Felt Cupcakes

I'm a finisher.  This means, I finish every project, or every idea (I try, at least).  I think of pinterest as more of a to do list than an ideas list.  This can be a little bit of a problem.  Now, I'm not a fast finisher.  I have far too many projects I have the pieces to that aren't finished yet, but they will be...someday.  Having said all that...this is a project I wanted to try out probably four years ago.  I bought the muffin tins and then I saw a squirrel or something.  I finally uncovered these muffin tins and it was time.  I love it because they are play cupcakes you can also use to teach colors.

 I painted the inside of the tin to match the cupcake tops.  As far as making the cupcakes-google a free pattern to make play cupcakes-there should be a ton.  The ones I used didn't work out, so I had to wing it on the way.

I used brown felt for the base which I stuffed and then different colors of fabric for the tops and I hot glued the two pieces together.

Play Tea: Sugar Cubes and Lemon Slices

Here's part two of three of a birthday gift I'm working on for Blythe.  There is a tea party involved in this one.  I try to make gifts based on books.  I posted about the little fabric tea bags I made yesterday with some scraps I had left over from a quilt.  I usually toss fabric this small, so this was the perfect solution.  I decided every good tea service has lemon and sugar cubes.
I took some felt (yellow and white) and cut out some lemon shapes.  Here is a free template for those.

 I then sewed them all together, but you could use fabric glue as well.

 Finished....

 For the cubes, I bought some little wood squares at the craft store in the unfinished wood section.  They have these in all sizes.  You could paint them white, or even get some glittery white paint.  I used what I had on hand.  I sprayed them white, then sprayed them with glue and rolled them in glitter.

 Finished...

 Every great project includes a little glitter.  This also applies for all work projects.

 Here is the finished set.  For now.  There will be more.  Soon.

Felt Flower Book Bag

Since everyone else was jumping off the cliff into a pile of felt flowers, I decided to join 'everyone.'  I have these bags (I love zebra print), and I decided to jazz them  up.   I used some brown felt I had in my 'emergency stash'...whatever that means-emergency felt can also equal=new low.  I found a flat flower I liked on sale at Etsy, and decided to rig up a process.  I wanted it to be flat so that it wouldn't be a 'burden' for the carrier of the above bag as it brushed past...whatever. 

It only took one sheet of  felt to make this flower that is about six inches across. 

I cut out two of these four petaled flowers.  5 circles that were about an inch, and three that were about an inch and a half. 

I stacked the two larger petal wheels. 

I stacked the five smaller circles around the inside.

I sewed these all together (you could also glue them down, but I'm not very neat with a glue gun). 

I then pinched the ends of the three larger petals and sewed the pinched edge. 

I sewed these down next. 

I added a button.  Buttons make everything better. 

I glued a pin to the back, and put a rectangle across the back to hold it more firmly in place. I figured pinning it to the bag was best so the bag could be washed if necessary. 

Linking To:  Funky Junk

Salad: Felt Garden

Salad doesn't get any healthier than this...inedible, felt salad/garden kit. 

I snagged this basket, watering can, and gardening tools last summer.  I made corn, and carrots like I did when I made these for my barn play tent, the directions are here. 

This time I added a head of lettuce, and cauliflower. 

I snagged a few balls at the dollar store, and I covered them in left over quilt batting. 

I cut out leaf shapes from felt, stitched some veins on the leaves, and then just started sewing them all along the ball. 

No diets were harmed in the making of this project. 

Linking To:

Along For the Ride

Christmas Giveaway: Gingerbread Gift Pack

This is my first giveaway.  Mostly, I'm trying to get rid of stuff....so, it won't be my last giveaway because I got a lot of 'stuff' and it's gotta get out of my world.  First....about the junk craft I'm giving away....

I made these felt cookies a year ago, all the info on this process lives here. 

I added a cooking tray, but then....

I decided I left a very important part of the cookie making process out of the whole mix....the apron.  I made it little since I didn't see any of my friends or I playing extensively (or OPENLY) with felt food, and I attached a little gingerbread to the corner with a little 'homemade' stitching.  I was going to save it for Blythe, but who am I kidding, I'll have made 6,345 things for 2.5 year old girls by next Christmas, and this will be holding up the edge of  wobbly table leg or something if it stays here much longer. 

So....I'm getting rid of it.  "It" is the apron, felt cookies, cutter, and rolling pin.  I'm keeping the tray, not because I want it, but because it's too big to mail in any of the regular size envelopes.  You can grab one at the dollar tree. Anyway, if you have a kiddo in your life, or someone else's life who needs to pretend bake, or you need something to hold up a wobbly table leg.....leave a comment below sometime between now and  11:58 and 38 seconds NEXT Saturday night (11/20), just let me know you put up with me follow along.  You don't even have to be nice, you don't have to blog about it later, you don't have to pat your head and rub your tummy, but I am willing to accept winning lottery ticket numbers, or your opinion on Edward vs. Jacob...as long as it's Edward.  If you share the info with your Mom, neighbor, vet, or imaginary friend, feel free to leave two comments.    I should also warn you,  I will be selling all your information to a small firm that sells insurance policies, and Rolexes, but other than that, no strings (kidding!).   On Sunday (the 21st), my dogs are going to go through a very scientific process to choose a winner from all both of the people willing to take on my gingerbread (Hi, Mom!).  I don't know what it is yet, but it's going to be VERY professional.  Lastly, this is NOT the last you'll see of gingery things on this here blog....I have a week of gingerbread fun coming up...I think I mentioned this, but I believe in overcommunicating. 

