Felt Book: Textures

Kids like to touch things.  I know this because they often touch me when it is least convenient, like when they've just eaten a chocolate cookie and I'm wearing a cashmere scarf.  This is the reason I wanted to do some pages for c.b.'s felt book that had several different fabrics with different textures - so he could touch them.

Please note that I did my best to get the picture to the left to be horizontal but no matter what I did to the image itself, Blogger kept bringing it in vertical.  So if you twist your head just a little (the red sequence is on the bottom), you should be able to see it the way it was meant to be seen.

One way I thought to do this was quilt like, with each texture being a square all sewn up like a quilt on one felt page but then I decided that that might not be enough of each fabric for c.b. to really get his hands on it.  That's why I went with five strips of different fabrics on two felt pages.

And yes, I have a "pattern" for this one too but it was really more for organizational purposes than anything else - I wanted to make sure I didn't get two of the same fabric or too many fabrics of the same color.

Materials & Costs:

Felt Pages - I used two felt pages from the pack for a total of about $0.30.

10 Different Fabrics - Most of the fabrics I used I had laying around the house: green sweater sleeve from a sweater I don't wear anymore, pink striped flannel from a baby blanket I made, mustardy damask cotton from the shelf backing project, denim from some jeans that fit great in the waist but the legs were driving me crazy (I'll turn them into shorts), orange fleece from an old scarf, cream tricot from an upcoming project, and brown linen from an upcoming project.  That means the only fabrics I had to purchase were the blue vinyl which I got from the remnants section for $2.12 (there's plenty left over), the black fuzzy purchased by the yard for a total of $1.63, and the red sequence which was also purchased by the yard for $2.66.

That makes the total cost for this project $6.71 and the total for all felt pages so far about $13.61.

The steps for these pages were pretty simple, cut fabrics to desired size, sew fabrics together then sew to flannel.  However, it didn't really work out as easily as I had hoped.  More specifically, the vinyl was a beast to work with.  When I first sewed the vinyl to the flannel with the right sides together, everything went peachy.  But actually trying to put the right side of the vinyl through the sewing machine absolutely did not work.  I learned the hard way that vinyl and sewing machines do not play well together.

My machine is fine, by the way.  And I hand sewed the rest of the vinyl - also not incredibly easy but certainly possible.

I also had some trouble with the stretchy materials - sweater and tricot - but with some patience managed to get them on just fine.

The sequence I planned to do by hand from the beginning and I'm glad I did.  It took some time, but it made it on just fine.

Overall these pages didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped they would (not everything is lined up really nicely on the felt) but I still think they will be plenty entertaining for c.b.

Felt Book: Mr. Potato Head

For the second set of pages for c.b.'s Quiet Book I decided to do something a little more complicated than the Numbers page: Mr. Potato Head.  These pages weren't hard, they just required a little more work than the first two pages I put together.

My inspiration for these pages came from this blog, which, again, I found via Pinterest.  I don't think the page in the blog used felt.  I think felt works better.  It has a sturdier and cleaner feel to it than the fabric used in the blog, but to each his own.

I chose to do Mr. Potato Head because he's a classic.  What kid didn't grow up either playing with or wanting to play with Mr. Potato Head?  It is a must for all kids.  Since c.b. is only turning one, Mr. Potato Head might be a little advanced for him but I'm sure he'll grow into it pretty quick.  Or at least be entertained by the zipper on the storage pouch.

Again, I started by writing down my plan ("pattern").  I think I found this one a lot more useful than the Numbers pattern. (If you want to see the pattern, you should be able to click on the image to the left to make it big enough to see.)

Here are the materials and prices:

1. Two background pages.  I went with pink because I had a good chunk of pink from the multi-pack and because I wasn't planning on using pink anywhere else on Mr. Potato Head.  These pages were about $0.15 each, so $0.30 total.

2. Additional felt.  For Mr. Potato Head himself and his accessories, I needed additional felt: orange, brown, black, blue, white, yellow, red.  The orange was the only one that didn't come from the multi-pack.  I'd guesstimate that I used about $0.52 for all the additional felt.

