Watermelon Party

Kids love parties. And parties can be easy, as long as adults remember that it doesn't take superhero plates and a room full of kids to make a party.

Here's an idea for a quick and easy Watermelon Party. All you need are Watermelon Party Hats and watermelon. The three and five year old boys I baby sit for loved it.

To make the hats you'll need:
White card stock
elastic cord for chin strap
a mixing bowl to trace
a marker
scissors
red, green, and black crayons
a stapler and hole punch

The hat is made from a half circle. To get the shape I traced around my 11 inch mixing bowl, then used a magazine as a straight edge to half the circle.

Then cut out the half circles. Have the children color them to look like watermelon slices. Fold the colored half circle into a cone. Staple twice. Then a punch holes on the left and right side of the hat. Tie one end of the elastic cord through the hole, put the hat on the child and measure the length of cord to fit his head. Tie the other side and party.

I cut half the melon into slices and let the boys practice their melon-balling skills on the other half. It's a sticky, sweet time, best finished off with a run through the water hose.

Small Space Gardening

photo by Kathy Kimpel licenced under Creative Commons

I was looking into what I could grow in my tiny, shaded yard and wrote this article for the newspaper about what some of my neighbors are doing with their small spaces. I also wrote this sidebar tutorial on how to grow tomatoes upside in a five gallon bucket like the plant above.

In case the sidebar is confusing, here's a tutorial with step by step photos and another with illustrations.

Piñata party

This image is from the children's book Angelo the Naughty One illustrated by Leo Paliti, 1942.

Cinco de Mayo came and went without me even having a margarita, but the holiday inspired me to make a piñata with the kids.

To make an easy piñata like this one:

1. Cover a balloon in newspaper strips dipped in a flour/water/school glue mixture, leaving a hole in the top (near the balloon tie) big enough to put prizes in later. Make sure to cover it completely. The more layers, the more whacks it will take.

2. Let it dry. This takes days.

3. Pop the balloon and remove the balloon remnants.

4. Put prizes inside.

5. Clear tape a layer of dry paper to cover the hole. Then cover the hole with duct tape.

6. Duct tape a long cord to the piñata. The cord needs to be strong and well attached.

7. Spray paint the whole thing, then let children paint designs on it.

8. Enjoy.

Migoto Chou's bracelet tutorial

I wrote an article for the newspaper about the Knoxville-based Etsy seller that makes these beaded cupcakes (read it here).

The artist, Amanda Hinson, was kind enough to let me make my first video tutorial of her demonstrating how to make the Treasure Tube bracelets she often has in her shop.

I heart neckties.

I mentioned that I was making my boyfriend a valentine with material that he is familiar with. Here it is. I arranged the bottom of two neckties to make a heart then stitched on some rick rack to tie it all together. I got this idea (and tons of others) from Diane Gilleland. Here's her tutorial.

Homemade Valentines

Last year I made my valentine a Fabric Window Valentine after seeing them on the Purl Bee's blog. It was quick and easy and turned out really cute. I recommend you check out the tutorial and make up a few before Valentines Day.

Today I will be making a different sort of valentine for my boyfriend using a fabric that is familiar to him. I'll post it later.

The valentines above are from the Purl Bee.

Embroidered Kid Art

Here’s a way to preserve a child’s drawings: embroider them onto fabric. Then you could make a quilt from a group of your favorite drawings.


Materials:
Cotton Fabric
Embroidery hoop
Embroidery needle
Embroidery floss
Writing utensil


· GATHER MATERIALS
If you’re new to embroidery, pick a drawing without much detail. The supplies you need are basic. Any craft store and most crafty friends or family members will have them on hand. Keep the drawing with you as you gather fabric and embroidery floss for the project and stay as true to the colors your child chose as you can. **Note: The embroidery hoop pictured is WAY too big for the project. It is much easier to keep the fabric tight enough to work with a 5" or 6" hoop. I have since purchased one, but I was working with what I had.

· PRACTICE FIRST
Familiarize yourself with some basic stitches through these video tutorials: Split stitch, French knots, chain stitch, and satin stitch . Put scrap fabric on your hoop and practice each stitch until you are comfortable.

· PLAN IT OUT
Look at the drawing you’re about to stitch. Try to figure out which direction the strokes were drawn, so you can work in the same direction.
Decide what stitches will work best for the strokes on the drawing. If the drawing was done with a fine point marker or pencil, the split stitch may work well (I did most of the picture above with the split stitch). If the picture was done with crayons, try the chain stitch.

· TRANSFER
There are several ways to get the image onto the fabric. I recommend putting the fabric on top of the drawing and tracing it. I use a pen with ink that disappears within 72 hours, but you could use pencil or anything washable.

If the fabric is hard to see through, make an improv light box with a window during daylight. Tape the drawing to the window. Then tape the fabric on top, leaving the bottom unattached so that you can lift it and look at any lines you cannot see through the fabric.

· EMBROIDER
Remember that the child created the picture and resist the urge to leave out even the fourth extra arm. Relax and think about the uninhibited way children draw as you stitch.


· LABEL IT
Embroidery tends to be something that people hold onto. Someday someone is going to be curious. At the very least, stitch in a year. You could also include the artist’s name, age and any title the child gives the drawing.

Embroidered Necktie

Today is my boyfriend's birthday. He's a necktie-wearing musician so I embroidered a gramophone on a vintage tie. I used thread that blended in to control the flash aspect, but you could certainly make a bolder tie for a bolder dresser.
I used this tutorial from Craft Stylist as a guide.

Felt Fortune Cookies

I'm getting really into felt food. I am planning to make a nice set for the kids at my school to play with, but these fortune cookies are for an adult.

I learned to make them from a good video lesson by Hilary Seabolt. Seabolt is one of many designing and selling felt food. She owns Lily Bean Market, a small business that sells felt food and kits, patterns and material to make felt food. Lily Bean employs a few Amish seamstresses to do hand sewing.

Tutorials Galore

I've just made an amazing internet find. Kymy, who writes the Everything Your Mama Made blog, has compiled an amazing list of tutorials. It's basically having access to the fruits of an internet-savvy, organized and experienced crafter's search for good how-to articles.

She calls it a bookmark clean-up. The number of tutorials is nearing 500, and they are organized into categories.

You could make a gift for everyone on your list from this list. There are links to quality tutorials on everything from a fabric dollhouse to a plastic bag dispenser to quilting techniques.

A Stitch of Inspiration

I just stumbled into a good tutorial on machine sewing on paper. It was written by Julia Stainton, a mother of five and the apparent queen of paper crafts, on her blog Belle Papier {pretty paper}.

I made a Valentine this year with some stitching, but I hand-sewed it. I would have never imagined that I could have used the machine. I think I needed the entirety of the detailed tutorial, packed with basic sewing tips, to convince myself that sewing on paper might not damage my machine. But I think I will still wait until I have a needle too dull for fabric to attempt this.

I have an idea for a Christmas card that I will post when I make.

Fabric from the Forest

Some quilt artists will only use fabrics that they have dyed themselves.
I won't give up fabric shopping, but dyeing a few pieces is certainly appealing.
This page is all about natural dyes made from ingredients harvested from the backyard.
I am probably going to make some dye with the children for our forest ecology-themed fall festival.