This year for Sew Ready to Play, I tried to break the mold of what I've done in the past by sewing something that could benefit all of us.


The result was Angry Birds Toss by made modifying the Roly Poly Critters pattern from Swoodson Says. The modifications weren't too tricky because the pattern already came with pattern pieces for other animals.


I just took those pattern pieces and kept a similar scale and just adjusted the shapes so it more closely aligned with angry birds. Then glue on some expressive eye brows and a beak. "Wah-La" you have an Angry Bird.The egg was made using five of the six pattern pieces.

Red took no major modification to the pattern piece, just some killer eyebrows.

To make Bomb, I took my main pattern piece and put it in my copier and changed the scale to 150%. I made copies from the top and bottom and taped the enlarged pieces together.

For Chuck I only used three of the six pattern pieces so that he was oblong. To make his feathers I simply sewed together three pieces of felt in the shape of his feathers and trimmed off the excess.

I plan to make pigs next, but a hectic week made it hard to finish that as well.

I hope you enjoyed this project almost as much as we did!
Be sure to check out what the other some of the other talented bloggers shared for Sew Ready to Play.


With Love,
Al

Here's a line-up of past years of Sew Ready to Play projects.

Hopscotch Skirt 2015                              Cash Cab Dress 2014                           Hi-Ho Cherry-O Dress 2013

We are getting very excited for our re-release of the Betty Skirt this week. There are just a few more i's to dot and t's to cross in anticipation for the re-release we are offering a free printable where you and your daughter/niece/granddaughter/neighbor can plan the Betty Skirt of her dreams.

One of my favorite parts about sewing for my kids is letting them get in on the design process. This free download will let you do this and while your sewing away the special girl in your life can have something to keep her busy.

Today, Jo was suppose to share her Family Photo Stitched with Love project, but there is a slight change in plan. I have her pictures on one of my SD cards but I can't find the one that her pictures are on at the moment. If you are hungry for family pictures I would love to direct you to her "Just Another Day in Paradise" family pictures from last year.

I have a cold I can't beat (too many late nights sewing for the sew fab sale), in which everyday just taking care of the kids is all I can take. The kids haven't been sick which means that I need to find activities for them that keep them out of trouble and not make too big of messes.
Those you that follow us on Instagram, might have seen Slim Jim's ecstatic reaction to me folding socks (a chore I hadn't really done in months). Which means when I finally folded socks which meant we had several unmatched socks. Perfect for this quick kid friendly Halloween craft.

So many of the projects that I do, I work on late at night so I don't have to have the "help" of my kiddos. Love them but it usually leads to frustration. But it was so fun to do this because there was no right way to do it. Ryder was in crafting heaven. And Boston was on quality control to see if the ghosts would last through October by trying her best to destroy them.  Using a little Polyfill we filled the heads (the toe of the sock) and white embroidery floss to tie them off in no time we had several little ghosts. For the adult and toddler socks I cut off from the heel of the sock, in a zig zag fashion.

Ryder and I drew the little faces on them. It was fun to see Ryder's perfection concentration as he put on the faces. The hardest part was trying to get the ghosts from the kids to put it on the crochet thread to make the banner (I ended up leaving one off for them to play with).

Over all it was easy and the kids got to participate, which we both enjoyed. Now I don't have to feel like I am a bad mom because I am not great about decorating for seasonal stuff (we really don't have the storage space for seasonal decorations). Something that Ryder has recently noticed my short comings in this regard so I might try and look for something this easy (and cheap) for all the seasons.
Cost: $0, everything was used making supplies on hand

If you are good at matching your socks and don't have any socks lying around you might want to check out the red kitchen's: Ghost Garland. I already had my post in the works when I saw hers sweet one, I guess it is just a case of crafty minds think alike.
Tomorrow we return to our regular Family Photo Stitched with Love Series.

When I think of summer, I think about going over to my Grandma Twila's for Rootbeer or Cherry 7-Up Floats. I usually I went for the Cherry 7-Up floats but since they added all the antioxidants a few years ago it just doesn't taste the same. So I have made my peace with Rootbeer floats. And they have become one of my new favorites.
This summer I have tried to be more mindful of the things I am putting into my husband, children and my own body. When Ryder, Boston and I were doing our grocery shopping we walked by the frozen yogurt/ice cream section. I spotted some Vanilla Non-fat Frozen Yogurt and I thought I should be able to make a float out of that because any dairy product when mixed with a carbonated drink will fizz and usually a little foam.
Long Story Short: IT WORKED!!
Ingredients:

Non-fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Rootbeer brand of your choosing

Put the Frozen Yogurt in a cup. Then Cover it in Rootbeer. Enjoy, knowing that you have made a slight comprise with your kids so they can get a taste of childhood without lots of calories of fat (the calories from sugar I am not going to do anything about because I think diet drinks taste gross!)

[Intro by Al] So do you remember our dear friend Celina (table refinish, valentine inspire designer)? She's amazing, wonderful, and I'm pretty sure was one of those people that was definitely my best friend in the pre-existence. Almost from the moment I met her I felt an instant bond of sisterhood. Beyond all that, she is incredibly talented. She was the genius that morphed Scary and my vision to create our incredible logo a few months ago (on the first try, she definitely did some designing between the lines). She has been working on a quiet book for her son for months and I knew we must share with you it since she hasn't quite caught the blogging bug yet to have it reach you.

