Rainbow of Dolls!

I finally listed my sweet little bedtime beans on my Etsy shop. They are just too funny and cute! I wish I had though of this when Daniel was a toddler!

Traveling Gnomes

I am always thinking of ways to keep Daniel entertained when we are shopping, in the car or at a restaurant. We have the standard travel toy ideas down. Stickers, doodle board, crayon roll, photo album, something with buttons, calculator, pipe cleaners, I-spy bottle, magnet games and on it goes.

When I was a little girl I had these cute
little dolls that clipped into jewelery that I would bring when my mom was meeting a friend for coffee. They were SO fun! I wish I have never sold them and I really I could remember what they were called. I was after the same sort of idea for Daniel, but what jewelry can you put on a boy?

I decided on a little, Waldorf gnome that fits into a pouch on a necklace. It was one of the first toys I've made that he actually liked. Well, for a few hours anyway. The little girl I take care of liked it so much that I made one for her too.

I read that it is wise to make the body first, because you can more easily make the head to fit the body than vice versa. I just winged it all. I free handed the bodies onto pattern paper and then cut and sewed. I usually make dolls too skinny so it took a few attempts. I wish I had made the hats a bit longer so I could knot them at the end; I like how the hat flops over when it's knotted. The head is just a ball of wool roving tightly wound. They joy of making little dolls is not having to fuss with the head!

I originally made a wool felt leaf for the gnome to fit in, but it just didn't work out that well. Since taking the photos, I've made him a crocheted pouch like the girl gnome. I crocheted a rectangle long enough to fold over into a sleeping bag. Before tying off, I chained to make the necklace and slip stitched it to the other side. Then to finish, I folded the rectangle up and stitched the sides together. It's a much better fit than the leaf!

Homemade baby shower basket

I have been sooooo excited for the birth of our good friends' baby, that I've been making things for almost two months! We just had her baby shower this weekend, and it was a blast! Here are my baby basket tutorial trials:

Fabric Beach Ball:

This ball was based on 2 tutorials:
http://www.craftideas.info/html/ball_tutorial.html
http://www.purlbee.com/fabric-beach-balls/

They were both great tutorials, and I should have followed them more closely! I chose to use wool felt for the little circle because I didn't trust my tucking-in-a-circle skills and there is no need to hem felt. It has the added bonus of another texture for a curious baby. I added a container with noisy beads to the ball so it rattles when it rolls.

Giraffe Softie:

This adorable pattern is found over here (and can alternately be a dinosaur softie).

I embellished it by sewing ribbon loops along its neck and a braided satin tail. The other side of the giraffe is purple cotton and he has a squeaker in his bum! So cute! I ended up buying and sacrificing a cheap dog toy because I have no idea where one finds squeakers...

Teething Ring:

This is my take on a teething ring I saw in Chapters a long time ago. I love wooden teething rings and thought adding something soft was a great idea. I crocheted (with worsted weight cotton) a small rectangle, and then rather than tying off and sewing it in a loop, I slip stitched it across.

Crinkly Taggie Blanket:

Here is a link to one great tutorial, but there are many!

I also used a few leather scraps as loops for another texture. And from what I've heard (and it worked for me) cereal bags give the best crinkle. I did one side in cotton and the other in fleece. Another cute tutorial for a baby boy is here, at Prudent Baby.

First Waldorf Doll:

I love Waldorf style dolls! They make a perfect first doll because only natural materials are used and the simple style allows much imagination. There are a ton of great tutorials on all kinds of dolls. I made one earlier this year for Daniel, so this is based partly on that experience and partly on this tutorial.

I also took my first stab at embroidery and it came out ok! Woo Hoo!

Fabric Nursery Blocks:

I spent a ton of time at the fabric store, looking for co-coordinating fabrics and am so happy with how they all look together! I wanted them to be fun to play with, so I added a crinkly cereal bag to two side of the large block, bells to the medium one, and a crocheted panel to the little one. I should have been a little more careful with the seam allowance, but they still turned out ok. Tutorial here.

I am pretty happy with how everything turned out, and I learned a ton! The giraffe and Waldorf doll are my faves. I also added a few plastic links for clipping toys onto the carseat and a couple cloth diapers in a homemade drawstring bag. There is a good tutorial at Purl Bee.