Sarah Nielsen

tutorial tuesday: felt fishing game for kids

We recently celebrated a birthday at our house (how did my little guy grow up to be TWO?!). I like to make at least one of the gifts for birthdays. Here’s what I came up with for my two-year-old: A fishing game made of felt. I know this is not a new idea, but I had trouble finding a tutorial and fish templates so I’m posting my tutorial to (hopefully) help out someone else who wants to make the same sort of thing.

HOW TO MAKE A FISHING GAME FOR KIDS WITH FELT

SUPPLIES

+ assorted colors of felt
+ needle and thread
+ VERY strong magnets
+ dowel rod
+ twine
+ scraps of muslin

STEP 1: Make the fish out of felt.

I found the best tutorial for this part over at The Purl Bee. I used their templates and followed their instructions… mostly. I wanted my fish to be double sided so I put the detailing on both sides of the fish. Instead of using embroidery thread to hand sew the magnets into the fish, I used my sewing machine.

STEP 2: Make the water out of felt.

I bought a 1/2 yard of blue felt for the water. Using a different blue, I cut out waves (you can do this free hand). I had some scraps of a shiny blue (reminds me of mermaids) that I also cut some wave shapes out of. Then, I sewed on each wave with my sewing machine. One of the beautiful things about felt is no hemming the edges!

STEP 3: Make the fishing poles.

I bought a dowel rod from the hardware store and had my husband (thanks, Chris) cut it in half so each rod is about 18″ long. Then, he drilled a tiny hole in one end of the rod about a 1/2″ from the end. Tie a piece of jute twine (or yarn) through the hole. Use your muslin scraps to make a tiny bag for your magnet to go in. Sew the 4th edge of the bag shut with your magnet and twine inside.

The kiddos love it! All it needs now is a storage bag with a pocket for the fish…

wedding guest book

Here’s another recent handmade guest book I made. The bride, Jill, wanted a gold cover. This was a first for me, but I found the perfect golden silk without much trouble. Beautiful, don’t you think? The guest book is bound with the oatmeal waxed linen thread. Inside, the endsheets were golden with a white damask-type pattern on them. Of course I used my favorite franfurt paper for the guests to sign. A few engagement photos printed in color were distributed throughout the guest book.

So elegant!

Here’s to you, Jill and Garyn!

(side note: I taught Jill piano lessons when I was in high school and she was in elementary school! That feels like ages ago)

tutorial tuesday: baby legs (leg warmers)

Back to baby. (Have I mentioned how excited I am for another baby!?)

I’m happy to say Katie Kortman is back today (remember her ruffle bottom onesie tutorial?). Here is her baby legs tutorial.

I’m really seriously thinking of making my baby these. Is it socially acceptable for little boys to wear these?! Help me out here.

HOW TO MAKE BABY LEGS (LEG WARMERS)

When I first got pregnant and started looking at baby clothes (I started buying them when I was only 3 months along… I bought at stores with a 3 months return policy so I could return once I found out what the sex was. I KNOW I am crazy. But I was just way too excited about all the cute stuff I was seeing! Anyway, I happened upon “baby legs.” These are super cute little legging/legwarmers that are basically socks with no foot. Great for warming the legs and not having to take them off for a diaper change! Anyway, the REAL things are $12. That is just ridiculous. So I perused the internet and found a tutorial. I was able to get the idea of how to do it, but the images were less than inspiring. SOOOO alas, here is my own tutorial on how to make them! Enjoy!

Materials needed:

Thin patterned socks, or toe socks (i got mine at the dollar store).

sewing machine, or really good hands and a needle

Time needed: 1/2 a nap or less!!!! Heck you can make lots of these in 1 nap!! (aka 15 minutes)

1. cut off a 2.5-3″ piece of the sock (if you are using regular socks, then this would be the section where the foot goes. just trim off the toe cap, and the heel, and you have the middle section to work with)

2. Push the little tube through itself, so that the wrong sides are facing each other.

3.Put the long part left from the sock inside the hole created by the little tube you just made. Right sides should be facing each other.

4. Once you sew the 2 tubes together with your machine (or hands I suppose), you may want to turn the entire thing inside out and then sew it narrower if your baby has thin legs like mine does….

Turn them right side out and there you have it!!! Your own baby legs!!! Almost as cute as the little legs you are about to put them on…..

Alternative way to make these: Cut the sock and just serge the raw edge. Done.

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All pics in this post are by Katie Kortman. You can find the original baby legs tutorial on her blog.

And, you can find more of Katie here:

blog: blueeyedfreckle.blogspot.com
shop: blueeyedfreckle.etsy.com

sending packages

Recently, I received this apple box in the mail from my Grandpa. He is the master of letter writing and package sending.

He sent me two cranberry crates from his father’s grocery store (Dan’s Foods). I’m such a sentimental girl – I love having these pieces from the old store. Of course, he included a letter about what they used the crates for at home. Mostly his mother used them as shelving in the basement.

