Felt Marshmallow and Roasting Stick Tutorial

Ah, summertime. Warmth is in the air and and the days are long. I wanted to create something felt foody that gave ode to this wonderful time of year. Enter charcoal fire bowl and the roasting marshmallow. 

I noticed an abundance of felt BBQ grills (some taken straight from Jeanette Lim's awesome pattern book) and campfire logs. But I'm dying to get a fire bowl for our back yard. So if I can't have one in real life, I can definitely make one out of felt. But the ultimate accessory is surely the soft, gooey, sweet roasted marshmallow (which could be enjoyed year round if I had said fire bowl. Just sayin'.) I also made the roasting stick with a pipe cleaner. I saw lots of wooden dowels out there in the felt food s'more world but I am reticent to give my two year old a long tapered wooden stick. It's all fun and games until someone pokes their eye out! So here is how to make your own felt food marshmallow and (non wooden) roasting stick: 

The Ingredients: 

- 1 large pipe cleaner, 9 inches long

- roasting stick casing,  8 inches long and 1 inch wide, in dark brown felt

- 2 cream or white felt circles for marshmallow top and bottom, 1.25 inches wide

- outer casing, cream or white felt, 4.75 inches long by 1.75 inches wide

-inner casing, 1.5 inches tall and 1.75 inches wide

The Recipe:

The first step is one I did not originally do up front but should have. Fold over about a half inch of pipe cleaner on both top and bottom loosely so that the raw wire isn't sticking up. Take a scrap of felt and cover the pipe cleaner end. Sew both sides so the pipe cleaner has a little cap at both ends. This will help keep the pipe cleaner from shifting too much and keep the wire from readily poking through. 

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Next, fold the roasting stick casing in half, position the pipe cleaner inside, and sew up the sides. As you can see my pipe cleaner ends are not covered but yours should be. 

Then, take your inner marshmallow piece and wrap it around the roasting stick, leaving about an 1/8 of an inch overhang at the top. Sew up to the piece and when you get to the top, close the seam. 

Next, take the inner piece that was just finished and trace the bottom of it on to one of the felt circles. My circle was about a half inch wide. Cut the circle out from the middle of the piece, which is now the bottom of the marshmallow. 

Position the opening of the inner piece in the middle circle of the bottom we just cut out and sew the two together as shown. 

Now, sew the outer marshmallow rectangle piece around the bottom circle. Trim this piece as needed when you sew it around. 

Stitch up the side seam towards the top of the marshmallow. 

Next, add stuffing. Be careful not to over stuff  and throw the inside piece off. I suggest putting the marshmallow on the roasting stick and then adding the stuffing so it maintains the proper shape. 

Lastly, stitch the last circle on to the top of the marshmallow. If you wanted to add a dark brown or black piece to the top/side of your marshmallow for a burned or melted look, you can do that too. But I was lazy and wanted to get out and roast my mallow. 

Yum!

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany

Wordless Wednesday--Baby's First Food

Lauren was kind enough to share these photos of her adorable little guy chowing down on his first food--my felt watermelon! You can read more about Eli and his breechy born twin sister Eleanor here. Thanks, Lauren!

Happy Wednesday!

~Brittany

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

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

Red, White and Blueberry Brownie Felt Food Dessert Tutorial

Fourth of July is finally upon us! What picnic or BBQ would be complete without a patriotic colored treat? Here is an easy felt food dessert, the Red, White, and Blueberry Brownie. 

The Ingredients: 

-2 dark brown felt squares, about 2.25 inches for each side

-1 dark brown felt brownie side piece, about a half inch wide by 12 inches long which will give you more than you need.

-2 red felt strawberry pieces. These are just free hand in a strawberry shape, about 1.25 inches long and an inch wide at the biggest spot. 

-1 white felt hexagon whipped cream piece. Each side is about 1.25 inches long.

-THREE dark blue felt circles. Only two are pictured, but you really need three for balance. These are 1.25 inches in diameter. 

-Embroidery floss to match

-Stuffing 

The Recipe: 

We'll start by making our brownie toppings first. The purple lines on the whipped cream hexagon are cut lines, about a half inch long. 

Once you have your lines cut in the whipped cream, round the right edge of each of the sides, so you have this flower looking piece. 

Starting with the pointed left edge, sew through all the pointed edges, gathering as you go. 

Pull your thread tighter to bring all the points of the whipped cream to the center. 

Once you have your whipped cream taut, I sew around once more through all the pointed edges to make sure  the stitch is sturdy then knot off. 

Next let's make the strawberry. The first time I made this, I used white thread and made French knots for the seeds. 

This time, I'm using tan thread to make small stitches all over the top and bottom pieces of the strawberry. 

Sew the two strawberry sides together and lightly stuff as you go. 

Strawberry is complete! Next comes the blueberries.

Sew a running stitch all around the outer edge of the blue felt circle. 

When you get back to your starting place, add stuffing and gather the thread.

Pull tightly to close off the blueberry. I put a few stitches through the bottom of the berry to make sure it is securely shut. Repeat this for the three other blueberries. 

Sew some stitches through the bottoms of your blueberries to form a little bunch and keep the berries secure. 

All of our toppings are done! Now, on to brownie construction.

First, sew the whipped cream to the middle of the first dark brown felt square. Be sure to only stitch through the bottom of the whipped cream so that it maintains it's puffy shape.

Next, sew on the strawberry next to the whipped cream. I work from the bottom of the strawberry and don't sew the entire way up. Just put in enough stitches to make it secure and let it rest nestled next to the whipped cream piece. 

Lastly, sew the blueberry bunch on the other side of the whipped cream.

Now that all our toppings are on, well, top, sew the side piece of the brownie to the top brownie square. Since there will be a seam where the side piece meets, I started in the back corner behind the whipped cream so the seam isn't obvious. 

Cut any excess side piece when you get back to your starting point and sew the seam together. 

Turn the brownie over and add stuffing. I used some layers of cotton batting because it lays nice and flat but regular polyfil will work too. 

Finally, sew the bottom brownie square to the side piece. All done!

Delish! I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Happy Felt Fooding!

~Brittany