Tooth Fairy Pillow

Special pouch for a child to place their baby tooth 

The pace at which my son is loosing his baby teeth has picked up and spurred me to make this tooth fairy pillow. I gathered inspiration from other similar pillows posted on the web. The tooth shown on the front has a small pocket. The lost tooth is tucked away at bedtime and magically replaced with a few quarters (or whatever amount it is based on the generosity of your tooth fairy) by morning! I also added a strap so it can be hung it from his bedroom door. 

I started with (2) 6 x 6 pieces of blue felt and cut out a tooth shape from white felt. With a needle and white yarn I stitched his name at the top, then blanket stitched the tooth to the blue felt, leaving an opening at the top for the tooth and money. Also, about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the tooth I ran a bead of hot glue from side to side to prevent the tooth from falling down too far. 

Next, I placed the blue pieces of felt wrong sides together. Because I did a pretty blanket stitch, I didn't have to turn it out. I stitch all the way around leaving an opening just big enough to push some poly fill through. When stuffed, I finished stitching all the way around. Here is a good tutorial on how to do a blanket stitch. It's really quite easy once you get going. 

When I showed my son, he was quite excited about it and exclaimed "the tooth fairy is pretty small, so she's going to fit in there real good!"

Newspaper Seed-Starting Pots

Recycle your newspaper!

My professional resume states that I'm a "self-starter". If I had a personal resume, it would list "seed-starter". Every year I start some of my outdoor flowers and tomato plants indoors from seed. I think I've determined that in the end it's really not that much less expensive than just going out and buying my flowers and plants but a ton more rewarding.

I watched this YouTube video and decided to fore go the Jiffy peat pots. They are inexpensive and great way to recycle old newspapers. It involves rolling recycled newspaper around a glass or jar. The finished pots are sturdy and will break down quickly once they've been planted in the soil.

I planted marigolds and allysum. I'm not sure if it was the newspaper pot, seed, potting soil or green house technique I used, but these babies shot up in just half the germination time! This photo was taken at 4 days, the germination period is 8-10 days!

In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy.  ~Robert Brault

 

Space Alien Valentine Card Template

My son and I made out-of-this-world alien valentine cards for his class. It was an easy, fun, and fairly quick project to do. 

Supplies:

• Alien Valentine Template - download here!
• Bag of Hershey's Hearts or any other candy you can think of for the nose
• 8.5 "x 11" green paper, the thicker stuff like poster board is better
• Exacto knife
• Black marker
• Green pipecleaner
• Wire cutters
• Hot glue gun

Putting your valentine together

1. Print the Alien Valentines Day template on 8.5" x 11" green paper
2. Crease on fold lines and cut out hearts
3. With the black marker draw the alien's eyes and lips on the front
4. Have your munchkin sign his/her name on the inside of the valentine.
5. Use the wire cutter to shorten the green pipe cleaners to 6" long
6. Adult job: Make two small holes at the top of the valentine with the Exacto knife. Just big enough to thread a pipe cleaner through. 
7. Maneuver the pipe cleaner through the holes. On the inside of the card, twist pipe cleaners twice and shape antennas with a pencil.
8. Glue candy piece to front for the nose. 

Happy Valentines Day! 

Diaper/Wipe Travel Clutch

Diaper/Wipe Travel Clutch

Consider this for your next unique baby gift.  I made one for myself and liked it so much that I made another for my husband's cousin who had a sweet baby girl. Because of it, I was asked to make 4 more for others' baby gift giving! 

The clutches are about 9" x 12", lined with a coordinating fabric, have a button closure, wrist strap, and two front pockets. They nicely accommodate a travel case of wipes 4/5 diapers, and small extras (travel size powders and creams, nuks, and such).

It's particularly handy when you're out-n-about and don't want to lug the entire diaper bag into the restroom. It also fits nicely in my hobo bag, so I throw it in there when making a trip to the grocery store (not bringing anything is like playing Russian roulette!)

$15, S/H extra