Proud Mama SHARE!!! Crazy Little KIDS Projects

Do you all follow the creative blog Crazy Little Projects?

I do! It's packed with all kinds of ideas and tutorials to inspire your creativity! Lots of fun! I am usually most drawn to her sewing projects, but recently saw this post that GRABBED my attention.

Amber has started a weekly series FOR kids and BY kids and it's so much fun!!! If chosen, not only does your child's project get highlighted, but they win $20!

Now here's where the "Proud Mama" part comes in....

My oldest daughter was selected to share her project entry this month and her post is up today!!! I would LOVE for you to go check it out and show some comment love. :)

CrazyLittleProjects.com

PLUS, while you're there you can get some creative ideas to share with your kiddos for those summer months that are just around the corner.....and maybe even enter one of their own projects to be featured!

Thanks Amber/Crazy Little Projects for this exciting series and for featuring my sweet girl's work! You made both of our days! :)

PJ Madness!!!!!

 Yea, so I'm one of those that usually has the bright idea, when I'm already covered up with more than is humanly possible to get finished, to go ahead and make the extra PJs the kids need while I'm sewing their Christmas sets. Anyone else like that??? It sounded good, at least at first. ;) Half way through I was thinking "What was I thinking???", but trudged on and got them all done and I'm so glad I did! The children were thrilled and have pretty much lived in the new PJs....other than when we have to leave the house of course....which we are keeping to a minimum as we soak up this holiday time! 

 And since I made them all....17+ sets counting all those darling penguins that is....and since they won't be seen outside the house for someone to comment on and allow me that "proud mama" moment of basking in my handiwork....you all get to see them! ;) Thanks sweet friends for humoring me! Now, brace yourselves....

Dragons!

Sock Frogs

Silly Frogs

Firemen Heroes!

Hello Kitty Fleece

 

 

 

Disco Lights

Tie Dye Peace

Rainbow Love

Fairy Princess

Ballerina

Love Birds

 

The patterns I used were a couple of McCall's and the quick to sew, Simple 30 min. Shorts.

 

 And this, my friends, was the mess I ended up with because I just cut and pile as I'm working...this would drive my mother INSANE!!! She's quite the "tidy seamstress"....I make a HUGE mess in the moment and then clean it all at once. I suppose whatever works best for each. :)

I'm still sneezing fabric fuzz from all the cutting too! :)

And let's just say that new to me serger I recently purchased has been well worked in!

Now for the recovery process. Thanks for letting me share! 

Happy Sewing!!!

Thread Cone Christmas Trees!

I've been accumulating empty thread cones for awhile now. I knew there had to be a way to reuse them for something and now we have found it! 

Thread Cone Christmas Trees!

We had a bit of an impromptu craft day and had a great time with this simple, up-cycled craft. The children each picked their favorite yarn and holiday decorations and I love how each of their trees turned out! I will most definitely be saving these!

All you need are some empty cones, yarn, choice of trims and glue.

Start by placing a small dot of glue at the base of your cone. We used hot glue so it would hold secure and dry quickly, but you could use any craft glue.

Continue to wind your yarn around the cone, pushing it snug against each row so as to completely cover the cone. Place small dots of glue intermittently as you go, all the way to the top to help secure the yarn in place. Younger children made need a little extra help here.

 

  

Once you have your cone fully covered with yarn it's time to decorate!

Ribbons and bead strands make great garlands, while sequins and pom poms are the perfect ornaments! We also had some little bears that served as gifts under some of our trees and a variety of toppers from feathers, snowflakes, stars and birds. These were really a lot of fun to make and can be done with whatever supplies you have on hand.

They turned out beautiful and are now happily atop our mantel.

Start saving those cones now for next year and just imagine the colorful collection you can have! I know we'll be doing this again!

 Sharing at these creative places:

Impromptu Sticker Art!

Hey Ya'll! How you doing this week??? Been a whirlwind around here!

The kids and I had a little impromptu creativity this afternoon and I thought I'd share. It's a really simple and fun project that they all enjoyed, and doesn't make much of a mess. :) Always a bonus!

Here's what you'll need:

Markers, blank labels & construction paper

Any blank labels will work, we just happened to have a REALLY large stack of the page reinforcement circles, so that's what we used.

Color the labels however you choose.

Then arrange the stickers however you feel inspired, to create a specific image or random design.

Display your artwork proudly to enjoy!!!

My 4 year old has decided we'll call this "Cheerio Art", so have fun making your own Cheerio Art! :)

Sewing with Kids - Book Recommendations

This is the time of year that I get busy cleaning and re-organizing our family classroom. We home-school year round to follow my husband's teaching schedule, so we are gearing up for the new year to begin in just a couple of weeks. One thing that is always part of this re-organization is the HUGE task of going through all the bookshelves. This year I am letting go of a lot of books and curriculum that I have held onto over the years, so I feel it has been even more productive and we will be even better prepared for our kick off...that is a good feeling!

Since we have been talking about "Family Sewing" and sewing with kids I thought I would share a few resources in this area that I thought some of you might find useful and/or interesting.

