryer balls are easy to make, reduce your drying time (and energy consumption), cut static cling, soften fabric and are totally reusable.  A look around Etsy showed a variety of balls for sale, but they were all pretty expensive. I found 100% wool yarn for $3.49 a skein on sale at Joann's Fabrics and bought two. 

There are a multitude of tutorials on how to make your own dryer balls, so there was no need to reinvent the wheel. I followed this one from The Goodmama, so I didn't take photos of every step since she has them laid out pretty clearly. 

Here are the balls after the first go round with the yarn. I used all of the first skein and a little off the second to get the balls the right size. I didn't have a crochet hook to tuck the ends under, so I got a little creative. I knotted some embroidery thread, which I always have around, to the end of the yarn and used a regular needle to tuck the yarn under. Then I pulled tightly and cut the embroidery thread off. Worked perfectly!

Here are the balls ready to go in the wash for their first felting. I washed them in hot water with these towels. 

Here are the balls after the first felting with the second go round of yarn on them. They were about 9 inches around each before the final felting, about baseball size. The two skeins of yarn (310 yards in all) were enough to make all three balls. 

Ready for the final felting in an old thigh high nylon. I also used leftover cotton embroidery floss to tie off the nylon between the balls. 

Here are the completed balls, after the second felting in the washer and dryer. I can tell these are definitely going to help reduce my drying time. I put them in with a big load of sheets and everything only needed one 30 minute cycle when that normally would have needed at least 60 minutes in the dryer. Wool balls are great to use with cloth diapers, when the use of liquid fabric soften is generally discouraged as it can cause your diapers to repel rather than absorb. They are a fun shape and texture and my toddler wanted to play with them, too. I chose a very neutral yarn color but if you want to hand dye your wool, check out this tutorial from Slightly Crunchy Mom. 

Happy Wool Winding!

~Brittany

Guest Post and Giveaway at The Natural Parents Network

  

I'm super excited to share my first guest post, written for the Natural Parents Network. Though the local news stations have dubbed this "June-uary" in my area, I wanted to do a tutorial for a warm weather food and nothing says "summer" more than a juicy slice of watermelon. 

Read how to make this felt food favorite HERE. You can also see the review Amanda from Let's Take the Metro wrote about my felt fruits and veggies basket and the corresponding giveaway for a $25 gift certificate for Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy. So go enter for your chance to win some felt goodies!

Be sure to keep an eye our for my next felt food tutorial: Red, White and Blueberry Brownie! Can you believe Fourth of July is less than a month away?!

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany

It's Almost Father's Day--Felt Photo Frame Fridge Magnet Tutorial

Father's Day is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate the dad in your life than with this crafty photo frame? This project is super simple, an older child could probably make this will a little help. No fancy sewing--just a simple in-and-out running stitch.

The Ingredients: 

-1 felt frame piece. I used green felt to coordinate with the picture I wanted to use. Feel free to use what ever color works for you. The piece is 5.75 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide. The inside cut out is 1.25 inches up from the bottom, an inch in on both sides, and .75 inch from the top. 

-2 felt middle and back pieces. These are 5.75 by 4.5 inches like our top frame piece. 

- "I" "<3" "DAD" felt letters. These are freehand, about an inch tall. I cut my heart by folding a piece of felt and cutting half a heart shape. These pieces don't have to be perfect, in fact they are more "kid-like" if they aren't. 

- 1 cardboard insert, 5 inches by 4 inches, approximately

-1 super strong craft magnet and tape to adhere magnet to the cardboard insert

- embroidery floss to match felt pieces

The Recipe: 

First things first, working with just the top frame layer, sew on the "I" with a few stitches. 

Then, it's time for the heart. I wanted the heart to overlap on the photo a little bit so the bottom of the heart overhangs. The stitches don't go all the way down to the heart to leave that little bit free hanging. 

Next come the DAD letters. Again, there are just a few running stitches for each letter. I made the letters point slightly different directions so they seemed more "bouncy" than sewing them in a straight line. 

 Now that our embellishments are attached, it's time to construct the frame itself. Running stitch the top frame piece to the middle piece. Leave about a quarter inch allowance from the edge of the frame cut-out. That little allowance will be where the picture nestles in. When you do the top seam between the "I" and the heart, be sure to only sew through the top frame layer or else a photo won't slide in. 

After the frame piece is attached to the middle piece, prepare the cardboard insert by taping the magnet securely in place. Make sure the magnet is placed so that it will attract through the felt (one side of the magnet attracts other magnets, the other side repels). 

With the cardboard and magnet sandwiched between, sew the second layer to the bottom layer, as shown in the photo. Because we used running stitches, the edges of the frame are free. 

That's it! Our frame is done and ready for a photo of Dad. That's me and my dad on my wedding day.

Happy Father's Day Crafting!

~Brittany