Flannel Shirt to Juggling Fun!

             In my son's third grade class their juggling kit is a huge hit. Every time there is indoor recess, there is a mad dash for all the "best toys". 


            The problem was that my son really enjoyed learning how to juggle, while some of the other boys liked the juggling sacks for their ease of throwing at each other. 

            Every time the kids had recess inside I heard about how he didn't get to use the juggling kit, and how he was frustrated that the other kids were not using it correctly. 


          One night, while transforming some old flannel shirts into a skirt (tutorial on that to come!), I thought of making him his own juggling sacks with the left over material. It was soft, easy to sew, and not as girlie as much of my other fabric on hand was. I also happened upon a box of barley that I had planned on making soup with, but since it had been over 2 years, I decided that juggling sack stuffing would put this shelf warmer to better use. 


Materials:
*scissors
*old flannel shirt or other scrap fabric
*pins (for holding fabric scraps together)
*sewing machine or needle
*thread
*measuring tape or ruler
*barley, rice, or other dried beans
* 1/2 cup measuring cup
*funnel




1. Start with a nice pre-washed fabric that your child likes. Juggling takes time and practice to learn, and that is a lot more fun to do with sacks that they like looking at. 

2. Measure 5 inch squares and cut out your fabric. I found that folding the shirt in half cut down on the cutting time as this way you can do two at once. A good number to shoot for is six, in order to make three juggling sacks.

3. Putting wrong sides together, pin them closed on three sides. Sew the bags closed on three sides you just pinned. Now, on the fourth side you want to stop about an inch or two from totally closing it, as you need to be able to pull it right side out. 

4. Pull the fabric right side out through the small opening and grab your measuring cup and rice/barley/dried beans. 


5. Take your funnel and place the end in the opening. Measure 1/2 cup of the filling of your choice into the bag. 


6. Remove the funnel and carefully sew the bag shut. Try to stay as close as possible to the edge in order to maintain a clean look. 


              I made my son his own set of three for home, and later in the week decided to make a set for his classroom. His teacher and classmates were thrilled, and my son can practice his juggling at school if he wants :).

Got Books? Part II Book Wreath

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I am sorry that I had to wait a few days to get this second part of this post up, but weekends are crazy here, as I am sure they are for most of you.

To recap, this wreath is made with the pages left from your hollow book in “Got Books? Part 1”. If you did not do the hollow book craft, don’t worry. You can make this wreath with any bits of paper you have lying around. Just make sure that they are large enough that when rolled, are a size that you are comfortable with for your finished product.


Materials:
• wreath form (I love the green foam ones from Dollar Tree)
• hot glue gun
• glue stick
• pages you extracted from the hard back book (or other paper on hand)


To begin, practice rolling your pages from one end to another to make a sort of funnel looking page. Roll these first ones loosely as they are the outer row on your wreath. After you have the rolling down, grab your glue gun and glue down the seam and press firmly to set in place.

Turn your rolled page backwards and place some glue on the bottom. This is the point where you will glue the page to the wreath. The page end should end up at the back of the wreath. Continue placing rolled pages until entire first row is complete.

The next row will start in the middle of the wreath. Roll the pages again to make a funnel shape, but this time roll them tighter as to create a smaller funnel. Glue them to the wreath so as to make the ends curve towards the back. Continue until the entire center is as full as you would like. Your pages should be criss-crossing around the wreath, covering up as much of the form as possible.

Now you will want to fold some remaining pages into fourths or fifths to glue on the sides of the wreath where there are no pages.

This will ensure that your wreath looks fabulous at any angle.

Add a piece of wire of ribbon to the back and you have a one of a kind wreath perfect for hanging just about anywhere in your home.

Got Books? Part I

                I love books. I mean love them! I have a bookcase full in my living room. And another bookcase in my bedroom that is a tad full. And the stairwell leading to the upstairs bed rooms is lined with books. And some boxes in the basement. OK, I may have a bit of a problem. Now I do pass books on. Friends, church, Goodwill, and so on. But, I still end up with more than I need to keep, and I decided I needed to do something with them. Well, actually I was gently asked (well, threatened, with a midnight drop off at St. Vincent de Paul) to clear some space up.

          While I did take a bunch to the kid’s school and posted some on freecycle, there were still some books that I wouldn’t mind getting rid of that no one seemed to want. I wanted to DO something with them, but I didn’t know what. Then I remembered an article I had read awhile back where the author suggested keeping a hollow book in your home to hide important papers or extra money. This makes a thief finding these things much less likely. While I didn’t make one for my personal things, I decided that I would make one for each of my kiddos. They were a hit! They each have a book that they can hide in their room to keep all of their favorite treasures in.  

          This also left me with a bunch of pages that I didn’t want to just throw out. I decided to jump on the book page wreath bandwagon and make one with what was leftover. See Got Books II tomorrow for that one :)!

          Materials needed for hollow book:

·         A hard back book you don’t mind taking pages out of

·         A marker or pen

·         A craft knife or razorblade

·         Mod podge

·         Foam brush

·         Ruler

Materials if also making wreath:

·         wreath form

·         hot glue gun

·         glue stick

·         pages you extracted from the hard back book

First, grab a book you don't mind re-purposing. (Sorry to anyone who loves "Among Thieves")

Next, get the ruler. Make sure that it is a fairly long book, as this will lend more stability to your hollow book. Open it up to page 40 or so and with your ruler and marker draw a border around much of the printed area. This will be the area that you will be cutting out with your knife.

Press your craft knife as hard down as possible with cutting into the shape so that you can go through more than a page or two at a time. You have a LOT of pages to go through and a life, so the more you can get through the better. After the initial pages are cut, there is no need to continue marking out the remaining pages as you will keep cutting within the boundaries of what has already been cut. Continue cutting out pages until there is around 1/5-1/4 of the book left. It is important to stop at this point as going any further will lessen the stability of your hollow book.

Now is the time for the mod podge and foam brush. Dip your brush into the mod podge and trace around the page every 10-20 pages. DO NOT glue around the first page that you cut into as this will glue your book closed. 

Then glue AROUND the outside of the book of the pages that have been cut, making sure to leave the first 10-20 pages free as this will lend a more realistic book look to the finished product. 

To get the best seal on the pages place the book under something heavy such as a weight or chair. Let the book rest there until dry. I usually just leave them out overnight and they are good in the morning.

Now you, or your kiddos, have a place to hide your important things. Like your Magic Wigglee Worms.