DIY: Halloween Puppets

There’s a chill in the air, jack o’lanterns and ghostly decorations are everywhere. Yes, Halloween is near! This year we wanted to try making something different other than the usual paper plate masks and construction paper cut out bats. We love those, don’t get me wrong but we came up with our own project and we love it. We made puppets with foam balls, wooden dowels and my husband’s old shirts (sshhh! Don’t tell!) The best part of this project is that you can make any character you want and make them as crazy as you want them to be.  This is how we did it:

1. Make the heads:

You’ll need 3” smooth foam balls (or approximate size),  gesso, wooden dowels, pencil, craft paint in the colors of your choice, brushes in different sizes. For the optional steps you’ll need school glue, water, tissue paper, mod podge or finishing spray.

Cover the foam balls with a couple coats of Gesso. You need to do this in order for the paint to stay on the surface later on, that way it won’t peel off. After the gesso is dry, use a pencil to draw your puppets’ facial features. Draw eyes, mouths, big ones, small ones, anything you like, this is Halloween after all! Use your craft paint to paint the ball all around, making sure you can still see the pencil lines through the paint. Trace the features with a thin brush. Insert the wooden dowel at the bottom of the head. Because the foam ball is soft, it won’t be hard to get the dowel in there but you may use the tip of a pencil to get a hole started and then push the dowel. 

Optional steps:

* If you would like to make three-dimensional features such as ears or noses, you’ll need to make a quick mix of papier maché. Simply mix equal amounts of school glue and water and dip shredded pieces of tissue paper in it, mold into shape and place on the foam ball, where you want it. It will be very wet, you will need to let it dry overnight. This is what I did for the cat’s ears and nose and the pumpkin’s stem.

* You may add a special touch by adding the year on the back and making it a family keepsake. 

* After painting the head and facial features, you may add a layer of mod podge or finishing spray. That way you’ll be able to show off your puppet for years!

2. Make the clothes:

I kept this part very simple. I used sleeves from old men’s shirts. Cut off the sleeves and cut off the cuffs. Then gather the narrower end at the base of the puppets’ heads and glue gun it to the dowel, at the base of the head. If you don’t have shirts to cut, simply use old scraps of fabric to glue on the dowel, at the base of the head.

Optional steps:

Make a couple of fancy items to add to your characters! I used felt to make a little witch’s hat and cape. You can use ribbons, buttons, pom poms, etc to glue onto your puppet’s clothes or heads.

The kids loved working on these puppets, I think we’ll keep them around even after Halloween passes. They’re making up their own little stories and using their imaginations to play and be creative. They also loved being involved in the making process. From brushing the gesso onto the balls, to painting and cutting off the shirts, this project is kid friendly. My oldest is learning how to use the glue gun but you be careful with the little ones around as they can get easily burned with the tip of the gun or the melted silicon. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Natasha K.

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DIY: Upcycled Skirt

It is that time of the year again and we find ourselves transitioning into Fall. We go into our closets,  take out the sweaters and start wearing layers. As I went into my daughter’s closet and found a few things to donate, I found a couple of pants that still fit her at the waist but are short at the ankles. So I thought to turn them into a skirt, which became the idea for this post! Note that you can do this project with your own, adult size pants. You will need:

A pair of old pants

Your sewing machine

Fabric scissors

Seam ripper

Coordinating thread

Basic sewing skills

1.a. Decide where you would like your hem height to be (above or below the knee, etc) and mark it. Lay the pants completely flat on a flat surface. Cut the legs off where you marked the leg. Be careful to cut in a “curve” and not straight across (image above)

1.b. Use your seam ripper to take apart the seam on the inside leg.  When you get to crotch area, carefully rip the seams as close to the zipper as possible. It may take a little time to do this but it will be worth it.  Keep the bottom part of the legs that you just cut off for the next step.

2.a. Use your scissors to cut open the legs (the pieces you just cut off) along one of the seams (side or inseam, it doesn’t matter). No need to rip the seams, just cut as close to the seam as possible. The top part of the pants (which will become your skirt) will have two sort of flaps, at the front and back, in what used to be the inseam of the leg and crotch. Lay the pants flat, overlap the crotch flaps one on top of the other and put one of the pieces of fabric from the cutout legs (legs you cut off) under the opening. Make sure the flaps are on top of that piece of fabric, laying flat, fold in the edges and carefully pin the layers together.