Felt Farm Food

After my last post about the Farmer's Market, this project was ready to be shared. This is part of a larger project I'm working on....or rather, I plan on working on at some point in the near future, and by saying this is part of that project I'm hoping it will make me force myself to finish that project since I don't like dangling/incomplete projects, though my life is filled with ideas in the oven. On another note, I'm totally fine with dangling participles. This has nothing to do with the other, but....it seemed like a good time to mention it.
Anyway, I love making felt food. I've made quite a bit of felt food in the past. No calories, this is a good thing. I went back and tagged some of those projects, and I've now added a 'felt food' label to those post. I guess it's that girl in me that would have spent my whole time in the play kitchen in pre-k....except I didn't attend a Pre-K program, so I have a lot of playtime to make up for in my adulthood.
OK...enough on that other mumbo jumbo...on to the specifics....
I have a friend with little boys, one of which really likes barns and farms. I decided to make some felt farm food to go with that large project I'm working on for the family....I'll get to rest of the project...right after I post this....and watch some day time TV....and surf the net....and paint my dog's toenails...and....
Anyway.
I bought felt in the colors I needed. I did a sewing assembly line of stitches that would match the food's dents/bumps/features/characteristics...whatever.
Here is my 'corn features' sewing assembly line:


I sewed two sides, and the tip of the vegetable inside out. I turned it rightside out, stuffed the vegetable with scraps of felt, and cloth, and then cut out the shape of the 'green leafy part.'

I squished it into whatever shape I wanted it to be in, and then placed it in the (still) open end of the vegetable.

I just sewed a line across.

I know there is a whole process to hand stitching and pulling these so the tops are more rounded,and authentic, but I just didn't think the 6 and under-year-old kiddos cared about that extra step.l..incidentally, neither did the 31 year old making these felt foods.
The Carrots

The Corn


The Eggs (I've seen things like this around on the net with a cool little blanket stitch around the yolk.  I didn't do this....I just used my machine....I didn't want to show off, oh, and I have no idea how to make a blanket stitch.)
I made little egg yolks...

They fit inside the plastic eggs I saved from Easter...

And I slipped the yolk filled eggs inside the cartons...

Here's the problem with a farm project....I could go on...and on...and on. I wanted to make pails of milk, but I imagined the milk drops all over the house...and my friend never speaking to me again...b/c she's too busy collecting parts.
...or all the felt farm animals I could make.
...oh no, this can't be good.
Someone please call me in thirty minutes and make sure I'm not ordering chicken feathers off Amazon or something.
Forget felt. I want a real farm.
Do they sell chickens on Amazon?
...let me go check...I'll post the rest of this in a few weeks....assuming my new chickens don't chew through my power cord.
Linking To:
Under the Table and Dreaming
C.R.A.F.T
Sew Can Do
Topsy Turvy
Trendy Treehouse
Featured On:
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/p/featured-on.html

Felt Food: Pizza

I'm moving on to a new project now. I'm full of felt food! (For the time being.) All the toppings are removable so you can build your own (borrowed blog idea). Most of the 'toppings' have velcro on the back. I sewed a little napkin today after going to Hobby Lobby for fabric for the 800th time this week. The End.

Felt Food: Sugar Cookies

I have one more 'felt food' project after this, and then I have to let it go for awhile and move on to a new crafting area in my life. I saw this at Etsy too, but they even had a cute little apron with theirs. I just used quilt scraps to make oven mitts, and that was good enough for me.

Felt Food: Gingerbread Men

I've gone a little bit nuts this holiday with craft projects. I've been working like mad on little gifts for people to give out over the next few months. I can't post about those 'gifts' because then I'd ruin them....BUT I can share this new project. I saw these little felt foods on ETSY the other day. ETSY's is an online store where individuals sell their goods, and a lot of it's really cute homemade sewn/knitted etc 'stuff.' I am IN LOVE with the felt food. Seriously, in love. Even though the Christmas season is over, I had to pop these little guys out before I 'moved on.' I'm putting them away until next fall, and then I will find a few friends to give them away to....it might be :your kiddo:, but I figure it won't ruin the surprise for the kiddos, even if it ruins the surprise for you. I bought enough to make three sets of these, but I only made one tonight b/c I had to figure it out...which takes awhile...and what I figured was that it's probably best to hand sew everything but the outline of the dough....which then took even longer. I'll work on the next two little guys later. I'm hoping to find a little 'tray' for cookie baking, and something cute to jazz it up when giving it as a gift, you will probably see it again as an improved set, but in the meantime, here they are, another 'borrowed' blog idea. I found the little rolling pin at Hobby Lobby. I think as a little girl I would have really loved rolling my 'own' dough, cutting out my own cookies, baking and decorating in my little play kitchen. I have three other 'felt' food projects I have the goodies for I plan to work on soon.