Spaceboy and Robot

I bought this Wee Wonderful pattern (for the two fellas you see below) last fall, but just now got around to using it.  I really couldn't be much happier with the end result.  They are adorable (if I do say so myself) and I think Baby Boy will like the bright colors.

The pattern was very easy to follow and since it came in a wonderful little booklet format, will be easy to re-use in the future if I ever need to make another set. 

My only regret is that I now wish I'd have placed the robot's chest plate maybe an inch higher on his chest.  My mistake.  Everything else worked great (I felt).

The fabrics I chose were all simple cotton (trim and details in felt).  The "A" on the Spaceboy's belt represents Baby Boy's first initial.  The photo suggestions that came with the pattern included some buttons.  Although I think buttons might have been cuter, I just didn't want to risk the possible choking hazard that might pose.

These little fellas will be part of Baby Boy's first birthday next month.  I can hardly wait!!

The photo above is the one that Wee Wonderful displays on the pattern itself.  If you like to make stuffed lovies for the kiddos in your life, I'd recommend getting patterns from this company!

Note:  I was not asked to review WW patterns.  I purchased the Spaceboy and Robot pattern and used it because it's adorable.  No other incentive was requested or received.

Birthday Critter #1

I'm making two little stuffed characters for Baby Boy's 1st birthday (coming next month), and decided I'd better make at least one for Little Guy as well (his 4th birthday is also next month).  The photos below show what I came up with. 

This funny little monster doesn't have a name (yet), but I'm hoping he'll be well received.

I'll post pics when I get the next two stuffed critters done.  Those are taking a little more time as I'm using a pattern.  The monster was so simple, I just threw him together using some bits of fabric from my stash.

Lots and Lots of Trains...

I love being Mommy to my boys.  They are funny and sweet and reckless and silly and curious.  They never cease to amaze me with their differing personalities (the wee one is only nine months old, but already has the will of an ox)...

And boys love their toys.  There are no dainty tea cups or baby dolls here.  Instead we have wall to wall trucks and trains and building blocks and baseballs and plastic dinosaurs and picture books about monsters and pirates.  Little Guy (our three year old) is especially enamored of trains.  He eats, sleeps and breathes trains.  We (of course) have a Thomas collection, and he has GeoTrax and other little miscellaneous train sets.  He plays with them all.  Even Baby Boy likes trains.  Now that he's mobile, he can't help himself.  If we put him down for even a minute, he crawls right over to the Thomas table and tries to pull himself up.  He's not quite able to get all the way up yet, and that's probably a good thing.  Little Guy isn't quite ready to share his beloved trains.
                                                                                                                         
Toy trains aren't the only ones around here.  Something else that our Little Guy is obsessed with are train videos.  I'm not referring to Thomas the Train (though he loves those), but I mean videos that are nothing but action footage of actual freight trains.  You might have seen the infomercials...

                                                                                                                        
Whoever thought of this concept is GENIUS!  They are probably rolling in the big bucks too, because I can't imagine ours is the only little boy who loves watching.  These are Little Guy's go-to nap time video and also what he gets to watch for a little bit before bedtime or really any time at all.  There's very little (if any) dialogue in these.  There's just clip after clip of trains (on mountains, on bridges, through the snow, in the rain etc) set to low-key music.  Oh, and when we bought the two DVD set (Lots and Lots of Trains) it came with a bonus CD soundtrack.  Guess what we listen to every morning in the car on the way to school?  Yes, that's right.
                                                                                                                           

We don't own this one, but it (and the other one below)
are regular favorites from our local library.

I get tired of Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train and Backyardigans.  So far, I haven't gotten tired of these.  They kind of grow on you after a while... especially if you get to watch them just about every day. 

I love my boys, and their silly train videos too! 

Cardboard Play House

Over a year ago, we acquired a large cardboard box that had previously held a dishwasher.  We had cut a window in it and Little Guy had a lot of fun playing inside it for a while.  After a few weeks, his interest waned and the box went into our basement storage.  Last week he said he wished he had a house of his own.  I brought up the box and he was very excited about it.


The 1800 matches our own house number, and
the red mailbox is very similar to ours as well.



Although the plain box had been fun, I had a feeling we could do better.  So, I cut out a second window.  Then I covered most of the dishwasher wording with brown construction paper (except the "roof" which I covered with black paper). 

As soon as Little Guy saw the improvements he said that we needed a chimney - haha!  So, we took a small-ish box, and covered it with pink paper.  I drew on "bricks" and LG and I glued on a big stack of cotton balls for smoke.

By now, I was really having fun (maybe more than Little Guy was even).  I added a big tree (complete with perching blue bird), shutters, a fire hydrant and a mail box that looks quite similar to the one on our actual house.  We also added flowers all the way around.