3.a. Time to sew! Top stitch along the pinned folded flaps.  You can use a thicker, contrasting thread color for fun - you gotta show off your work, right? I used a couple strands from a DMC embroidery floss. Cut the excess fabric on the wrong side of the garment (middle image above). 

3.b. Repeat steps 2.a through 3.a to finish the back of the skirt. Once front and back are finished, your skirt is ready! You can wash and dry it to fray the hem.

OPTIONAL:

Step 2.a. optional: Instead of using the cut out leg to insert under the opening at the front and back of the skirt, you could use a different fabric to add contrast. Maybe use a patterned fabric or different color fabric but you should find something that is the same fabric weight as the rest of the skirt.

Step 3.b. optional: You may decide to finish the hem differently. You can fold in the hem and top stitch it but you must remember to add an extra 1.5” to 2” hem height when cutting the pants on step 1.a. You can also top stitch lace or ribbon at the edge of the hem. However, it must be a narrow width as your hem is curved and the lace or ribbon will lay flat,  possibly producing a puckered effect.

Now that your skirt is ready, wear it, layer it with tights this Fall and strut it around next Summer. You will be so happy with the result and best of it all, you did it all yourself and reused a piece from your closet.  This is a great project to reuse your favorite pair of pants and to create a unique piece of clothing you can wear all year around.  Enjoy it, have fun and happy sewing!

Natasha K.

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D.I.Y. Valentine's inpired PJ case

Valentine’s day is approaching fast! Just a few days and it’s here. I came up with a project inspired by Valentine’s but perfect to keep around all year long. It’s a PJ case, a case where you can store PJs  during the day. No more pajamas under the pillows or laying around the bedroom. It will lay fluffy on your kid’s bed waiting for bedtime to get emptied out!

You will need:

One 14” x 14” and two 14” x 8” pieces of fleece

Freezer paper

Acrylic or textile paint in color of your choice

Textile medium (if you decide to use acrylic paint)

A foam or spouncer brush

Exacto knife

Surface for mixing colors (I use the cover of a take out container)

Love heart stencil

1. PRINT THE DESIGN

Follow steps 1. though 6. used in April showers Tee project to make your stencil and print the design on the 14” x 14” piece of fleece. Note that you are NOT using the striped area in the heart stencil. Place the letters as you like. If you are using textile paint, you do not need to use the textile medium.

2. MAKE THE PJ CASE

I decided to use fleece for this case because it won’t fray and I didn’t want to finish the edges. If you decide you want to use a different kind of fabric and you want to finish the edges, you have to account for this in the measurements.

Overlap the two 14” x 8” pieces of fleece so that you have a 14” x 14” square. That will be your opening. Pin it down to keep it in place. Place the 3 layers of fabric so that the right sides are facing each other. Stitch all  around the edges using a ¼” to ½” seam allowance. Clip the corners and turn inside out. Press edges and enjoy!

TIPS:

* I recommend printing your fabric first. If you mess up, all you have to do is cut another piece of fabric as oppose to having to make a whole case again.

* You can print the design on a previously purchased pillow case and use that instead. Or print it on a Tee shirt too!

I made this one for my daughter and she loves it! You can make them as gifts for your friends' kids or your own. Have your littles give you a hand, they’ll treasure their PJ cases even more! Remember to supervise children while doing this project, specially while cutting, ironing and sewing.

Have fun and please share pictures of your projects!

Natasha K.

ETSY // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM

 

 

DIY: Advent Calendar Banner

It seems as if the year flew by and yes, the holidays are already so close!!! For those who celebrate, here’s an easy DIY advent calendar. It can be adapted for both Christian and Jewish celebrants, just change your colors a bit. Best of all, it’s so easy, kids will enjoy working on it with you! So gather your supplies and start working, you’ll need:

* Scrapbook paper with two different patterns

* Mini paper bags (the amount depends on how many advent days you celebrate)

* Baker’s twine (or some sort of thin cord)

* Hole punch

* Paper scissors

* Glue

* Printer

* Odd and even number designs

1. Print out the 2 designs, odd and even numbers, on your scrapbook paper. Make sure your scrapbook paper fits your printer (you can cut it to about 8.5’ wide) and that you place it correctly in order to print on the patterned side of the paper. Cut each number along the dotted lines.