 Unraveling Fibers by Patricia A. Keeler is a wonderful, educational book that explains in detail where the fibers that make up our clothing come from. Detailed descriptions and lots of pictures explain the ins and outs of cotton farming, sheering and weaving fur from animals like sheep and llamas and even the silk making process of silk worms. It also discusses the difference between natural and synthetic fibers and manufacturing. Written in a very easy to read format, and all the colorful images help maintain interest as you read. This is very interesting and informative book!

 

We LOVE American Girls around here, and the American Girls craft books offer many simple sewing and crafty ideas perfect for beginners. One of the great things about these books is that they also offer a glimpse into these types of activities at different times through history, as well as, from different cultural perspectives. My girls and I have had a lot of fun with these books! (ps. the cookbooks are really great too!) :)

Sewing Teacher Resources by JoAnn Gognon is a book of reproducible stitch practice sheets, puzzles and games that help familiarize young people with the craft of sewing. It's perfect for teaching multiple children at home or in a classroom setting. Now that my girls are reaching a more independent sewing age/level, I hope to eventually develop a class for their peer group using this handy resource as a guide.

Lastly, The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids. This is a new one I found this past week at our local used book store....regularly $16.95 and I got it for $1.50, can't beat it! It's a really great book for starting sewing with a younger person. It has lots of fun projects and one of the things I loved about it is that it uses dot-to-dots as stitching practice sheets. Only thing, it is a consumable book, but would be a fun keepsake!

So there you have it! A few of our sewing resources. Hope they are helpful to some of you, and if you have other suggestions, I would certainly love to hear about them!

Don't forget, you can link up your own Family Sewing projects all month long here!

Share the fun of sewing!

June Project Announcement + Fat Quarter Shop GIVEAWAY!!!

This is going to be a month full of colorful fun!!! 

Are you ready??? Hope so!

Our fabulous sponsor the Fat Quarter Shop is helping us make it even better!

See this...

Yes, this incredible Funky Monkey fat quarter bundle arrived in my mail this week to help with our monthly project. And these fun prints are going to be just perfect!

Wanna know what the project is?

OK!!! For June's Monthly Project, we're going to make Activity/Coloring Tote Bags! Fun right? I sure think so! These bags are another easy to sew item perfect for donation because there are so many ways to give back with them. We'll be delivering ours to the local Children's Hospital to be given to patients there.

They would also be perfect for relief and homeless shelters, gifts for adoptive parents traveling to bring their children home, centers that serve children in need or foster children. I haven't met a kid yet that doesn't enjoy coloring, and these handy totes will have them ready to take the fun anywhere they go!

And since I am working with these playful fat quarters, I found the perfect FREE tutorial to help me get it done, the Fat Quarter Coloring Book and Crayon Tote from edonyourown.com.

And if you're feeling especially playful and creative, this Crayon Monster Art Tote from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! is sure to bring big smiles!

I also wanted to include a list of free tutorials for Crayon Rolls, another simple sewing project, which would be just as much fun paired with a coloring book. These are all similar but different enough that you can pick your favorite.

Pleated Poppy

Skip To My Lou

Make It and Love It

Nested

Oh yea, I did say there was a GIVEAWAY in the title didn't I??? 

Well, get this....there's actually 2!

The amazingly generous Fat Quarter Shop didn't leave you all out! OH NO! They have offered to give 2 Hopeful Threads readers a $50 Gift Certificate to their store! WOAH!!!! Isn't that fabulous??? You could get your own bundle of fabric goodness!

You want to know how to get entered now don't you? I knew you would!

The last several giveaways we've done around here have been pretty simple, just leave a comment kind of giveaways. Well, considering that these are pretty significant prizes, I don't think it too much to ask for a little more. :) So here it is...

Pick one of the monthly projects that has been highlighted on Hopeful Threads from the list below. Make it. Take a picture of it and post it in our Member's Projects album on flickr, telling us in the description where or to whom it was donated. (It must be donated to fulfill a need, not made for your kid's birthday...although, if you're sewing for your kid, it's the perfect time to just make 2 of whatever you're working on and donate the other!)

 2011 Projects

• January - Pillowcases
• February - Dresses
• March - Cloth Diapers
• April - Bibs
• May - Rag Dolls (or other plushie toy)
• June - Coloring Totes/Crayon Rolls

The giveaway is open to EVERYONE, worldwide! 

You have until June 30th to get entered. Oh yea, and this is your panel of tough, distinguished judges...

My children, ages 4-11. They will each pick their favorite contribution and then we will randomly draw 2 of those names from a hat to be our gift certificate winners. :)

So there you have it! 

Get Sewing! Take a Photo! Give your creation to someone in need! Get entered for your chance at one of two $50 Gift Certificates from the Fat Quarter Shop!
I told you it was going to be fun! :)

Thank you Fat Quarter Shop team for your kindness and generosity, Hopeful Threads thinks you ROCK!

Another chance to bless and be blessed!

p.s. You can always email me your pics/descriptions to be added to flickr if that is easier too. :)