Game mat

Living in Wisconsin I have learned this valuable lesson:

HAHA But seriously we moved here in November and it was too cold to do anything outside until May.  With 2 small and energetic kids it was rough being home bound. I was beginning to understand Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining, demon possessed hotel aside I felt like insanity was just a snow flake away.




Pinterest became my saving grace. I saw this wonderful little thing from The Idea Room/A Girl And A Glue GunNow I had originally planned to sew the thing but then my kids decided the only place I could sew was on my computer desk in the office behind a locked door. Meaning I just didn't have room to sew something 6 feet long. So I followed the example above and out came the glue gun. The bonus of all of this was that the Hubby upon seeing me struggle with a cheap mini glue gun went out and bought me a full size cordless dual temp glue gun! So on to my project.



I bought 15 pieces of brightly colored felt for the hopscotch board, 2 yards of white muslin, 1 package bias tape, 2 bags of plastic pellets and 10 pieces of patterned felt. I have found Hobby Lobby has the best selection on felt. Using a ruler and chalk I measured to turn my felt into squares. and then the rotary tool for cutting.

I placed a cutting board underneath just so I didn't damage the counter top. I like using white or colored chalk (I get it in the school supply section) for a couple reasons. its cheap and it washed out pretty easily. I cut the felt down to a 9"x9" square.

Once again I used PowerPoint to make my numbers. Its easy to size the paper, font and font size. I sized my paper to 8"x8" and I used the Comic Sans font. Numbers 1 through 9 are size 550 and number 10 I had to shrink to size 450. I know those aren't standard font sizes but you can change to those.  Once printed I cut the numbers out, laid it face down on my felt square and pinned it in place.



I traced the number using a washable marker. I then took a pair of scissors and cut out the numbers.

Like the lady in the link above I decided to also add a "dart board". Using a different color of felt I cut out 9 strips and one circle.






I used my paper towel holder as a template for my circle. Although I ended up cutting it down a little smaller to fit.







Once again PowerPoint for my numbers. I used Comic Sans at size 150. Since these numbers where a little smaller I was able to lay the felt on top of the paper and just trace out the numbers.

The Tic Tac Toe board. Oh how I hate this game. But its an easy game for kids. I cut four strips of the bias tape into roughly 21 1/4" strips.

As you can tell the TTT board got a little crooked, but its OK. It still works. I laid out the muslin I bought and proceeded to glue things in place. In doing the numbers 4, 6, 8, 9 & 10 make sure you save the centers of any cuts out you do. You will need them as you see here, to give the numbers their shape. Unlike in the link above I decided to leave this as an open sheet, because then someone can play 2 games at once and I don't have to hear the dulcet tones of someone whine "but Mommy, I don't want to play with this side!"

I made a carry bag out of felt & bias tape scraps along. You can also see the bean bags (six of each pattern, I just cut the felt into squares and sewed them together) I made for the "dart board" and TTT. I did butterflies for my girl and dinosaurs for my boy. The bag is 1 piece dino felt, 1 piece butterfly felt, sides and bottom are made with leftovers of sock monkey felt and the handles are bias tape scraps. I know the bag and bean bags are not probably the best I could do, but I was working in limited space and needed to get done. I know I could have used real beans in the bags but I wanted to use the plastic pellets so that I could throw every thing into the washing machine if needed.


So the mat folded and all 12 bean bags put into the carry bag. Now we can lay it out in the living room or grab the bag as we head out to the park!






Until next time,
Amy

Health Care

For many years now we have had to deal with the military health care system since the hubby is active duty Army.  Many of you have heard my horror stories of doctor's appointments and trips to the emergency room. The "care" we received was so awful that anytime we had an appointment the hubby would tell me "Watch your temper, I don't have time to come get you from the MP station."

So when we moved to Wisconsin I was happy that we would be seeing a civilian doctor in a civilian clinic/hospital. Civilian doctors depend upon the good will of patients in order for the doctor to continue to practice medicine. I have been very pleased with the medical attention we have received. But today surpassed ANY expectations I had.

My 4 year old daughter Ally developed a cold and we were able to get her a same day appointment. Now Ally loves sock monkeys, she has several but her favorite is this pink one she calls Daddy Monkey. Daddy Monkey goes everywhere and suffers through everything with her. So when we got to the check in desk my daughter tells the lady that she (Ally) and Daddy Monkey both have a cough. The lady says, with a voice full of concern "OH NO!! Well you both need a mask then to cover your faces!" Then she grabs two disposable child size masks from a cabinet. We get upstairs to the clinic and the intake nurse not only takes my daughter's vitals but she takes the monkey's vitals as well (without being asked!). Then we get to the room and the doctor comes in. Daddy Monkey got a full exam as well. All this just because they saw that it was important to a child. When we dealt with the military it was "Your mother has to hold your doll, it is in our way."

