Tag Archives: Toys

Quiet Time Toys to Make for Little Ones

5 Comments

Quiet Toys Altoids 2

I thought I’d share some of the little “quiet time” toys I’ve been making.  I’m calling these “Altoidies”, but they’re supposed to be little mice that live in Altoids tins.  I left off the ears after I realized they’d likely get pinched in the tins when closed.  (Maybe I made their legs too long.)  Next time I’ll either make shorter legs and add the ears, or I’ll make the bodies out of really wild colors so that they look like happy little monsters, not mice.  I think they’re adorable as they are, so I’m leaving them this time.  You can get the pattern from mmmcrafts on Etsy.

Quiet Toys Altoids 3

The cream colored teddy bears remind me of Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes.  I need to make an orange one for myself!  You know, to keep in my purse, because you never know when you might need to entertain a child.  Not because I want a tiny Hobbes in my purse … *ahem*

This next one I’ve seen all over the ‘net, but I still don’t know what to call it.  We’ll go with “button practice”.  You sew a large button to a ribbon, and sew a square of felt to the other end …

Quiet Toys Button Practice 1

and make a pile of felt squares with a slot cut in the middle.  A small child can practice buttoning by sliding each felt square over the button, until the ribbon is full of colorful squares.  (I made mine 2.5″ square.)

Quiet Toys Button Practice 2

Of course you’ll want to pay attention as this toy is used because the button could be a choking hazard.  I made a little case for this one to keep all the little pieces together.

Quiet Toys Button Practice 3

Tag blankets are great for babies and so quick to make!  These are a good size for babies to hold, and the minky fabric on the reverse is so soft and cuddly!  I made these with their parents’ favorite football team in mind, because these baby boys are going to be watching some football this season!  For extra security, I triple stitch when sewing the blankets and ribbons together, then top stitch around the top to “catch” the ribbons in place.

Quiet Toys Taggie Blankies

And this one is still a work in progress – globe stuffies!

Quiet Toys Globes 1

For $18 dollars for a yard of “globe fabric” (found on Spoonflower by Weavingmajor) you can make one 12″ globe, three 6″ globes and four 3″ globes that are perfect for juggling or hacky sack.

Quiet Toys Globes 2

Those little globes are fun to toss around!

With all the electronic diversions surrounding them, quiet toys that inspire creativity are very much needed in little ones’ lives.  Share your craftiness with the tiny ones in your life!

Animal Alphabet Bean Bags and Storage Tote

4 Comments

Animal Alphabet Bean Bags

Fabric panels can be a great way to make an easy sewing project.  I bought a panel called Alphabet Flash Cards Panel by Lisa DeJohn for Red Rooster.  (Click through to the link and you’ll see they have a bunch of nice coordinating fabrics and some projects ideas.)  The name of the fabric lets you know it would make great flash cards, but I decided to go with bean bags.  The squares made it so easy!  Just cut them out with a quarter inch allowance, cut a piece of backing fabric, sew, fill and hand stitch closed.  Simple!

The backs of the consonant bean bags are a simple cream flannel, but I used a flannel print on the vowels to make them stand out.  A curious younger child might ask what makes those letters special, and hopefully an older child will enjoy figuring it out on their own.

Animal Alphabet Bean Bags

The complete set of 26 bean bags took nearly all of a five pound bag of pinto beans as filling, so sturdy storage was needed.  I could have used a plastic storage box, but tote bags just seem more kid friendly to me.  I had a couple plain canvas tote bags left over from making stenciled gift bags and personalized Twitter tote bags for friends, but they seemed a little too tall and skinny, and I want the bag to be able to sit on a storage shelf.

Thankfully, this is an easy fix.  I measured the bean bags, then turned a bag inside out and marked a line along the bottom to make the bag a little deeper.

Making a Tote Bag Wider

This makes the bottom of the bag wider and the sides shorter.  I sewed right along the line, triple stitching to make an especially strong seam, then cut off the excess fabric.  Now two stacks of bean bags easily fit in the bag, and the bag stands on its own.

Making a Tote Bag Wider

The fabric panel included a title square, which I thought would make a nice label for the tote bag.  (Think how sweet this panel would be made into a little book!)  I cut out the square, then cut out a matching piece of fusible interfacing.

"Label" for the Tote Bag

I sewed them together with the right side of the fabric facing the “sticky” side of the interfacing.  When I turned them right side out, I had a square that I could iron on to the front of the bag.

"Label" for Tote Bag

I sewed a piece of green felt down first to give a little border to the ladybug piece.  It’s a little fiddly to sew on, so go slowly and make sure you aren’t catching parts of the bag that you don’t mean to sew.  I ironed on the label and then stitched around it, too.

And that’s how you turn a fabric panel, a tote bag and a bag of beans into a lovely little toy complete with storage.  If you want to make your own, I bought the fabric panel from Stitch Stash Diva on Etsy.

Animal Alphabet Bean Bags

I enjoyed this project so much, I’ll be looking for more fabric panels soon!

Numbered Bean Bags Toy

Bean Bag Tote

My husband’s brother has six young kids.  I like to make them a little something if we see them over the summer, and while I’d like to make separate gifts for each, I often don’t have the time.  It’s also challenge to think of something that will fit their various ages, but I think this one is about as good as it gets.

Ayumi at Pink Penguin has a GREAT tutorial for a lunch bag.  It’s just so freaking cute, and with the sturdy handles and compact size I thought it made a nice, kid friendly storage tote, too.

Number Bean Bags

The bag is filled with ten numbered bean bags.  (The tutorial on Chez Beeper has easy instructions and includes a nice number template.)  I showed my husband and he said, “Yeah, but what do you do with it?”  So I took it to my thirteen year old daughter, who peeked in the bag and smiled when she saw the bean bags.  She pulled them out, one by one, and lined them up in order.  She flipped them over to see the bright backs, tossed them from hand to hand, then dropped them back in the bag and smiled again.

Yeah, I think the kids will understand.

Number Bean Bags and Tote

If they were a little older (and if I had a little more time, and didn’t need to worry about the littler ones trying to carry the weight of the tote), I might have made two sets of numbers and some math symbol bean bags.  Alphabet bean bags might be a good idea, too!

Heffalumps

2 Comments

Heffalumps

Maybe I need something a little more colorful for my new white mantel?

If you want to make your own herd of sweet little elephants, visit Retro Mama.  She’ll hook you up with the pattern.

I think this one’s my favorite:

DSC_0015

He makes me feel lucky.

Play Felt Food

4 Comments

Breakfast …

Felt Breakfast

Lunch …

Felt Lunch

and Dinner …

Felt Dinner

In felt!

These were made as a gift for the young son of a good friend.  She taught me so much about Japanese food and culture, I wanted her little boy to have some American play food to take back to Japan.  (When I gave them to him, he made a Cheeto sandwich.  Mmmm!)

I bought my patterns here, but there’s a great list of free patterns on Craftiness is Not Optional.  You don’t need a sewing machine, and they’re really simple to put together.

Happy crafting!