The boys helped me open the box and were delighted to find this:

I love that Grandpa used these non-conventional packaging materials. A big bouncy ball. 5 hot wheels. Markers galore. Granola bars, cookies, tiny cereal boxes. Even when I was a little girl, he sent packages this way. And it still makes me smile!

Thank you, Grandpa!

wedding guest book

I really enjoy making wedding guest books.

Kristina’s wedding colors were purple and green. Since purple was more favorite than green, that’s what I went with for the cover. I found a beautiful lavender silk for the front and back covers. Frankfurt paper is on the inside (my favorite!). The endsheets were white with a black paisley design. I bound it with slate gray waxed linen thread. The happy couple’s engagement photos were mounted throughout the guest book and they (the couple and the photos) were amazing. Professional pics in the guest books always look better than snapshots. Of course I delivered the book in a muslin bag.

Wishing you the best, Kristina!

tutorial tuesday: small pocket flag book

I’m breaking away from my baby and kiddo tutorials this week so you can get prepared for Mother’s Day. I don’t live close enough to my mom to celebrate Mother’s Day in person (sniff sniff) so I try to send something meaningful in the mail. This year, I designed a little flag book with pockets that are just the right size for little notes, gift cards, photos, or anything else foldable. So you should have plenty of time to make it this week and ship it off to your mom – where ever she may be!

I’ve included a TON of photos to help make this as simple as possible. There is no sewing involved. And all the gluing can be substituted with tape if you want to skip dry times.

Leave a comment or email me if you have questions.

Here we go.

HOW TO MAKE A SMALL POCKET FLAG BOOK

SUPPLIES

+ 3 sheets of 9″ by 12″ paper (I used a double sided Amy Butler print)
+ 1 piece of paper for your covers that is at least 4″ by 9″ (I used a thick, rough handmade paper)
+ 1 piece of paper for the accordion that is at least 6″ by 14″ (I used a text weight paper, ie computer paper)
+ bone folder (optional)
+ glue and paintbrush
+ double sided tape

STEP 1: Make the pockets.

1. Start with one sheet of the 9″ by 12″ paper.

2. Fold in half (hamburger style) and crease with the bone folder. Unfold.

3. Choose which side of the paper you want to be the inside of the pockets. Lay this side face up. Take the bottom left corner and line it up with the center crease, making a triangle.

4. Take the top left corner and line it up with the center crease, making a triangle.

5. Fold paper in half (hot dog style). Unfold.

6. Fold the triangle half along the first center fold you made.

7. Fold in half along the crease you made in step 5.

8. Trim off the extra paper with an xacto knife or scissors. This is your pocket! It should be about 4″ square.

9. Make 2 more pockets following the same steps. (side note: you can make as many pockets as your little heart desires. The next steps of the tutorial would need to be adjusted for how ever many pockets you decide to make… email me if this is confusing and you need more pockets)

PART 2: Make the book block.

1. Start with your paper that is at least 6″ tall.

2. Measure 3/4″ from the edge and mark with the bone folder (I used my trusty 3/4″ guide made from binders’ board, but you can use a ruler and pencil for this). Crease. Continue folding accordion style the entire length of your paper. For 3 pockets, you need 14 sections (as shown here).

3. Spread glue (I used a paintbrush) in the second “valley” from the left.

4. Place one pocket in the glue with the edge lined up in the bottom of the valley (along the crease).

5. Now fold over the other side of the valley (already has glue on it) and press firmly. Now your first pocket is secure.

6. Skip one valley and put glue in the next one (can you see where the glue is?). Spread it around with a paintbrush.

7. Put in the second pocket the same way you did the first. This time, pay careful attention to the positioning – make sure you line up the top and bottom of the pocket with the first pocket. Fold over the other half of the valley (already has glue on it), just like you did with the first pocket.

8. Skip a valley and put glue in the next one (sound familiar?).

9. Put in the third pocket. Again, make sure it lines up perfectly with the other two pockets. Fold over the valley (already has glue on it) and press firmly.

10. Now, your book block should look like this. See how each pocket is glued into every other valley of the accordion fold? You will use the extra valleys on either side to secure the book block in the cover. That was the hardest part! You did it! Stick it under something heavy overnight (ie under a stack of books, a mattress, etc)

PART 3: Fitting the book block into the cover.

Here is what your book block looks like after you’ve pressed it overnight.

1. Trim off the top and bottom of the extra accordion folds so it’s flush with your pockets.

2. Lay the book block on your cover paper and use a ruler to mark the edge. (side note: I’m lazy when it comes to measuring. You could actually measure this out if you wanted. I prefer to use my book block and eyeball it.)

3. Tear or cut the paper.

4. Put double sided tape on the backside of the book block. NOT on the pocket. ONLY on the accordion (mine is white).

5. Carefully line up the book block on the right hand side of your cover paper. Press firmly so the tape sticks. The first pocket of the book block should be face up at this point.

6. Use your bone folder to mark the spine of the book block.

7. Lift up the book block and back cover so the spine rests on your desk. Mark along the book block edge again with your bone folder.

