All Things Crafty

I have become completely addicted to all things Pintrest! My mom got me a sewing machine for my birthday and this very un-crafty girl took the plunge into all things crafty! I've always admired homemade things and wished I knew how to create such fun. I've also been inspired by all the innovative ideas out in the blogosphere of how to keep kids entertained and interested on a budget.

So since October, I have made a couple aprons with my sewing machine (and a few top secret Christmas projects) that I'm pretty darn proud of. I know I'm totally new to this game, but I thought it would be fun to share some of my adventures of all things home-made. So here goes! 

Jadyn, my sweet daughter, is a busy, busy bee and right around this time of year, she and I BOTH are pretty sick of all her toys... So, since I couldn't get her to play with anything independently I remembered a post I had seen about making a oatmeal container into a fun filled sorting activity! What an amazing trick! She was completely enamored with it the day I made it, and it still gets a lot of use weeks later. Best of all? It was totally easy and FREE!!! YAY!! I didn't do all the fancy decorations, But I might just have to go back and do some improvements!

I think that since the silly oatmeal straw toy was such a hit, I became inspired to be more creative with my sweet girl. I whipped out the cup cake tins and showed her how nicely her existing balls fit into the little compartments. Hours of sorting bliss! This Momma is on a roll!! Not sure you smarty pants need a visual for this game, but here is a link just in case. ;-)

Finally, my last mommy of the month moment was homemade play dough. I've heard of the stuff and I know how fun store bought play dough is from experience, but I've never tried making it myself... That was until I realized that there are no obscure ingredients in the stuff. Everything I needed to make it with was in my cupboards. Twenty minutes later, Jadyn and I were in play dough heaven! Rolling, cutting, and squishing the fun gooey substance, and having more fun inside on a cloudy day then we had some days when the sun was out shining. I think I will survive this winter with a toddler after all. Praise be to God! ;-) Here is the recipe I used. So, so, so thrilled with this find!

OK...Onto the sewing machine... I'll be honest, I am super daunted by this new toy of mine. I went over to my mother-in-law's (a.k.a. expert sewer) for a few pointers and a rundown of my machine. She showed me how to make pot holders and sent me home with a bunch of batting and fabric. I wasn't very thrilled with sewing pot holders over and over again, but I thought once I mastered this, I'd be ready for anything! Well... 5 or 6 pot holders in, I thought, "Well, that's good enough."  To the fabric store I went! While in the pattern section, I thought to myself again... "I could handle an apron. The package even says 'Yes! It's Easy!'" So I bought a apron pattern and came home and tried making sense of it. Fun Fact: To sew you have to learn an entirely new language. The words look and sound like English, but it's a trick. Really, they are words there to make an educated woman feel stupid. Rick rack? Right sides? Slip stitch? I'm sure all you crafty people are laughing at me for not knowing the meaning of these simple sewing words, but be nice. I'm doing well and having fun in spite of my ignorance.

My mother-in-law did come over and show me how to make an apron. She took the driver seat for a lot of it and the apron turned out great, of course. I am a visual learner, so watching her explain and show me how to make and apron really helped... A LOT!! Since then, I have made another one, all on my own and it also looks great! I have a few more projects up my sleeves and although I've had some set backs, I genuinely enjoy this new hobby of mine! I'll post pictures after Christmas! ;-) Hope you are all having as much fun this season as I am! Please let me know if there are any great kid crafts that are easy and cheap that I MUST know about! I am having a blast finding things to do with the little one during the rainy cold season! I'd love more ideas.

God bless,
Jaclyn