Car Caddy

I made this cute little car caddy for my son for Christmas! He has LOVED playing with it. He especially loves to roll and unroll it and open and close it. But he also loves playing with the fun cars inside!


I followed Jill's tutorial over at Homemade by Jill. It was a fairly simple tutorial so it actually didn't take me too long. I actually made it just a couple of days before Christmas on a last minute whim. You can tell that I am definitely not very good at sewing in a circle, especially with a zig zag stitch. Oh well, practice makes perfect right? And I don't mind that it isn't perfect. I made it and he loves it and that is all that matters!


Some things I did differently:

I used white felt for the numbers, instead of acrylic paint. I didn't have paint and I didn't want to buy any or bother with all of the stenciling and painting and drying. I just used fabric glue to secure them to the fabric. If I were to use felt again I would have sewn them on before creating the pockets.

I also put white piping all the way around the edges. I like the way it looks better than just on the top and bottom edges.

I just used canvas fabric because that's what I had, but I'm sure the duck canvas that Jill used would be a bit sturdier. Canvas worked fine though.

It was a fun sewing project and I was proud of myself for giving something handmade to my little guy! I always think it is a little extra special when you make something for your children instead of just buying something. Probably just because I know that I have spent a lot more time thinking about them in the process of making a gift. (I also love purchased gifts for kids too, so there will be plenty of those in my future.)

Edible Finger Paints

My little guy is starting to get to the point where he can enjoy finger paints. However, since he still puts everything and anything in his mouth we will be sticking to edible paints for quite a while.


We first tried pudding as our base! I whipped up some banana flavored pudding and then separated it into 3 bowls to add color. He mostly ate the pudding - it was snack time - but he did try a little bit of painting on the paper.

I've also seen people use vanilla yogurt as their base. I think we will give that a try next time we have a go, although I am guessing he will enjoy the pudding a little bit more since we don't give him sweets very often.

Does anyone else know of any edible finger paint recipes? If so please share!

"ABC" Magnets

In August I started working on crafts for our annual craft day at church. It only happens once a year and I was asked to help by contributing a couple of crafts to teach. One of the crafts that was picked for me to create, display, and teach were these alphabet magnets.

These are so much fun. They are easy to make and great for kids. I saw them on Pinterest of course. Which led me to THIS website with the instructions. I made a set for my nieces and nephew and will probably make a few more sets for other nieces and nephews in the future. Plus I made a set for my own little guy - which I quickly discovered he is still too young for. I think I will make a younger version of these with fabric for him to play with and learn his ABC's.

Beanbags

My church has a play group every week for the moms and kids to get together and hang out! Once a month I teach a "Music & Motion" class for this playgroup. We have done lots of fun activities, even though it is tough with 25+ kids ranging from ages 10 months to 4 years. Today was beanbag day! I whipped up these fun beanbags last night! I think they turned out super cute and they were extremely easy.

I was pleasantly surprised today that beanbags could entertain children for an hour or more! What a great toy! I think I will just make a bunch of different shaped beanbags for our little guy on the way instead of buying toys.

I actually filled mine with rice instead of beans and I think it works a lot better! Now I have beanbags on hand for kids to play with when they're at our house!

PS: If you are interested in making beanbags but aren't sure what you would do with them then let me know! I have tons of games/activities to do with beanbags to help get your kids' wiggles out!