8. Fold the book all the way over so the back cover is now facing up.

9. Open the book back up. Put tape on the front accordion paper (again, mine is white). Fold back over the same way you did before and press firmly making sure the tape sticks to the cover.

This is what the cover and book block should look like. See how the tabs from the accordion folded paper are now attached to the cover paper? The pocket pages will turn easily.

10. Now it’s time to mark and trim your front cover. Lay the book block down and mark along the edge with your bone folder (or pencil).

11. Tear or cut the excess paper from the cover.

You did it! You made a book!

Part 4: Personalize and Package.

So what will you fill your pockets with? I had a few ideas:

+ old photos of the family (moms love those)
+ gift cards are just the right size
+ left over paint chips are great for writing notes on

There are so many options here so get creative and do something that will make your own mom smile.

I added a fabric flower (from this tutorial) and some twine to tie it all up. Pretty cute, I think!

Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!

spring party ideas

This might be a little late, but I’m sharing anyway.

I used this table setting at our Easter Brunch but it would work with any spring or garden party. The nest is made out of marshmallow and All Bran cereal.

A few weeks back, our friend invited me and the boys to make these darling chicken cupcakes. They were so much fun to make and the kiddos loved it (especially eating the Jelly Bellys off their birds). Great idea for kids or adults.

AND… here’s a sneak peek at tomorrow’s tutorial:

With Mother’s Day right around the corner I thought you could use this. It’s a card/book with pockets so you can write an extra special mother’s day love note to your mom.

See you tomorrow!

this week in my garden

I love our gardens. Flowers and veggies. We all work together to take care of our gardens. One thing I like about living in Houston is we can have gardens all year round.

Here are some photos of our gardens this year. Everything is new and just starting to grow.

While my mom was here about a month ago, she planted tiny yellow marigolds, violet petunias, and big orange marigolds in my main flower bed. About a week later, I planted the other beds with the same marigolds and violet daisys. (What do you think, Mom?) I’m loving this color combo!

I’m so proud of our sprouting sunflower seeds! I can’t wait for these guys to be 12 feet tall. We also planted yellow lantana along here. My neighbor’s kitchen window looks at this side of our house (which is just a view of brick, our garbage can, and the AC unit!). This year should be better for you, Kimberly!

We have a small-ish deck in the backyard that used to be surrounded by this really awful, viney ground cover. Luckily is froze enough times this winter to kill it all! Hooray! So I dug out the roots to make room for a solid bed of violet impatiens. They will be so happy there! And now we have a beautiful view from our kitchen nook.

tutorial tuesday: ruffle bottom onesie

As you know, I have a baby on the way so I thought it’d be fun to have a few weeks of baby-related tutorials (at least for me, haha!).

Katie Kortman of Blue-Eyed Freckle is the genius behind this ruffle bottom onesie tutorial. She has so many great ideas and is such an artistic and fashionable girl! We first met in college on a study abroad to New Zealand. You are going to love her.

(do you think baby boys can have ruffle bottoms? haha. kidding)

HOW TO MAKE A RUFFLE BOTTOM ONESIE

Materials needed:
-( 1 yard-ish) nylon chiffon or tule, or other non-fraying translucent material
-thread/ sewingmachine
-onesie/bloomers

1. cut 3 strips of the chiffon the lengths you want the ruffles to end up. make the strips about 3/4 to 1 inch wide.

2. next, cut out approx 9-12 circles per strip (depending on how long your strips are. mine were 5 1/2 in. long and I used 9 circles that were 2-3 in. in diameter).

3. Then you take the circles and sew them on. I am going to demonstrate this step-by-step so you can see how to scrunch the circles up. (first, fold the circle in half.)

do you just love my chipped gray nail polish?? J/K!!

(then fold it in half again)

4. Then you put the strip under the foot with one of the scrunched circles. Bring the needle down and sew a few stitches (and backstitch) over the point of the circle. To put the next one in, keep the needle down in the fabric, but lift up the foot. Insert another scrunched circle with the tip of the circle (the part in the photo above that is in between my thumb and index finger) about 1/2 in apart from the tip of the other one. Sew some more. Continue to do this until you have circles covering all the strips.

5.Last: place the strips on the bum of the onesie and sew it down (over the same line that you sewed the first time) Then FLUFF!!! and put it on your sweet baby girl! If you want to know how I did the front, here is a peek:

I cut out an oval of felt, and then sewed the circle onto it the same way I did on the strips. Then I sewed on 2 more pinked-edged felt ovals on top of that! easy peasy!

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All pics in this post are by Katie Kortman. You can find the original ruffle bottom onesie tutorial on her blog.

And, you can find more of Katie here:

blog: blueeyedfreckle.blogspot.com

shop: blueeyedfreckle.etsy.com

kid art inspiration

I have two little buddies who work along side me in the art room. They both love projects. They have their own bucket of supplies – tape, markers, crayons, scissors, glue. We like to listen to our Elizabeth Mitchell radio station on Pandora while we work.

This kiddo prefers to work on the floor so he can spread everything out.