Squirrel pull toy

This paper mache pull toy was a birthday gift for a friend's little girl. Zach built the base and I made the squirrel. The tutorial, along with videos, is available on Martha Stewart's website.

A couple of things I learned along the way:

• Apply several thin layers of paper clay. I applied 2 layers but think next time I would do at least 3 layers for a smoother surface.
• You can speed up drying time between layers by placing the paper mache on a sheet pan in a 170 degree oven.
• When painting on the dots, make sure the paint is not too thick. I used acrylic paint and noticed that some of the colors dried a little bumpy. Next time I would water the paint down a bit so the paint dries smooth. You only need to use a small amount of paint for each dot. The tutorial says to use a dowel rod to apply the paint but I used the wooden end of a paint brush.

Below is a photo of my squirrel when the first layer of paper clay was being applied. The paper clay really helps smooth out the surface.

Wool dryer ball tutorial

Materials:

Wool roving

Panty hose

Instructions:

Begin by tying a knot in a strip of wool roving. This will form the center of your wool ball. Wrap the roving around the knot and continue wrapping until a large ball is formed. Make the ball a little larger then the desired finished size because it will shrink when you felt it.

Put the wool ball in the end of a panty hose leg and tie it off with a knot. You can put more than one ball in the panty hose, just make sure to tie a knot between each ball.

Put the panty hose containing the wool balls into the washing machine and wash for 2 cycles in hot water, no detergent. Dry in dryer on high heat until dry. This will felt the wool and make the balls firm.

Wool dryer balls are a good substitute for fabric softener and also help cut down on drying time. They work great for cloth diapers too.

Happy Holidays!

Googily

I had someone contact me about making a Googily doll, from the book Jumpy Jack and Googily, by Meg Rosoff. It's her grandson's favorite book and she wanted to give him a Googily doll for Christmas.

I made him out of wool felt, like my other monster softies, but chose to make him a rag doll, with floppy arms and legs.

Ballerinas

After sharing Vera's nursery on Project Nursery I had a request from another mom for two needle felted animals, like the ones used for Vera's mobile. I made a ballerina rabbit and cat for her; my favorite parts to make were the little ballet slippers, "tied" on with embroidery floss. The tiny tutus were pretty fun too.

My Little Mermaid

Vera was a little mermaid for Halloween! Here's a rough how-to for making your own mermaid costume.

Materials:

1 yard costume satin

elastic

felt

sequins

white cotton onesie

3 tea bags

little boy's snake/dragon/lizard? swimsuit (optional)

Total cost: $8

For my patterns, I printed out seashell and star shapes I found online and free-handed the shape of the fin. For size 3-6 months, the fin pattern should measure about 15.5" at the waist and 26" long. You want to make sure there is plenty of width in the the fin so baby can move around, especially if your little one is as squirmy as mine.

When looking for a onesie at Goodwill, I came across this pair of boy's swim trunks and thought the scale pattern would be perfect for the fin.

There wasn't a lot of fabric so I had to be creative. I cut up the back side of the swimsuit and pieced it together to create the front of the fin. I pinned and sewed the scale fabric onto one of my satin fins; I cut around the scales at the bottom and sewed them onto the satin with a narrow zig zag stitch. If you are just using the satin, you can follow the steps below:

Cut two fins out of the costume satin, one for the front and one for the back.

Pin both fin pieces right sides together, and sew around the edges. Cut off any excess fabric with pinking shears. This will help prevent fraying, since costume satin frays easily. (you could also use a serger). Turn right side out and press.

Cut a rectangular piece of satin, long enough to go around the top of the fin. Fold in half, right sides together, with short ends touching. Sew along the short ends so you have a loop. Turn right side out, fold lengthwise and press. Pin the folded loop around the top of the fin, with the raw edge toward the top. Next you will need to hem the top to hide the raw edges and make a channel for the elastic. Fold over the top of the fin 1/2" and press. Fold over another 1" and press again. Sew along the bottom of the hem, leaving a 2" opening to thread your elastic through. I used a pair of Vera's pants to determine how much elastic I needed. Run your elastic through the hemmed waist and sew both ends together. Tuck inside and close up the opening in your hem.

For the headband, I sewed a narrow tube of fabric out of costume satin and ran a piece of elastic through it. Next, I traced a star on to a piece of magenta felt and embellished it with sequins. Then I sandwiched the headband between my star (still not cut out) and another piece of felt, sewing along the outline of my star. To finish I cut off the excess felt around the star, being careful not to cut the headband.

Front

Back

For the top, I tea dyed a white onesie to make it flesh-toned. It's a pretty simple process: bring a pot of water and three family sized tea bags to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and soak the onesie for about 15 minutes, depending on how dark you want it. Stir occasionally. Rinse the onesie in the sink then run it once through the washer and dryer.

The last step was to cut the seashells out of felt, embellish them with sequins, and sew them onto the onesie.

Happy Halloween!