Little Guy did complain a little bit that the shutters don't actually work, so there may be one more project in our future!  :)

Little Guy loves getting mail, and having us 'visit' him at his house.  He now has a pretend door bell and has wedged in some of his play furniture.  I helped him make a 'home sweet home' sign and we hung it (as well as another picture he'd drawn) inside.   

This has been a very fun project, and since we had all the supplies on hand - a totally free one as well! 

The cardboard play house is great, and I think we're done with 'improvements'...for now anyway.

Hand-Made Christmas, Part 3 (Dr. Who)

As I mentioned in my last post – Hubby and I decided this year to make each other gifts this past Christmas. 

In addition to the wall hanging featured in that previous post; I also made a small plush Dr. Who for Hubby.  If you don’t know the Doctor, he’s kind of hard to explain.  A British television series that has spanned decades, and follows a fantastic and funny time traveler as he has adventures all over time and space.  Hubby’s favorite incarnation was the fourth doctor – played by the talented Tom Baker.  His version of the Doctor was quirky and fun and known for a ridiculously long scarf, among other things. 

I used a photo of the 4^th doctor that I found on the internet as a rough inspiration and free handed the body (using doll face velour).  I also free handed the clothing and stitched up as much as I could on my machine.  I used a doll needle and embroidery thread to make the eyes and the little smirk.  All of the clothes are made from heavy duty felt, except for the vest which was made from a scrap of plaid wool from my stash. 

I didn’t have to buy anything to complete this project.  It took me the better part of three hours to cut out, assemble and sew the whole thing.  I’m very pleased with this, and am fondly calling it “Dr. Who felt art”.  Hubby keeps it atop his dresser next to the little ninja I made for him last year (long story there which I’ll save for another day).

Here he is without the little scarf...



and Tom Baker as the Doctor... my inspiration for this project!

Hand-Made Christmas, Part 1 (Fire Hose)

Today I was looking through the photos of our boys this Christmas.  Surrounded by upended boxes and scraps of wrapping paper, my three year old is beaming over one toy or the other in every picture.  As is always the case, he got more than he needed – but oh was he happy!  The majority of his gifts were store-bought.  The one exception being a fire hose, which I made for him to go along with his new fireman suit (we LOVE fire trucks and firemen at our house).  I used scraps that I had on hand, so there was no cost.  It turned out to be one of his favorite toys of the day, so I definitely feel that it was worth the time spent to put it together.

I personally adore hand-made gifts.  My family has been exchanging them for years (for as long as I can remember really), and those little things made with love stand out as my favorites.  Did I love the store-bought dolls and other toys?  Of course.  But with the exception of my beloved Mandy and Jenny, I don’t have any of them now.  The hand-made items though…those are ones I kept.  They each hold a special place in my heart and always will.  I hope my children will always appreciate things made for them with love, and never close themselves off to the idea that price doesn’t have to have anything to do with value.

The fire hose is made from a long piece of heavy-duty black fabric (which in a prior life was part of a conveyer belt), a plastic drinking cup, lots of duct tape and some blue yarn.

Above is a picture of Little Guy in full-out fireman mode.  I found the hat at a garage sale for 50cents, the jacket on eBay for $5.00, and the boots at a children’s consignment store for $6.00.  I also bought a ‘fireman accessory pack’ at our local dollar store for $1.  It included pretend versions of: an axe, a walkie talkie, a badge, and a mini fire extinguisher.

He loves his fireman gear, but of course as soon as he’d put it all on – he asked where the fire hydrant was?  I told him we didn’t have one, so he promptly grinned at me and said, “You can make it for me Mom.”. 

Guess what’s on the craft agenda for this week?  haha  I guess, that at least for now, my Little Guy is just as big a fan of home-made gifts as I am.

Keepsake Projects

Here are a few of the little things I’ve been working on lately to keep myself busy, while waiting for the arrival of our new Baby Boy:

I wanted to make the new Baby some blankets. I’ve put all of Little Guy’s special baby blankets in storage so that he can have them as keepsakes when he’s older. I want Baby Boy to also have plenty of keepsake blankets, so I’ve been on a mission. You may recall the retro rocket blanket I made a while back. Now, I’ve added a dinosaur blanket (orange flannel backing on a basic cotton print – all fabric from JoAnn’s):

And a puppy dog blanket, which I appliquéd “AJ” (Baby Boy’s initials) for a fun fold-down effect. The orange in this picture looks odd. It actually matches the orange “woof woof” printed on the fabric. This one is flannel front and back, so will be a little warmer than the dino one. (The doggy print came from JoAnn’s. The tan flannel has been in my stash forever).

