2009 September | Skip To My Lou

Archive for September, 2009

A home for an acorn

posted by cindylouh on September 16th, 2009 | crochet |

We enjoyed this beautiful day with a long walk and a collection of acorns. The acorns needed a special home, a crochet covered acorn necklace.

This wonderful idea is from Resurrection Fern, a beautiful and thoughtful blog. For instructions visit Resurrection Fern's Covered Acorn Necklace Tutorial. I used a US size D crochet hook. I did have to increase the diameter on the last two rows to 15 stitches. I did this by adding SC two times in every other stitch. My chain for the necklace was about 125 stitches.

Now our acorns have a special home. Be sure to get extra acorns because it is a bit of a crisis if one falls out!

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Sewing with kids

posted by cindylouh on September 15th, 2009 | sewing |

September is National Sewing month, so there is no better time to get sewing. I received an Alex Toys Sew Fun Sewing Machine
from ALEX Toys and also one to giveaway for one very lucky reader. Another lucky reader will receive their cool My First Sewing Kit

ALEX had me at the box. The sewing machine comes in a darling heavy cardboard suitcase and so does the sewing kit ---too cute.

I was hesitant at first. I had read about kid's sewing machines and it seemed most people recommend just buying a simple full size sewing machine. However, is hard to explain how much excitement this little machine brought to my house. Even my husband was hooked! So they got busy!

The planned and pinned.

They sewed

and sewed!

They stuffed.

They finished! (It's an elephant)

There is just something about young boy fingers

and little girl's toes sewing that makes my heart leap with joy!

They had such a good time. I have no idea how long this machine will last, but it seems durable enough. We have not tackled the projects included with the sewing machine yet, but they look simple. The machine was ready to go straight from the box, which added to the fun and excitement. I do wish it had a reverse stitch. I was worried that the loud noise it makes might scare the children---but not around here. My daughter has asked everyday to sew. I think the small size and colorful style make it appealing and accessible for children.

Please leave a comment on this post to enter by Sunday at midnight CST. You can get an extra entries for tweeting, becoming a fan of Skip to my Lou on Facebook, following Skip to my Lou on Twitter, becoming a fan of ALEX on facebook, following ALEX Toys on Twitter , adding Skip to my Lou to your blogroll, signing up for Skip to my Lou Feed or blogging about this great giveaway----so many ways to get extra entries. Just leave a separate comment for each thing you do. We will pick two winners. One will receive the sewing machine and the other the sewing kit.

Want to show off your little creative artist? Be sure to enter ALEX Toys Ready, Set, Create Contest!

You may download contest details here.

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Egg Carton Caterpillars

posted by cindylouh on September 14th, 2009 | crafts, kids crafts |

Kate and Bella have been crafty! Their craft is perfect way to use up those egg cartons and also a great activity to go along with the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar(and some others at the end of this post).

We gathered our supplies.

After I cut the egg carton in half lengthwise, they painted and painted.

With a sharp object I punched two holes in the top end.

The girls then threaded a pipe cleaner through the holes. We added a dab of glue to the underside to keep the "antennae" in place.

The girls then added some wiggly eyes and I hot glued some pom poms to the tops of the antennae.

Now were off the read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and give our caterpillars some embellishments! You might also enjoy reading Clara Caterpillar ,Gotta Go! Gotta Go! and Charlie the Caterpillar.

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Fun ways to wrap packages

posted by cindylouh on September 12th, 2009 | handmade gifts |

Last year I spent the month of September looking ahead to the holidays and trying to get prepared. Here are some links from the archives that are good anytime of the year.

I love boxes and fun ways to wrap gifts. This year I am going to make more of an effort to use recycled items. I think my pillow box template would be cute made from colorful cereal boxes. These boxes are great when you are in a pinch and need something quick. You can always print the template out on printed card-stock.

I am excited to do more Furoshiki.

Make your gift over the top with these cool fabric baskets

more ideas for cereal gift boxes

These darling printed cone boxes double as ornaments for your tree

Recycled greeting card box

Classy gift box ---actually made from a recycled cereal box

A little girl or your girlfriends would love something special package in this cute purse box

boxes made from inside out cereal boxes

Wouldn't these cute Elf Shoes make a cute container for a small gift?

...and so that all of your handmade gifts are tied up with the prettiest tags, Cassi of Bella Dia has made it easy with the Free Gift Tag Round-Up!

Some of my favorite gift tags are from Sugarloop

You might also be interested in using these for your holiday packaging:

Oil Cloth Bags

Oven Mitt

Santa Bottle Bag

15 Comments

Today is National Make Your Bed Day…

posted by cindylouh on September 11th, 2009 | children's activities, crafts, kids, kids crafts |

...so we are celebrating with custom pillowcases and made beds (well some of us are -- remember I also have teen boys)!

To make our custom pillowcase we used Crayola Fabric Markers (I found them at Michael's Arts & Crafts and used a coupon) and a plain white pillowcase.

These markers are great! Bella literally spent hours working on her pillowcase. She is really into hearts as you can see! She asked me to draw a heart shape. The pillowcase was thin enough that I slipped a paper with a heart drawn on it in the middle and she could see it well enough to trace. It would be fun to use coloring book pictures as templates also. A child could easily decorate anyway they like, but if they seem intimidated have them make a drawing first on paper and then they can trace it.

** Make sure you place a piece of cardboard inside the pillowcase to keep the markers from bleeding through to the other side. Read package directions for setting the fabric.**

Really the possibilities are endless for this craft---- slumber party or birthday crafts, gifts, etc.. They could even be further embellished with bits of fabric, trims and embroidery.

Bella loves her new pillowcase!

If you would like to try out these awesome fabric markers please leave a comment on this post before Tuesday at midnight CST. Crayola is giving FIVE lucky readers a set of fabric markers!

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