from chalk cloth scraps to an erasable memory game

It's probably not uncommon, but my four year-old daughter learns well when playing games.  She started getting interested in the words to label things around the house as they came up in context.  At dinner, we would have little scraps of paper with chair, spoon, etc. on them, which she naturally wanted to turn into a memory game.  Of course, she would want to change the words out constantly, and we ended up trying to save really tattered pieces of paper or ripping up lots of it to make squares.  I decided that an erasable, durable memory game would be great.  We could tailor it to what she is learning in pre-k, different end sounds, blends, whatever.  I had a decent-sized scrap of chalk cloth leftover from another project, so I cut it up along with a scrap of oil cloth in a gender neutral pattern.  

I used pinking shears to give it an interesting edge, but you don't have to since chalk cloth and oil cloth don't fray.  You could try regular fabric instead of the oil cloth, but the weights are so different that it might be wonky.  

My oil cloth scrap was pretty small, so I let its size dictate how many game pieces we made we ended up with 16 pieces that are approximately 3 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  They are big enough for small words, letters, pictures, or numbers.  

I put wrong sides together and stitched close to my edge.  I trimmed them up a bit with my pinking shears to make them look neat.

I had my stack ready in no time.  

Chalk cloth is supposed to be seasoned before you write on it with chalk.  Just rub the side of a piece of chalk on it and wipe it off.  This way, the first thing you write won't get etched onto the cloth.  I used a microfiber cloth to clean them up, which worked out great.  

My daughter helped me write some easy words on the cards, and we were playing in no time.

She's already thought of a bunch of easier ways to play the game with her 2 year-old brother and sister.

We did a round of words that end in -it.  She does a great job thinking of those rhymes!  I might have to sneak this game into the car to use at restaurants.  The possibilities for these cards are endless!

from broken, abandoned crayons to heart-shaped crayon valentines

I wonder if I'll ever get this blogging thing down.  I fully intended to post this days ago...

Having small kids, I always find broken, abandoned, sad little crayon pieces on the floor.  A while ago, I started collecting them all in one spot. 

I know that making new crayons out of broken ones is no where close to a new idea, but my daughter had so much fun making these Valentines for her friends that I just had to share our take on it.

Chopping up crayons is harder than it looks.  I used my biggest knife and worked in small batches.  Actually, peeling off the paper was the hardest part.  My 4 year-old did most of that tedious work, though.

After a while, I had a beautiful pile of chopped up crayons.

I never like spending much (or ANY) money on DIY projects, so I didn't want to spend money (or time finding one) on a silicon or metal heart-shaped pan.  I had some heart-shaped cookie cutters and a SILPAT, so I figured that might work.  

Um, no.

Lots of oozing wax. Easy to clean up, though!  The only reason that I tried that method is because I had tried it before with a cheap plastic-trying-to-look-like-silicon ice cube tray from Target's dollar section, and the tray melted.  But, I still figured out a way to use what I already had!  A water bath!  It works for bread pudding and custard, so I figured it was worth a try.

The tray did not melt.  Success! It did take a long time in the oven (maybe half an hour?), though, since I kept it at 250.  I was still afraid of melting the plastic.  I know that I could have just melted the wax in a pot and poured it in the molds, but my daughter loves how crayons made this way change color as she draws with them, so I opted to bake them.

The tops melt together into a deep purple with a few pops of color, but the bottoms are colorfully speckled.

After letting the tray cool in the freezer for a little bit, they pop right out.  If you leave them in the freezer too long, they can crack if messed with, so letting them warm back up to room temperature is a good idea.

We thought it would be fun for the kids to have some Valentines to color with their new crayons, so I designed some on Picnik, which I was very sad to learn is closing soon or moving to Google+ or something.

The girl loves rainbows, and wants them incorporated into almost everything, so the front side was a no brainer.  I made two options.  The back side should give the kids lots of practice staying in the lines.  I like pop of color against the black and white.  We glued up three sides to make little pockets for the crayons, and slid them in.

Cute, easy, and free!

from ladies dresses to fairy and princess dress-up clothes

I made my daughter's first princess dress out of a dress that I stopped wearing.  I save a lot more ill-fitting, stained, or damaged clothes than I used to.  If I like the fabric, I try to think of something else that I can make from it.  I don't have a before picture of the dress, but it was a very basic, 3/4 sleeved, knee-length sheath, which made it the perfect length for a long princess dress.  

I took it in a little bit, added elastic at the waist, draped tulle for poofiness, and added a tulle neckline.  I was able to preserve the original hem...it's always nice to be able to cut out some steps!

I found this sparkly button in a stash that my mom gave me years ago that is the perfect embellishment for the new neckline. 

I also cut up a very old and worn out Elizabethan costume that I inherited.  I had just enough fabric to make a Tinkerbell costume.  I used one of my daughter's undershirts as the lining and cut the green velvet to fit comfortable over the undershirt.  I made straps to cover the ones on the undershirt as well.  I cut up 6 or 7 leaves out of the velvet with a couple of layers of green tulle on the top of each.  I topstitched leaf veins as well.  It was so easy to use the undershirt as a guide.  I'll share a couple of other dresses I made with undershirts another time.  

from slinky skirt to Rapunzel-inspired dress

I have two daughters under the age of 5.  Disney princesses are big around here.  I love the way my oldest daughter loves to fully embody characters, acting out favorite scenes in movies, and belting out songs.  Naturally, she loves to dress the part.  I don't love the ridiculous prices of princess dresses, especially since the cheap fabric often loses its elasticity and pills up or the way the seams often fall out.  I also am trying to be conscious of how much I allow my kids to be branded.  I would like them to be content with what they have and not get used to having what marketers tell them they need.  I try to repurpose and use up scraps as much as possible.  My daughter got really into Tangled last year, and I knew that she'd love a dress to match the long golden locks she was blessed with.  

I started with a plum skirt that I haven't worn in years.  A skirt that hits below my knees will be a long dress on her.  

I had a remnant of a sheer white fabric with embroidered pink flowers on it that I used as an overlay for the dress.  I laid out the skirt and wrapped the printed fabric around it, folding and draping as needed to achieve the look I was going for.

After I had the fabric laid out how I wanted it, I cut and hemmed it along the two sides in the front and, eventually, on the bottom of the dress.

I pinned the overlay fabric to the skirt in a lot of places so that it stayed right where I wanted it while I did the hemming.

Then I cut out armholes, using the scraps to make capped sleeves.  

I put in an elastic casing so that the dress would have a defined waist and be easy to put on for a 4 year-old and comfortable to wear.  

I sewed little loops to the bodice of the dress and threaded ribbon through them to tie a bow at the top.  The ribbon is functional and helps the dress to fit my 4 year-old and her very petite 2 year-old sister.

I know that she won't believe in fairy tales forever, so I'm happy to help her live inside of them for a little while.