Quiet in the Country {Quiet Book}

Some friends of mine came over recently to visit. I remember they, as my son was bashfully flirting with them and, admittedly, being a little quiet, asked: “does he say anything?” (Obviously we don’t spend too much time together, because) in my head and, consequently, out loud, I laughed. MY kid? Say anything? He’s a 13 month-old chatterbox! His vocabulary may be limited; but boy, does he use what he’s got!

Any lucky exerciser who happens to share the morning track with us would know. His most choice word is “hi”, and every walker/jogger we pass is greeted shamelessly, and often more than once, or twice. “HI! Hi! hi. hi. hi..” and so it goes til we either happen upon another poor sweating soul, or gain too much headway from the last.
Longer story made short: my kid makes his fair share of noise in the world.
…especially on Sunday.  In our weekend worship services we do a good amount of singing, and the boy isn’t afraid to join in. Notes or no, he’ll sing his little heart out. Even after the song is long over. So laughing, and with good motivation, I decided it may be time for a “quiet book”. We’ll see if it holds up to it’s title.

I’m an avid Pinterester, and with a determination for a packable and lasting distraction for the little, the boards were near first in my search for inspiration.
JACKPOT!
Who knew there were entire blogs dedicated just to quiet books? Pinned em!

After quite a bit of perusing, exploring, and freshly armed with plenty of ideas, I set out on my creative journey. I decided I wanted to try and carry some sort of theme throughout the book, because it seems far too many quiet book pages are a little scattered and eclectic. To each his own (and the littles probably don’t care a bit one way or the other!), but this one’s own is way too OCD (or whatever other blessed definition there might be for ME) for so much crazy if I get to design it myself! ..So my chosen theme: “Quiet in the Country”. It might make a nice titled cover, if I ever get around to it, but for now we’re going to jump right into the thick of it, since that’s really all I’ve got to show for myself:


In the country there are farms. On farms, barns. In barns, animals. And farm-barn-animals, it would seem, are so very entertaining for a 1 year-old. So we had to have animals. And, hey! They fit on your finger. Fun.


Pretty close to the farm, and barn, and usually taking care of the animals there are cowboys. But contrary to popular belief, cowboys do wear clothes other than a hat and a pair of boots (though they may be a staple for most outfits). We’ve got a little cowboy and his wardrobe to prove it.


Boys love trucks, and mine is no exception. So of course we had to fit in our little cowboy’s favorite ride! His tractor doesn't do many of the loud and exciting things that the real does, but it’s sure got a nice pair of spinning wheels! And for 13 months, that’s still pretty cool.


Country folk need food too! So we planted some carrots and it would seem they’re ready for harvesting. Kid loves to uproot those suckers.


Some country food is better for playing with. Potatoes, for instance already come with eyes, why not make a whole face? And heck, why not one we all recognize? (and even a feminine counterpart, if you’re feeling it..)


Another country delight is fresh produce! Right from the tree. We even brought a basket to collect em in, it should be a snap (ha! See what I did there..? ;))


“A penny saved is a penny earned”, or in this case the kid will get reeeeal good at saving/earning his juice can tops! Anyone out there giving real money to their babies? Yeah, I’ve had better ideas. Pretty sure a penny given to my little guy is a penny lost or taking a trip to the hospital. Pass!


Shout-out to all the advanced seamstresses/seamstremisters that might happen upon my humble little venture: I’m very much a beginner, so hopefully you were able to enjoy the outcome beyond all the obvious “I-would-have-done-it-this-way”s. It was a fun project, and like many things I find with motherhood, I’m figuring things out as I go. But, hey, life as an experiment is always a little more exciting!

Celina

Momma Shaffer has shared another one of her holiday sight word books. We are providing them as a full coloring book, fully colored book and one that has two pages to color (just in case there are any mom's out there like me that only have enough patience for two coloring pages); click on the picture below and it will send you over to google drive.
We are off to enjoy some pizza and other round dishes for Pi Day!




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We have a couple of things to tell you about today!
Moving/Spring Cleaning Sensory Activity (in Ryder language: Fun Messy Job)
As many of you know Jo and I are both in the process of moving. What you might not know is that we are both husbandless while doing this. Our husbands have moved proceeding us for employment reasons. Though we are without our husbands for the time being, we are not without our children (I have my 2 and she has 3 out of her 5). Packing and moving takes more time and attention than our children would prefer. 
Today, I was trying to sort the toiletries into stuff that was worth packing up and what we should just throw away. The thrifty part of me didn't want to throw away any of the 10 containers of various scents of hand and body lotion. But I have been trying to minimize the amount of "stuff" we take to the next place, so I knew I couldn't keep it.
Then BAM! It hit me.... Sensory Activity for one 3 year old boy. I put different colors of food coloring in the lotion, which upped the coolness level by 10 points!
Win, Win, Win!
1st Win: He had an activity that kept him entertained for over an hour, which allowed me to get some work done.
2nd Win: I didn't have to fill guilty for tossing because I just did a mind shift from lotion to educational supplies. He drew circles, told me the colors and textures as I added the different lotions.
3rd Win:  Smiles and giggles from Ryder. He asked for extensions to the timer deadline several times (I initially set it for 45 minutes, for this activity). And let me tell you he had sooooooooo much fun! He told me that he wants to do the Fun Messy Job again.
I couldn't leave Boston out of the fun but didn't want to give her something inedible so I plopped some chocolate pudding in front of her and she had her own age appropriate sensory exercise. Following both activities the kids visited the tub.

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