2. Use your punch hole to make two holes on each paper bag, one hole at each top corner. If your bags are too long, you can simply fold them back to make them a bit shorter (that’s what I did for mine as I wanted each to be square) Glue the numbers to the bags, here’s where the kids can start to help!

3. Put the banner together by threading the baker’s twine through each hole. Hang, fill each bag with a small treat every day and enjoy! By the way, what favorite treat would you stuff in these little bags? Comment below!!!

This is a perfect project to work on during this coming Thanksgiving weekend. Have fun and as always, keep an eye on the little ones as they use scissors. Happy holidays!

Natasha K.

ETSY // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM

 

DIY: upcycled pencil case

Fall is at our doorstep and we’re getting ready to welcome it around our house. The kids are back in school so I have more time to clean up their closets. As I’m putting their outgrown clothes aside for donation, I decided to keep a couple of zippered sweatshirts to experiment with for this project. I ended up making this little pouch, perfect for my daughter’s crayons, here’s how I did it:

1. Use an old zippered sweater to upcycle. Turn the sweater inside out and place it on a flat surface. Decide the final length of your pencil case by marking the zipper at two points (blue dots on picture). If the sweater has a front pocket, try to avoid it to facilitate sewing.  Machine stitch on the marked points to close the zipper, making sure the zipper pull is between the points.

2. Hold the sweater (still inside out) from the center front zipper, fold it and lay it flat as pictured. Use a water-soluble pen or chalk to mark the shape of the pencil case (blue dotted line on picture). The shape can be anything you want, rectangular, square, rounded corners, etc, depending on the size of the sweater. Mark a seam allowance of about ¼” (red  line on picture).

3. Pin down the two layers of fabric and cut along the marked seam allowance (red line) Make sure the zipper pull is pulled to the middle of your work so you can turn it later. Stitch along marked stitch line (blue line). At zipper points, make several stitches to reinforce.

4. Turn your pencil case right side out and tidy up the edges with a pointed tool (pencil, chopstick, etc). Voilà! You’re done… start using to store school supplies, even cosmetics or electronics!

TIP: When stitching along marked stitch line (step 3) you may want to add a second stitch line just next to the first, using your machine’s zig-zag stitch. This is helpful reinforcement, specially because you’re working with a knit and your straight stitch may brake after a while.

Have fun and please share pictures of your upcycled pencil cases!

Natasha K.

*on Etsy*    

*on Facebook*    

*on Instagram*

Father's Day Printable Cards

It’s almost here, Father’s Day is around the corner! We still have a few days to prepare and to make things easier, here’s a pair of lovely printable card designs. If you already have a card have no fears, this can be a project that your kids can enjoy and make it their own. So, all the do-it-yourselfers and unique seekers out there, get your cardstock ready and let’s get to work!

You’ll need:

* Letter size cardstock in your color of choice.

* Cutting tools (cutting knife, surface and metal ruler)

* Your trusty printer!

* My printable Father’s Day card design.

* Photographs or kid’s drawings (optional)

1. Use your chosen cardstock to print out the card design. Make sure you pick a color  that is not too dark so that the design is visible. Separate the two cards by carefully cutting  across the horizontal line, right on the middle of the paper. Fold the cards down the dotted vertical line. Now you have two cards and you can write a message in the inside or proceed to step 2 (optional)

2. There are 4 angled lines on the back of the cards. Carefully use you cutting knife to cut over those lines. Make sure you don’t cut all the way to the corner edges! The cuttings will hold any picture or drawing that you insert in the card measuring 3.5” X 5” approximately. 

Kids will love making special art for the card or helping you pick fun pictures to put in there. If the card is for a new dad, your can use non-toxic paint to stamp your baby’s hand (or foot!) in the insert. Whatever you do, they’ll enjoy being involved making something that dad will treasure.

Have fun and please share pictures of your cards!

Natasha K.

*on Etsy*

*on Facebook*

PS: Don’t forget you still have a week to enter our June giveaway for a chance to get a mini plush robot! Thanks to Susan Ng for her wonderful blog post featuring my shop Jumping Birds!