3. Zipper.  I used a four inch zipper at the top of the storage pouch to keep all of Mr. Potato Head's accessories safely in one place.  The zipper cost $1.49.

4. Velco. I debated whether or not I needed both sides of the velco.  I knew the felt would stick quite securely to the rough side of the velcro all on its own but then I realized that that would wear out the felt quicker than I probably wanted.  So I purchased 30 inches of 5/8 inch wide velcro for $3.99.  I didn't use all the velcro but it will only be used for one other planned page so I'll attribute half the cost to Mr. Potato Head: $2.00.

5. Thread. Again, I just left white in the sewing machine.

6. A Sharpie marker.  I just had one (several really, I love those things) laying around.

This brings the total cost for the two Mr. Potato Head pages to about $4.31 and my total for all the felt pages to $6.90 (but I have lots of left over beads and I'll have some left over velcro).

Steps.

1.  I started by figuring out what size I wanted Mr. Potato Head to be in relation to the background page.  I drew and cut out a paper Potato Head to test it out.

2. Then I got the needed velcro on Mr. Potato head.  The top piece in the second image is for his eyes, the middle piece is for his nose, and the bottom piece of velcro is for his mouth.

3. Next I sewed Mr. Potato Head to the background page.  I did this after adding the velcro because I didn't want all the stitching from the velcro to show on the back of the background page.  The less stitching I can get there the better so the back of the page has a cleaner look.

4. After getting Mr. Potato Head on the background page I added his feet.  I couldn't think of more than one type of foot/shoe to make so I decided to just sew the one I could think of right on to the background page.

5. The last step to actually creating my potato was to add the final piece of velcro.  This piece is for Mr. Potato Head's hats.

6. I began creating accessories by also cutting them out of paper to make sure everything got to be a good size in relation to my potato.  This also came in handy because a lot of pieces actually required two pieces of the same piece so I could prevent velcro stitching from showing through, with the cut-out I could easily make sure all my pieces were about the same size and shape.  In the first image below you can see the eyes that I cut out of paper (the rest of the images are for a nose because the white velcro and the white stitching didn't show well in pictures with the white eyes).

7. Once all the right pieces were cut out I sewed the velcro on to the back piece (second image above).  In the third image above you can see what the stitching on the front of the nose looks like; not a great look for Mr. Potato Head.

8. Then I sewed the front piece on to the piece with the velcro.  An added bonus to using two pieces is that I get a nice quilted look to each of my pieces.

Tips for adding accessories (like a mustache) to Mr. Potato Head's accessories (like a nose).

• When cutting out the mustache (or other accessory), make sure to add a lip so the mustache will fit securely between two layers of nose.
• Start with the velcro sewed to the nose.
• Place the mustache on the stitching side of the velcro nose.
• Place the second nose piece on top of the mustache.
• Sew all pieces together.
• Also, instead of adding black felt to the eyes, I just drew that black part of the eyes on with a Sharpie marker. No use doing more sewing than I have to.

9. After I had all of my accessories sewn together I needed somewhere to store the pieces that weren't currently attached to Mr. Potato Head.  Since c.b. loves to play with zippers I made sure to secure said storage place with a zipper. I've never sewn a zipper before so I just kind of winged this.  First I sewed one side of the zipper to the outside of the pouch.

10. Next I sewed the outside of the pouch to the background page making sure that I did not sew over the section that was sewn to the zipper (that would have defeated the purpose of my storage place even having an opening at all).

11. Finally I sewed the other side of the zipper to the background page.

Done.

Felt Book: Numbers

Normally I wouldn't post about someone's birthday gift until after I've given it to them but since c.b. is only turning one I don't think this post will ruin the surprise for him.  For c.b.'s first birthday (as well as Christmas), I am making him a felt Quiet Book.  I have several pages in mind; this is the first I completed.

My inspiration for the Numbers pages came from a blog post I found on Pinterest.  I really like having the different numbers of beads on the ribbon so c.b. can play with the beads without choking on them.

I started out by making a "pattern" of my own.  To be honest, this page was so simple I probably didn't need a pattern but I did one anyone, 'cause I'm like that.  Sorry the image isn't incredibly easy to see, I used pencil.

