We really needed new placemats, so I decided to make my own. The first one is an idea I have been thinking about for the kids. It is a placemat with a pocket to hold silverware. I cut three different layers all being 13x 18. Two of the layers were the outside fabrics that you can see and the third layer was some flannel. The pocket was 4.5×4.5 with two pieces sewn together and then turned right side out. I stitched the pocket down onto the placemat near the bottom right hand corner. Make sure to only stitch around 3 sides. I put the needle in the very right position and then stitched following the outside of the foot. Next sew the three layers together with the two outer fabrics right sides together and then the flannel. Stitch around the layers using a 1/4 inch stitch. Make sure you put the needle back into the center position. Leave an opening about 3 inches to turn the placemat. Once the placemat is turned right side out, stitch around the outer edges with the needle at the far right and follow the foot again. The only thing I would do differently next time is to place the pocket further down into that right hand corner.
For the Christmas placemats, I cut the fabric layers to 17.5×12.5 and sewed just as I did above but without a pocket. The kids really like the pockets so I will need to make more with pockets.
One more thing to add is that I used scraps for the pocket placemat and it turns out that the red fabric is polyester or something because it started to melt! I need to be sure to use better fabric next time.
other: 12.5×17.5
I ruined my Black Apple Doll when I painted the face. I erased the other doll to show you what it looked like before I painted. I am so upset since I thought they were so cute before. I just wanted their eyes to be open and I don’t quite have the skills to paint a face. So now I am going to start over and do the face before sewing it all together. You can find the Black Apple Doll Pattern on the Martha Stewart Website.
I made this train for one of my kids a few years ago and now another kiddo wanted to make one, but this time he did the coloring.
I saw this really cool idea on Roots and Wings Co. and just had to make them. Check it out on their website for the complete instructions. I might just make mine into ornaments. I also got the Star Wars fonts to write the kids’ names from here. I used Starvader.
Things I learned to remember for next time:
1. I liked tracing with a Sharpie onto the shiny side and then coloring with pencils on the back side.
2. Place the Sharpie side up in the oven because it sticks.
3. I am not sure why some of the designs got deformed looking. Something to figure out for next time.
My nieces used to love cupcakes. I totally missed the boat on making these ornaments for them, but better late than never, right? I couldn’t find a template I liked so I just drew it myself. First, I traced two white cupcake tops and two rectangular brown bottoms; both made from felt. Then on one side of the cupcake top, I stitched on a loop of green ribbon with the red button stitched on at the same time. Next, I took a very thin beading needle and sewed on all of the seed beads. After that I stitched the top of the cupcake from the front to the brown bottom and did the same for the back side pieces. I used floss for this. The very last step was to stitch the front to the back using the floss. I had to switch from brown to white as I went around. This ended up being pretty easy and took about an hour.
My son came up with this idea all on his own. All he did was made one of the tiny advent ornaments from Perler and then used the round plastic shape that came with the kit to make a rug. He left 2 beads out on in the middle of the round “rug” part so that the trunk can fit into the hole and stand up.
My sister had some adorable Christmas blocks all over her house last year. They were painted red or green and then had cute little Christmas words written on them. They also were covered in clear glitter on the front. I tried to make my own version which didn’t turn out as cute as hers but the boys still like them. They put the blocks in their rooms for decorations.
My kids really liked this video of a ballet version of Peter and the Wolf. We checked it out from our library.
Last week I made this turkey roll from Food Network and it was great! The only problem was that I couldn’t find turkey breasts so I had to use chicken. It had such a nice look and flavor though. I would definitely make this again. I also couldn’t find the twine so I used toothpicks. The kids didn’t like the sauce that accompanies it, but liked the roll itself.
I loved the way these mini pumpkin pies looked on Bakerella’s website. I made them using a Pillsbury crust and they were surprisingly easy. I really don’t like to eat all of the chemicals in Pillsbury though so next time I need to make these with a homemade crust. Check out her site to get the recipe.
