Tuesday, March 30, 2010

#136 Recycling Sweatshirts (Part 2, Bunny Hat)

The idea to make this Bunny Hat for my son came from Notes from a Very Red Kitchen. So, you can read the directions there, or figure it out by looking at my collage (click to enlarge). It was super simple to make.

So, if you remember a few posts back I set myself on this mission to use up these zip-up hoodies with broken zippers, so that is what I used for this project, the cream colored fleece. It had some nice stretch to it, so I thought it fit the bill. I used white thread & leftover fabric I already owned & tada! I have a bunny hat.

Since my son was napping when I was working on this project I just used a current hat that fit as a template. And due to the thickness of the fleece, the ears stand up ok without stuffing, but I do have some sitting around the house I could use if I decide I want those ears sticking straight up.

He makes a very cute bunny rabbit and does have a cream colored long-sleeve onesie I could put on him to complete the look.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

#135 Rose Petal Tutu

I bought the tulle for $2, I already owned the thread, elastic, ribbon, & flowers. Actually, the flowers you have seen previously on a Christmas present project and they were ones I got from a rummage sale.

To make this tutu I used 2 yards of tulle. I left the tulle folded in half and then folded over the top (unfinished edge) twice to make a waist through which to string the elastic through. The bottom edge was folded. I stitched a seam across the waist, strung elastic though, stitched ends of elastic to make a loop. Next I filled with what flower petals I had (I kinda wish I had more) and then stitched a seam on the inside of the skirt, sealing the to open ends. Then I stitched a ribbon on the back seam, allowing it to be tied around front.

I left the elastic wide enough so it would fit comfortably but have plenty of give for putting over other clothes (as she sometimes like to layer many outfits.)

We are giving her this as an Easter present. Now I just need to finish the other Easter presents for her & her brother.


Saturday, March 20, 2010

#134 Using Leftover Paper Scraps & Stickers

This was completely my daughter's idea and she did almost all of the work. We had some scraps of paper laying around and she recently got some leftover stickers from my MIL (you know, the kind that come with the address labels from organizations soliciting donations) and she came up with the idea to organize them into her own set of memory cards. She made sure each card had a matching pair with coordinating stickers. I was so proud of her for coming up with this idea and executing it all on her own. All I had to do was cute some additional cards because she didn't have quite enough.

Win Eco-Friendly Baby Gear

Check out the Green Baby Guide and sign up to win eco-friendly clothes, shoes, diapers, books, & more. They are giving away a lot of stuff and you have a pretty good chance of winning. And who doesn't appreciate some free eco-friendly products?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Win Organic Valley Dairy & Meat Products

What could save you more money on organic food than winning free coupons? Go to Thrifty Jenny's Blog and get up to 4 entries to win Organic Valley Products. I love Organic Valley products and free is even better.

Win Some Organic Lollipops!

Go to C. Beth Blog and register to win some organic Yummy Earth lollipops. I think these would be perfect to put in my daughter's Easter basket and have some to give to her friends for her birthday party.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

#133 Make a Recycled Snack Box

We made this out of an old Schwan's box and some magazines destined for the recycling bin. My daughter and I made an evening project out of cutting out pictures of healthy food to decoupage to the top, sides & bottom of the box (so there is no indication it once held frozen pancakes.) She loved this little project and would get so excited each time she found another healthy food . After we finished gluing the pictures all on, I covered it with clear packing tape (because I was using up something we already owned) and then filled it up with snacks of hers. I thought this would be a good way to consolidate all her snacks into one spot rather than having several boxes of raisins, bars, fruit strips, etc, (which tend to take up quite a bit of space in the pantry.)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

#132 Recycling Sweatshirts - Part 1

So, I came up with the idea to re-purpose some sweatshirts with broken zipper into the trendy, crafty wreath people have been making lately. I bought a wreath ring at the dollar store and used one sleeve off each sweatshirt. While cutting strips to tie on the wreath I realized that I was only using a small portion of each sweatshirt. So, I decided that my next few posts on here are going to be of projects I complete as I try to use up these sweatshirts. So, project one is complete. Project two might actually be completed by my daughter because she decided to use the scraps from the sleeves and made a "baseball".

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

#131 Reusing Business Magnets

The inspiration for this project came from Little Family Fun. I reused magnets we received from businesses. They cut easily. I also re-purposed plastic caps as stencils to make the two different circle sizes. And even though, you could use this on the fridge, we re-purposed a cookie sheet so that we could make out activity portable (to a different room or to bring along in the car.) The foam sheets came from the dollar store and I cut out the shapes I wanted. I think I probably used about 1/5 of the sheets and some clue to adhere the magnets. So, basically this activity craft cost me about a quarter and will be worth so much more in entertainment value.