Here are the materials needed and their prices (if known/relevant):

- 2 background pages.  I chose white because I wanted the numbers and ribbon to be rainbow colors and I thought it'd be cute to have a white background.  These two pages came from a multi-pack that had a handful of pages in it (not all of them complete pages, which irked me a little when I got home and opened up the pack).  Each page in that pack came to about $0.15, so my two background pages cost $0.30.

- Felt for each color the numbers would be in.  This price is going to be difficult to come to.  The pink, yellow, green, and blue came from the multi-pack but I obviously didn't use full pages.  The multi-pack didn't have any orange so I had to buy that one separate, on sale, for $0.25 (and it wasn't even the orange I wanted but the best JoAnn had at the time).  I figure all the felt I used for those numbers comes to about $0.10.

- Ribbon.  The purple ribbon I used came from a pack I purchased from a friend while she was getting ready to move.  The whole pack had a ton of ribbon in it and I think I paid her $10 so I'd guesstimate the cost of the ribbon I used for these pages to be about $0.20.

- Thread.  I just used the cheap white stuff that is currently in my machine.  I think the cost is probably too insignificant to put here.

- 55 Beads.  The smallest pack of the big plastic beads that I could find had 245 pieces - way more than I needed but whatever.  That pack cost $1.99.  I chose white because I couldn't find any good mutli-colored packs.  I saw a red, white, and blue pack and a multi-colored pack that has some funky colors but I wanted to stick with traditional rainbow-like colors, so white works.

This brings the total cost of these two pages to $2.59 - that includes the 190 beads I didn't use.

Steps.

1. I started with cutting out the numbers.  I cut the color felt I wanted to about 2 inches by 2 inches, then drew the number on the felt (using a thin Sharpie marker) backwards.  I did it backwards so less of the marker would show when I put the numbers on the pages.
2. Next I sewed each number on to the background felt and sewed  one side of the ribbon to the background.
3. Then I placed the appropriate number of beads on the ribbon, secured the beads back with a pin, and sewed the other side of the ribbon.
4. Done.  Ok, so these pages are technically done but I'll still need to place holes on the inside side of each page when I finish other pages and want to secure them all together.

DIY: Reheatable Rice Hand Warmers

Padre called me this morning and asked if I wanted to go to a football game with him.  My first question was "How cold is it supposed to be?" To which he replied (not his exact words) - pretty darn cold.  It has been a while since I've been to a football game (just before CJ and I started dating) so I decided to go.  Ever since (about 2 hours), I've been thinking about how I'm going to keep myself warm.

I'm going to need lots of layers: multiple socks, long johns under my jeans, thermal shirt plus hoodie plus down coat, gloves, scarf, ear muffs.  Then I thought it sure would be nice to have those heated hand warmers too, but they are so expensive.  But wait, on Pinterest the other day I saw some of those reheatable rice hand warmers that I could make myself.  The pin that I saw was actually a link to someone's Etsy where they were selling them so I decided to do a Google search and I found this site.  It's not as though I needed a site to help me, these are pretty simple.

1. I started with a fleece scarf that Big Sister made me years ago for Christmas.  She actually made me several scarfs in several colors, this is just the color I use the least.






2. Then I cut out two pieces (for two hand warmers)  to the size I wanted.








3. Next, I folded each piece over and sewed along the edges leaving a small opening.







4. When they were both sewn I turned them in-side-out.

5. Next I filled them with rice making sure not to fill them all the way, about 75% full.









6. Then I pinned back the rice.








7. Finally, I sewed up the side with the opening and then sewed another line along that edge just for extra measure.


Now I have two hand warmers that I'll heat up in the microwave at the last minute in an attempt to keep my hands warm during the game.

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies; I got it from a friend in college.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening (or butter or margarine or applesauce)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1 tsp nutmeg + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups flour

Direction:
1. Cream together shortening and sugar.
2. Mix in egg.
3. Mix in remaining ingredients.
4. Spoon on to ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake at 375 for about 10 - 12 minutes.
*Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Nutritional Information (one serving is one cookie):

New Job (Kind Of)

On Monday October 10th I worked for Company A and assumed I'd be working there for some time (not necessarily because I liked it there).  That evening after work I got a text from a co-worker: Do you know what the mandatory meeting is about?  I figured that Boss At The Time was freaking out over something small and was calling everyone into a meeting to threaten to replace us all with contractors . . . again.