I loved this. I loved seeing my child talked to and treated like this, to be made to feel like something she cared about was important to someone she didn't know. It made the appointment go much easier, which in turn made me much more relaxed. It truly is the little things you do that end up being important.

Ally and Daddy Monkey wearing their masks at the doctor's office. It kind of turned into a full body apron for Daddy Monkey.

Thank you for reading, 

Amy

Duct Tape Monogram

This project original started out as a round wreath using duct tape. However I just don't have the patience (or even really the time) it takes to follow the directions for doing that. (If you are interested in making a wreath you can check it out here: http://craftingrocks.com/forum/topics/make-a-duck-tape-wreath-with-westcott-brand-titanium-bonded-non.


So Plan B; a duct tape monogram. As an Army family our motto is Home Is Where The Army Sends Us. I am always looking for fun ways to do monograms, I needed a generic something to hang on the door and I wanted to use duct tape.




Largest size wooden letter from Hobby Lobby and a roll of digital camo duct tape

Cut the tape to wrap around the letters. You can use some craft adhesive (like E6000 or rubber cement) on the back if you feel like it needs some extra hold. However it will melt the duct tape so only use it on the back side of the letter.

the hubby had to help on a few tricky places, just because he has better spatial relations and can handle an Exacto knife without nearly removing his fingers.  LOL

Thin wooden board that I painted Infantry Blue (which is basically light blue but the infantry division of the Army uses it as their color) and my favorite transfer method.  I sized the paper set up on my computer to match the size of the board (I used Powerpoint) then picked out the font and font size that best fit in that space. After printing I scribbled on the back in pencil (this acts like carbon paper) and taped the paper to the board using masking tape.

Then I traced over the letters on the paper to transfer them to the board.

Completed transfer of letters. My apologies for the crooked picture (not really sure why I can't get this picture to rotate and stay they way I want).









Filled in the letters using a black paint pen.

And a piece of blue paracord to hang it with. Unfortunately I have yet to be able to hang on my door as the weather never seems to cooperate. We have had some very high winds and I have not wanted this banging on the window of the door.







Thanks for following,
Amy

I'm so crafty, I make people!!

I saw my subject line on Pinterest and have had a fit to use it. What can I say I'm just a little corny.

I love rag dolls. Each one is different, each is special. If you mess up a little it's no big deal, rag dolls are by nature hand made so therefore imperfect. You can also customize your rag doll with funky hair & clothing or go the more traditional route.  My first rag doll I got as a young child, a 3 foot tall Raggedy Ann (30+ years later I still have her packed away safely); my next rag doll was much smaller and was a gift to me shortly before my mother died. Twenty five years later that doll gave me an idea.

My daughter found the doll while I was going through some boxes. Watching her tote it around gave me the idea to make her one of her own. I Googled rag dolls and found the following site (http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/free-doll-pattern.html). The pattern is free and the directions are clear & simple. I made some alterations to the doll because I had Big Plans and Ideas for her. I slimmed down the torso into a rectangle then added a half inch seem allowance to every piece. The hair is handstitched a single strand at a time. I used some really soft all cotton yarn for the hair.  The face came from Google (friend of mine found it for me) and was hand painted on using standard acrylic paint. I meant for this doll to be a Christmas  present but ran short on time and  just bought an outfit instead of making the wardrobe I had planned. This was several years ago so I didn't take pictures. I also swore I would never make another doll.

A few months ago my BFF tells me she is having her 3rd little girl. Much like the pain of child birth I forgot my earlier resolution and the pain of making a rag doll. I set out to make my new god-daughter her very first doll.  I started out taking step by step pictures but ended up having so many issues and frustrations with this doll I stopped and decided to concentrate on the doll. I saw this pattern on Pinterest (http://thegirlinspired.com/2012/11/make-doll-pattern-and-instructions/) and decided to try it. Decent tutorial and cute doll. But I ended up using my original pattern and then used the hair pattern on this. Turns out the head is the same size... lucky me.  I did change the hair a little bit, I made the pigtails 3D (still using felt) and stuffed them with poly-fil. They also sit lower on the doll. And  instead of using a plain cotton fabric for the doll I used flannel since I wanted this doll to be soft. For her dress I used about a half of a fat quarter. I also gave her dress some sleeves to hide a few mistakes on her arms.

Then of course came the face. I didn't want to use the same face as before so I took a pencil (it washes out when the doll is laundered) and did a little drawing on the doll and then used cross stitching/embroidery floss to stitch in the eyes and mouth.

These are my dolls. The one on the left belongs to my daughter and the one on the right belongs to my god-daughter.

I am not altogether sure I will do this again, its time consuming to make these dolls. I do have another pattern in mind for my next doll project.

In stitches,
Amy