In keeping with the whole keepsake theme…. I also have been re-working the much loved sock monkey from my own childhood, to give to Baby Boy. It was made for me in the 1970s by a dear family friend. This little critter survived years of love and use and moves, but just barely. I’d actually looked for it when I was pregnant with Little Guy, but had never found it. Little Guy did receive a sock monkey which was made for him by a family member (who also happens to be a dear friend) - so he didn't miss out.

By chance, I came across my old sock monkey on a recent visit to my parents’ house. He was floppy, missing lots of his yarn embellishments and needed a general freshening up. I did a little surgery on the back of his neck, added a lot more stuffing and then replaced all the red yarn that had faded or disappeared over the years. Now both of my boys have sock monkeys with great loving back stories.



Before



After

I'm also putting the final touches on the quilt I'm making for Baby Boy.  I'll post pics once that is complete as well.

Vintage Toys

Hubby and I both enjoy finding old toys for Little Guy which are like those we played with as children. He already has the Fisher Price Record Player, the Fisher Price wind-up radio and Tupperware Mix and Match animals (among others). Recently I found the Fisher Price School Desk (what can I say? We love Fisher Price) on eBay, and bought it at a bargain price. 

Little Guy loves his new toy. He wants to “play letters” every day, and can do exactly that for long periods of time. I remember playing with my own FP School Desk back in the 1970’s, and seeing our toddler playing with his – brings back some really great memories.

Holiday Little People - Bargain!!

Over the weekend, we went to a nearby flea market to browse a bit.  We came upon a large cardboard box full of Christmas Fisher Price Little People.  The box was marked $5 for all, so of course we snapped it up.  Here are all the goodies the box contained.  (Everything needed a nice wash down with Clorox wipes, but otherwise all was in working order - batteries were even included!).

Little Guy played with his new toys all weekend!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama to share one moment.... via a single photo – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember…”

Toy Stories (My Friend Mandy & My Friend Jenny)



My Friend Mandy

                                                   
Christmas 1978: My Friend Mandy
I was four, and frankly a typical tom boy. My hair was cropped short. I usually played outside with my faithful canine companion Lucky. We were almost always dirty, and almost always in trouble. You’d be hard pressed to get me into a dress unless it was Sunday morning. You get the idea – I was not the girly-girl which doll manufacturers might consider their target audience.



However, my sweet Mama was determined to bring out the lace and sweetness and clean fingernails she had envisioned when first she heard, “It’s a Girl!” So, she looked around for the perfect doll, and found “My Friend Mandy”. Made by Fisher Price, and the first of the “My Friend” series, Mandy stood 16” tall. She had silky blond hair and lovely blue eyes. Mine came wearing a pink dress with tiny white polka dots. She had a white hat, tights and shoes. She was just wonderful. Even a rough and tumble tomboy like me couldn’t resist such a sweet doll. I loved her. I loved her hair which was easy to style. I loved her clothes. In addition to the outfit she came in, I received a little fur coat and hat and a big pile of home-made clothes (each “My Friend” doll came with free patterns and Mom had several outfits made for my doll).

Another bonus was that Mandy was machine washable, so when she and I came in from a long day climbing trees and chasing Lucky…she could be popped in the washer and was soon as good as new!



My Friend Jenny



Christmas 1979: My Friend Jenny

Jump ahead one year, and imagine my surprise when I opened a Christmas package which held a brunette version of Mandy. “My Friend Jenny” had hair as dark as mine, and big brown eyes. She was dressed in a fluffy white shirt, a brown jumper and a straw hat. She was the same size as Mandy and could share all of her outfits. She was a wonderful doll, and together she and Mandy remain my favorites thirty-plus years later.

Back when I first found out I was pregnant with our son, I was so convinced that our baby was going to be a girl, that I dug my Mandy and Jenny dolls out of storage. I ordered more outfits and also a pattern book to make even more myself. I enlisted my sweet Dad to make the gals a little wooden bed (He did a wonderful job - it even has clothing storage under the “mattress”). I made a little blanket and pillow for the bed. Then I decided I should also find the doll I never had as a child, but wanted: “My Friend Becky”.



My Friend Becky



So then there were three.

They are now back in storage of course, as I don’t think Little Guy would have much use for them. Maybe if we are ever blessed with a little girl, she’ll someday enjoy these dolls as much as I did. If not, I’ll someday find a different little girl to pass them too. Regardless, I love them and they are easily two of my fondest Christmas presents from childhood.

Maybe someday I'll track down Mikey and Nicky too, but for now these three make me happy.



I don't have pics of my own dolls for some reason (need to raid the old family albums or get my gals out of storage again).  The images you see within this post are from the following sites:

http://www.toyzdollz.com/fisherprice/myfriend.htm

http://www.dollinfo.com/fpfriends.htm