I checked my work email to see what my co-worker was talking about and noticed that the email came from HR, not Boss At The Time.  I also noticed that Boss At The Time was not included in the people who received this email.  To be honest, my first thought was that Boss At The Time was getting fired (finally!) and I was very, very happy about that.

I got into work the next morning and this mandatory meeting was all anyone could talk about.  Through this talk we also realized that Hearts, another co-worker, wasn't included in the email.  This was a surprise and didn't fit with my theory that Boss At The Time was going to be fired.

We got into the meeting, almost the whole department was there and the COO was there and another guy who I didn't know was there.  Just a few minutes into the meeting I found out (other co-workers already knew) the other guy was the CEO of Company B.  Company B acquired (for lack of a better term) Company A's Programming Department and everyone in it.  Everyone in the meeting automatically had a job with Company B (whew) and everyone not in the meeting was laid off (Boss At The Time = yes!, Guy Who No One Knew What He Did = too bad, he was a nice guy even though no one knew what he did, Hearts = that's the suck).

So on Tuesday October 11th I worked for Company B assuming that this was a great move away from Company A whom I was beginning to loath.

Some background: I'd worked for Company A for just over two years.  I started as a Software Tester and a few months later became the Software Project Manager (which actually entailed everything I had been doing, everything the title implies, plus some - it's a smallish company).  As the Software Project Manager I worked really hard to keep that department organized - a nearly impossible act if you know Company A's Marketing Department.  But I think I succeeded at least a little.  It was a lot of hard work but as of October 10th we were coding more with less bugs and much better communication inside and outside of the department.

All of that seems to have died as of October 11th (RIP sanity).  Company B is a very different situation than what we've been used to.  Communication is horrific, cowboy coding is at an all time high, more bugs are getting through (maybe because we push things without testing?), tension and stress are high, and, once again, I'm exhausted from just thinking about all my hard work that has gone down the drain and the fact that even though I pretty much have the same team as at Company A, I'm going to have to start from scratch to get us where we were on October 10th.

So, if you see me around and notice that I look half dead and my hair is falling out, you'll know it is because I've lost the last year and a half of my life and I get to do it all over again.  Fun.

DIY: Receiving Blanket and Burp Cloths

It seems like everyone is having a baby and that's only a little bit of an exaggeration.  A little while ago it also seemed like every sewing place had flannel on sale, so I bought some and that's only a little bit of an understatement.

One of my fabric fabrics was a dinosaur fabric.  The store where I got it didn't have any of the dinosaur paw print fabric left so I went with a plain green fabric for my second fabric.  This is what I made:

1 receiving blanket, 3 regular burp cloths, and 4 burp cloths made from cloth diapers.  The steps for all were really simple (I don't do complicated things . . . yet).

After the fabric was cut, for anything I wanted to add an applique to, I added that next.  I probably would have done more but I didn't have enough fabric for more.  I chose a gray thread for this project because there are some gray rocks on the dinosaur printed fabric and I thought gray thread would bring the color of the rocks out nicely.

Receiving Blanket

Regular Burp Cloths

Next, for the receiving blanket and the regular burp cloths, I sewed the front sides of the fabric together leaving a small unsewn section.  Then I turned it right side out, ironed the sides flat, and sewed around the edges one more time.  Easy.  Each has dinosaurs on one side and plain green fabric on the other side.

Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

For the other burp cloths I ended up being really glad that I bought the diapers that didn't have the three defined sections.  Without those sections, I could cut the fabric any size I wanted and wouldn't have to worry about it fitting perfectly into that middle section.  I simply cut the fabric, pinned it to the burp cloth while folding the edges under, then sewed around the edges.  Couldn't be easier.



Now all I need is a friend or family member to have a baby boy (is everyone having girls this year? really?) so I can gift these fabulous dinosaur products to him.